RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
has
international borders with 14 countries. With a land border of in total it has, behind
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, the second-longest land border of any country.
Table of countries with a land border with Russia listed anti-clockwise around Russia.
The Sino-Russian border is the world's sixth-longest international border. However, it is split into two, one to the east of
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
and a much shorter one to the west.
The eastern border is over 3500 kilometres in length, with its true length only having been established in 1999 following a joint venture, and measured as .
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
has
international borders with 14 countries. With a land border of in total it has, behind
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, the second-longest land border of any country.
Table of countries with a land border with Russia listed anti-clockwise around Russia.
| Country |
Length (km) |
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
|
196 |
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
|
1340 |
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
|
294 |
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
|
217 |
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
(Kaliningrad) |
280.5 |
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(Kaliningrad) |
232 |
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
|
959 |
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
|
1576 |
GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
|
723 |
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
|
284 |
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
|
6846 |
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
(S) |
40 |
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
|
3485 |
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
(SE) |
3605 |
North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
|
19 |
Border with China
The Sino-Russian border is the world's sixth-longest international border. However, it is split into two, one to the east of
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
and a much shorter one to the west.
The eastern border is over 3500 kilometres in length, with its true length only having been established in 1999 following a joint venture, and measured as . It starts at the eastern China - Mongolia - Russia
tripointA tripoint is a geographical point at which the borders of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are currently 157 international tripoints. Usually such a place is a site of special border markings and memorials.Usually, the more neighbours a country has, the more international...
and runs north-east, followed by south-east along the
ArgunArgun is the Russian name of the river which is a part of the Russia–China border. Its upper reaches are known as Hailar He in China. Its length is 1,007 mi . It was established as the Russo-Chinese border by the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689.The river flows from the Western slope of the...
and Amur rivers, and finally south-west along the
Tumen RiverThe Tumen or Tuman River is a 521 km-long river that serves as part of the boundary between China, North Korea, and Russia, rising in Mount Baekdu and flowing into the Sea of Japan ....
to the border with
North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
at , only a few kilometres before the river flows into the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
.
History
The eastern part of the border was defined by two treaties: the Treaty of Aigoun in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking on 1860. When Sino-Russian dialogue recommenced in the 1980s resulted in the border being renegotiated and a new treaty was signed in 1991. The treaty was brought about by local Russian politicians who had hitherto refused to accept the concessions made to the Chinese. Nonetheless, the treaty failed to resolve the problems with the Chinese claiming sovereignty of islands of Bolshoi and Zabaïkalsk in the upper
Argun RiverArgun is the Russian name of the river which is a part of the Russia–China border. Its upper reaches are known as Hailar He in China. Its length is 1,007 mi . It was established as the Russo-Chinese border by the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689.The river flows from the Western slope of the...
as well as the islands of Bolshoi Ussuriski and Tebarov at the confluence of the Amur and
UssuriThe Ussuri River is a river in the east of Northeast China and south of the Russian Far East. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin range, flowing north, forming part of the Sino-Russian border based on the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking in 1860, until it joins the Amur River at Khabarovsk . It is...
rivers.
Heavily militarised following the
Sino-Soviet splitThe Sino–Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
of the 1950s and 60s, culminating in the
Sino-Soviet border conflictThe Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969 refers to a series of armed border clashes between the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China at the height of the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island on Ussuri River, also...
of 1969, the border slowly opened after 1982 allowing the first exchange of goods between the two countries. Between 1988 and 1992 the cross-border commerce between Russia and the
Heilongjiang' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
province increased threefold, with the number of legal Chinese workers in Russia increasing from 1286 to 18905.. In the years after that commercial exchange decreased following Russian complaints about the quality of Chinese goods, also increasing taxes on Chinese imports and restricting the ability for Chinese immigrants to work in the far-eastern Russian region.
On July 16 2001 China and Russia signed a treaty promoting mutual friendship and cooperation. The partnership was born in part out of the two countries' opposition to the international policies of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, as well as a desire by the Chinese government to secure the energy needs of the neighbouring provinces of Heilongjiang and
Jilin' , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
, and to stabilise Russia's role as an important arms provider to China.
The relaxation of border controls has resulted in a noticeable
smugglingSmuggling, also known as trafficking, is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons past a point where prohibited, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
problem that is worth around three million dollars each year. Traditional health products such as
ginsengGinseng is any one of eleven distinct species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, in the Panax genus, in the family Araliaceae. It grows in the Northern Hemisphere in eastern Asia , typically in cooler climates; Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng...
, Siberian tiger,
sea cucumberSea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea that are used in fresh or dried form in various cuisines. The creature and the food product is commonly known as bêche-de-mer Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea that are used in fresh or dried form in various...
, and
reindeerThe reindeer , also known as the caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer, widespread and numerous across the Arctic and Subarctic.- Distribution and habitat :...
antlers are smuggled along with weaponry and drugs. Illegal fishing is also common.
See also
- Border Security Zone of Russia
The Border Security Zone in Russia is the designation of a strip of land where economic activity and access are restricted without permission of the FSB. In order to visit the zone, a permit issued by the local FSB department is required. The restricted access zone The Border Security Zone in...
- Customs Code of Russia
- Territorial disputes of the Russian Federation
- Sino-Soviet border conflict
The Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969 refers to a series of armed border clashes between the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China at the height of the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island on Ussuri River, also...