The
Greater Khingan Range (
pinyinPinyin , or more formally Hanyu Pinyin , is currently the most commonly used romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu means the Chinese language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"...
: Dà Xīng'ān lǐng;
MongolianThe Mongolian language is the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. It has about 5.7 million speakers, including over 90% of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China...
: Их Хянганы нуруу (cyrillic);
ManchuManchu is a Tungusic language spoken in Northeast China; it used to be the language of the Manchu, though now most Manchus speak Mandarin Chinese and there are fewer than 70 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of nearly 10 million ethnic Manchus...
: Amba Hinggan), also called the
Greater Hing'an Range or
Greater Hinggan Range, is a volcanic mountain range in
Inner MongoliaInner Mongolia is a Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the country's north....
in northeastern China. The range extends roughly 1,200 km from north to south, narrowing towards the south. It divides the plains of northeastern China to the east from the
Mongolian PlateauThe Mongolian Plateau is part of the larger Central Asian Plateau and has an area of approximately 2,600,000 square kilometres. It is occupied by Mongolia in the north and Inner Mongolia in the south. The plateau includes the Gobi Desert as well as dry steppe regions...
to the west.
The
Greater Khingan Range (
pinyinPinyin , or more formally Hanyu Pinyin , is currently the most commonly used romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu means the Chinese language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"...
: Dà Xīng'ān lǐng;
MongolianThe Mongolian language is the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. It has about 5.7 million speakers, including over 90% of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China...
: Их Хянганы нуруу (cyrillic);
ManchuManchu is a Tungusic language spoken in Northeast China; it used to be the language of the Manchu, though now most Manchus speak Mandarin Chinese and there are fewer than 70 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of nearly 10 million ethnic Manchus...
: Amba Hinggan), also called the
Greater Hing'an Range or
Greater Hinggan Range, is a volcanic mountain range in
Inner MongoliaInner Mongolia is a Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the country's north....
in northeastern China. The range extends roughly 1,200 km from north to south, narrowing towards the south. It divides the plains of northeastern China to the east from the
Mongolian PlateauThe Mongolian Plateau is part of the larger Central Asian Plateau and has an area of approximately 2,600,000 square kilometres. It is occupied by Mongolia in the north and Inner Mongolia in the south. The plateau includes the Gobi Desert as well as dry steppe regions...
to the west. The area has an elevation of 1,200 to 1,300 metres, with the highest peak at 2,035 metres. The range is much broader in the north (190 miles [306 km]) than it is in the south (60 miles [97 km]). It was formed during the Jurassic Period (roughly 200 to 145 million years ago), and it is essentially a tilted fault block; its ancient fault line forms its eastern edge, facing the Northeast Plain. The ranges are markedly asymmetrical, with a sharp eastern face and a more gentle western slope down to the Mongolian Plateau, which at that point lies at an elevation of 2,600 to 3,300 feet (790 to 1,000 metres). The eastern slopes are more heavily dissected by the numerous tributaries of the Nen and Sungari rivers, but generally the mountains are rounded with flat peaks. The ranges are composed largely of igneous rocks (i.e., formed through the solidification of magma).
The range is densely forested. As an eco-region it is noted for its Daurian flora, transient between
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
n and
ManchuriaManchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within China, or is divided between China and Russia...
n floras. The mountains form an important climatic divide. They take most of the precipitation from the southeasterly winds and produce a comparatively wet climate (precipitation exceeds 20 inches [500 mm] annually) that contrasts sharply with the arid region to the west. The northern section of the mountains is the coldest part of eastern China, with extremely severe winters (mean temperature −18 °F [−28 °C]) and with large areas under permafrost. This region is covered by forests of larch, birch, aspen, and pine, with shrub cover on the highest elevations. It is rich in wildlife, including deer, elk, marten, hare, and many other fur-bearing animals. The central and southern sections of the range, however, are considerably warmer and drier than in the north, with January temperatures of about −5 °F (−21 °C), annual precipitation of 10–12 inches (250–300 mm), and comparatively light snowfalls. The coniferous forests of the north gradually give way in the south to broad-leaved forests and then to patches of grassland interspersed with woodland. In the south the forests cover the higher ground above 5,000 feet (1,500 metres), while the greater part of the area is covered with tall grassland. In May 1987 a devastating fire swept the Da Hinggan forests, destroying perhaps 4,000 square miles (10,000 square km) of timber; it became known as the Black Dragon Fire, for the Heilong Jiang (“Black Dragon River”; i.e., the Amur) that flows through the area.
Its slopes are relatively rich grazing area and was the region that the
Khitanthumb|250px|Khitans [[Eagle hunting|using eagles to hunt]], painted during the Chinese [[Song Dynasty]].The Khitan people , or Khitai, Kidan, were a nomadic people, originally located at Mongolia and Manchuria from the 4th century...
people emerged from before establishing the
Liao DynastyThe Liao Dynasty , 907-1125, also known as the Khitan Empire , was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper...
in the tenth century.
The Da Hinggan region was to a large extent unexplored until the 20th century. The exploitation of the northern part of the region began with the construction early in the 20th century of the first railway across the mountains—the Chinese Eastern Railroad from Qiqihar in Heilongjiang province, to Manzhouli, north of Lake Hulun, in northeastern Inner Mongolia near the border with Russia. During the Japanese occupation of Northeast China (Manchuria; 1931–45), a number of railways were constructed into the mountains north and south of this line in order to extract lumber, the most important being those running into the area north of Tulihe (Tol Gol). These lines were later extended eastward into the Yilehuli Mountains, which strike east and west and join the Da Hinggan Range to the Xiao Hinggan Range. Farther south a more recent line follows the Tao’er River valley northwest from Baicheng in Jilin province to Suolun (Solon) and the hot springs at Arxan in Inner Mongolia.
Much of the area is inhabited by peoples speaking Mongol and, in the north, Manchu-Tungus languages, such as the Orochon and Evenk. Logging continues to be the major economic activity.
See also
- Khitan people
thumb|250px|Khitans [[Eagle hunting|using eagles to hunt]], painted during the Chinese [[Song Dynasty]].The Khitan people , or Khitai, Kidan, were a nomadic people, originally located at Mongolia and Manchuria from the 4th century...
- Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , 907-1125, also known as the Khitan Empire , was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper...
- Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within China, or is divided between China and Russia...
- Mongolia
Mongolia 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,...
- Soviet invasion of Manchuria