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Russian Far East (; ) is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East
Far East

The Far East is a term current in English language to refer to the countries of East Asia. The term is often expanded to also include Southeast Asia and South Asia, for economic and cultural reasons, for example because Buddhism is common to East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia....
, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
, between Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North 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 Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
 and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
. The Russian Far Eastern Federal District
Far Eastern Federal District

The Far Eastern Federal District , is the largest of the seven federal districts of Russia of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of under 7 million....
, which covers this area, should not be confused with the Siberian Federal District
Siberian Federal District

Siberian Federal District is one of the seven federal districts of Russia of Russia. It is the central of the three Asian districts. Its population was 20,062,938 in the 2002 census, living on an area of 5,114,800 km? ....
, which does not stretch all the way to the Pacific.

ussia, the region is usually referred to as just "Far East", creating potential confusion with the international meaning of Far East
Far East

The Far East is a term current in English language to refer to the countries of East Asia. The term is often expanded to also include Southeast Asia and South Asia, for economic and cultural reasons, for example because Buddhism is common to East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia....
 in translation.






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Encyclopedia


Russian Far East (; ) is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East
Far East

The Far East is a term current in English language to refer to the countries of East Asia. The term is often expanded to also include Southeast Asia and South Asia, for economic and cultural reasons, for example because Buddhism is common to East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia....
, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
, between Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North 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 Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
 and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
. The Russian Far Eastern Federal District
Far Eastern Federal District

The Far Eastern Federal District , is the largest of the seven federal districts of Russia of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of under 7 million....
, which covers this area, should not be confused with the Siberian Federal District
Siberian Federal District

Siberian Federal District is one of the seven federal districts of Russia of Russia. It is the central of the three Asian districts. Its population was 20,062,938 in the 2002 census, living on an area of 5,114,800 km? ....
, which does not stretch all the way to the Pacific.

Terminology


In Russia

In Russia, the region is usually referred to as just "Far East", creating potential confusion with the international meaning of Far East
Far East

The Far East is a term current in English language to refer to the countries of East Asia. The term is often expanded to also include Southeast Asia and South Asia, for economic and cultural reasons, for example because Buddhism is common to East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia....
 in translation. The latter is usually referred to in Russia as "the Asia-Pacific Region
Asia-Pacific region

Asia-Pacific region may refer to:*Asia-Pacific Region, Asia-Pacific or APAC - economies generally regarded those encompassing littoral East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Australasia...
" (abbreviated to ), or "East Asia" .

Geographic Features

  • Beyenchime-Salaatin crater
    Beyenchime-Salaatin crater

    Beyenchime-Salaatin is an impact event impact crater at 71? 0' N, 121? 40' E in the Russian Far East.It is in diameter and is estimated to be 40 ? 20 million years old ....
  • Klyuchevskaya Sopka
    Klyuchevskaya Sopka

    Klyuchevskaya Sopka is a stratovolcano, and the highest mountain on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, and the highest active volcano of Eurasia....
     volcano
  • Kuril-Kamchatka Trench
    Kuril-Kamchatka Trench

    The Kuril-Kamchatka Trench or Kuril Trench is an oceanic trench with a maximum depth of 10,542 metres . It extends from a triple junction with the Ulakhan Fault and the Aleutian Trench to the north, to the Japan Trench to the south....


History


Early history

Russia reached the Pacific coast in 1647 with the establishment of Okhotsk
Okhotsk

Okhotsk is an urban-type settlement and a seaport at the mouth of the Okhota River on the Sea of Okhotsk, in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia.Located at the eastern end of the Siberian River Routes from the Urals, Okhotsk was the first Russian settlement on the Russian Far East....
, and consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century.

Territory

Until 2000, the Russian Far East lacked officially defined boundaries. A single term "Siberia and the Far East" was often used to refer to Russia's regions east of the Urals
Ural Mountains

The Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia. They are usually considered as the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
 without drawing a clear distinction between "Siberia" and "the Far East." Several entities with the name "Far East" had existed in the first half of the 20th century, all with rather different boundaries:
  • 1920–1922: The Far-Eastern Republic
    Far Eastern Republic

    The Far Eastern Republic , sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally independent state established at Blagoveshchensk, covering the former Russian Far East and Siberia east of Lake Baikal on April 6, 1920....
     (included Transbaikalia, Amur Oblast
    Amur Oblast

    Amur Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , situated about 8,000 km east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur River and Zeya Rivers....
    , Primorskaya Oblast
    Primorsky Krai

    Primorsky Krai also known as Primorye , is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province....
    , Sakhalin Oblast
    Sakhalin Oblast

    Sakhalin Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia comprising the island of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands.The oblast has an area of 87,100 km? and a population of 546,695 ....
    , and Kamchatka);
  • 1922–1926: The Far-Eastern Oblast (included Pribaykalskaya
    Buryatia

    Buryat Republic is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . Its size is slightly over 350,000 km? with a population of almost one million....
    , Amurskaya
    Amur Oblast

    Amur Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , situated about 8,000 km east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur River and Zeya Rivers....
    , Primorskaya
    Primorsky Krai

    Primorsky Krai also known as Primorye , is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province....
    , Sakhalinskaya
    Sakhalin Oblast

    Sakhalin Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia comprising the island of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands.The oblast has an area of 87,100 km? and a population of 546,695 ....
    , and Kamchatskaya
    Kamchatka Oblast

    Kamchatka Oblast was a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . To the north, it bordered Magadan Oblast and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Koryak Autonomous Okrug was located in the northern part of the oblast....
     guberniya
    Guberniya

    Guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor or , a word borrowed from Latin , in turn from Greek ....
    s);
  • 1926–1938: The Far-Eastern Krai (included modern Primorsky Krai
    Primorsky Krai

    Primorsky Krai also known as Primorye , is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province....
     and Khabarovsk Krai
    Khabarovsk Krai

    Khabarovsk Krai is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the drainage basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the Pacific Ocean....
    ).


From 1938 to 2000, there was no official entity with this name and the term "Far East" was used loosely, much like "the West" in the United States.

In 2000, Russia's federal subjects
Federal subjects of Russia

Russia is a federation which consists of 83 subjects. These subjects are of equal federal rights in the sense that they have equal representation?two delegates each?in the Federation Council of Russia ....
 were grouped into larger federal districts
Federal districts of Russia

The federal districts are a level of administration for the convenience of the federal government of the Russian Federation. They are not the constituent units of Russia ....
, and Far Eastern Federal District
Far Eastern Federal District

The Far Eastern Federal District , is the largest of the seven federal districts of Russia of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of under 7 million....
 was created, comprising Amur Oblast
Amur Oblast

Amur Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , situated about 8,000 km east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur River and Zeya Rivers....
, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , or Chukotka , is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia located in the Far Eastern Federal District federal districts of Russia....
, Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Jewish Autonomous Oblast

Jewish Autonomous Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia situated in the Far Eastern Federal District federal districts of Russia, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast of Russia and Heilongjiang province of People's Republic of China....
, Kamchatka Oblast
Kamchatka Oblast

Kamchatka Oblast was a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . To the north, it bordered Magadan Oblast and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Koryak Autonomous Okrug was located in the northern part of the oblast....
, Koryak Autonomous Okrug
Koryak Autonomous Okrug

Koryak Okrug , or Koryakia, is an administrative division of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It was a federal subjects of Russia of Russia from 1931 until July 1, 2007, when it merged with Kamchatka Oblast....
, Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai

Khabarovsk Krai is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the drainage basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the Pacific Ocean....
, Magadan Oblast
Magadan Oblast

Magadan Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District federal districts of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Magadan....
, Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai

Primorsky Krai also known as Primorye , is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province....
, Sakha (Yakutia) Republic
Sakha Republic

The Sakha Republic is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . At half the size of the Far Eastern Federal District, it is the list of the largest country subdivisions by area in the world at 3,100,000 km? with a population of less than one million....
, and Sakhalin Oblast
Sakhalin Oblast

Sakhalin Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia comprising the island of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands.The oblast has an area of 87,100 km? and a population of 546,695 ....
. Since 2000, the term "Far East" has been increasingly used in Russia to refer to the district, though it is often also used more loosely.

Defined by the boundaries of the federal district, the Far East has an area of 6.2 million square kilometers—over one-third of the Russia's total area.

Demographics


Population

According to the 2002 Census
Russian Census (2002)

Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Goskomstat ....
, Far Eastern Federal District
Far Eastern Federal District

The Far Eastern Federal District , is the largest of the seven federal districts of Russia of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of under 7 million....
 had a population of 6,692,865. Most of it is concentrated in the southern parts. Given the vast territory of the Russian Far East, 6.7 million people translates to slightly more than one person per square kilometer, making the Russian Far East one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world. The population of the Russian Far East has been rapidly declining since the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 (even more so than for Russia in general), dropping by 14% in the last fifteen years. The Russian government has been discussing a range of re-population programs to avoid the forecast drop to 4.5 million people by 2015, hoping to attract in particular the remaining Russian population of the near abroad
Near abroad

The 'near abroad' is a term used in Russia and some other Post-Soviet states to describe the Post-Soviet states .The term is used since the early 1990s, usually to assert Russia's right to have major influence in the region,...
.

Ethnic Russians
Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavs ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.The English language term Russians is used to refer to the citizens of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity ; in Russian language, the demonym Russian is translated as Rossiyanin ....
 and Ukrainians
Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavs ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly?citizens of Ukraine . Some 200 years ago and times prior to that, Ukrainians were usually referred to and known as Rusyny ....
 make up the majority of the population.

75% of the population is urban. The largest cities are (all population figures are as of the 2002 Census):
  • Vladivostok
    Vladivostok

    File:vladivostokrussia.jpgVladivostok is Russia's largest port types of inhabited localities in Russia on the Pacific Ocean and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai....
     (pop. 594,701)
  • Khabarovsk
    Khabarovsk

    Khabarovsk is the administrative center and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some 30 km from the People's Republic of China border....
     (pop. 583,072)
  • Komsomolsk-on-Amur
    Komsomolsk-on-Amur

    Komsomolsk-on-Amur is a types of inhabited localities in Russia located in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia on the left bank of Amur River. It is located on the Baikal Amur Mainline railway line, northeast of Khabarovsk....
     (pop. 281,035)
  • Blagoveshchensk
    Blagoveshchensk

    Blagoveshchensk is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in Russia, the administrative center of Amur Oblast, located 7,985 km east of Moscow....
     (pop. 219,221)
  • Yakutsk
    Yakutsk

    kutsk is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in the Russian Far East, located about 4? below the Arctic Circle. It is the capital of the Sakha Republic , Russia and a major port on the Lena River....
     (pop. 210,642)
  • Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
    Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

    Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the main types of inhabited localities in Russia and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai ....
     (pop. 198,028)
  • Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
    Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

    Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is a types of inhabited localities in Russia on Sakhalin, Russia, administrative center of Sakhalin Oblast . The city was formerly called Vladimirovka between 1882-1905, then Toyohara between 1905-1946....
     (pop. 177,682)
  • Nakhodka
    Nakhodka

    Nakhodka is a seaport types of inhabited localities in Russia in Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city had 148,826 inhabitants as of the Russian Census , down from 160,056 recorded in the Soviet Census ....
     (pop. 177,133)
  • Ussuriysk
    Ussuriysk

    Ussuriysk is a types of settlements in Russia in Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated in the fertile valley of the Rasdolnaya River, 98 km north of Vladivostok....
     (pop. 157,759)


Traditional ethnic groups

The original population groups of the Russian Far East include (grouped by language group):
  • Turkic
    Turkic languages

    The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea to Siberia and Western China, and are sometimes considered to be part of the proposed Altaic languages....
    : Sakha
    Yakuts

    Yakuts, self-designation: Sakha, are a Turkic people people associated with the Sakha Republic.The Yakut language belongs to the Northern branch of the Turkic Languages....
  • Eskimo-Aleut
    Eskimo-Aleut languages

    Eskimo-Aleut is a language family native to Alaska, the Northern Canada, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, Greenland, and the Chukchi Peninsula on the eastern tip of Siberia....
    : Aleut
    Aleut

    The Aleuts are the Alaska Natives of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, United States and Kamchatka Krai, Russia....
    s, Siberian Yupik
    Siberian Yupik

    Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits, are indigenous people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far Russian Far East of the Russia and on St....
    s (Yuits)
  • Chukotko-Kamchatkan
    Chukotko-Kamchatkan peoples

    The term Chukotko-Kamchatkan peoples is used to describe a people speaking a Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages.Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages are most commonly spoken by people of Chukchi people, Koryaks, Kereks, Itelmens and Alutor descent....
    : Chukchi, Koryaks
    Koryaks

    Koryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr River basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk....
    , Alutors
    Alutor language

    Alutor is a language of Russia that belongs to the Chukchi-Koryak group of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages....
    , Kereks
    Kereks

    According to the 2002 census, there were only 8 people registered as ethnic Kereks in Russia. Their traditional language is the Kerek language, but this is no longer spoken. Kerek descendants speak Chukchi language and Russian language....
    , Itelmens
    Itelmens

    The Itelmen, sometimes known as Kamchadal, are an ethnic group who are the original inhabitants living on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia....
  • Tungusic
    Tungusic peoples

    The term Tungusic peoples is used to describe peoples speaking a Tungusic languages....
    : Evenks
    Evenks

    The Evenks or Evenki are a Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks are recognized as one of the Indigenous peoples of the Russian North, with a population of 35,527 ....
    , Evens
    Evens

    The Evens or Eveny are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in some of the regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha Republic east of the Lena River....
    , Nanais, Orochs, Ul'ch, Udegey, Orok
    Oroks

    Oroks are a people in the Sakhalin Oblast in Russia. The Orok language belongs to the southern group of the Tungusic languages and have no written language....
  • Isolate
    Language isolate

    A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other living languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common to any other language....
    : Yukaghirs, Nivkhs
    Nivkhs

    The Nivkhs are an indigenous people ethnic group inhabiting the northern half of Sakhalin Island and the region of the Amur River estuary in Russia's Khabarovsk Krai....
    , Ainus
    Ainu people

    are an ethnic group indigenous peoples to Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. There are most likely over 150,000 Ainu today; however the exact figure is not known as many Ainu hide their origin due to Ethnic issues in Japan....


Civil Unrest

On December 20, 2008 a group of about one thousand civilians protested the new imposition of an import duty on non-Russian made cars, a decision made by leaders in Moscow. Many Russians in this region rely on the importation of Japanese-made cars for (servicing) jobs. Riot police were reluctant to suppress the rioters, with whom they sympathized, forcing the Russian authorities to airlift in extra police units from Moscow.

See also

  • Far Eastern Republic
    Far Eastern Republic

    The Far Eastern Republic , sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally independent state established at Blagoveshchensk, covering the former Russian Far East and Siberia east of Lake Baikal on April 6, 1920....
  • Russian Manchuria
  • Extreme North (Russia)
    Extreme North (Russia)

    The Extreme North or Far North is a huge part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral resources and natural resources....


External links

  • (includes materials on Russian Far East)