Primorsky Krai

For other uses, see Primorsky . "Primorye" redirects here. For the inhabited localities in Russia, see Primorye (inhabited locality).

Primorsky Krai (Russian: Примо́рский край, tr. Primorsky kray; IPA: [prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj]), informally known as Primorye (Примо́рье, IPA: [prʲɪˈmorʲjɪ]), is the Russian name for a province of Russia. Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, so in English translation it is known as the Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok. The region's population is 1,956,497 (2010 Census). Today, Primorsky Krai has the largest economy in the Russian Far East.

Geography

• Borders length — over 3,000 km, including 1,350 km of the sea borders.
• Highest peak — Anik Mountain, 1,933 meters (6,342 ft)
• Railroads length — 1,628 km (of which 345 km are electrified).
• Automobile roads length — 12,633 km

Primorsky Krai, bordered by China, North Korea, and the relatively warm—although freezing in winter—waters of the Sea of Japan, is the southeasternmost region of Russia, located between the 42° and 48° north latitude and 130° and 139° east longitude. It is stretched in the meridianal direction, the distance from its extreme northern point to its most southerly point being about 900 km.

Topography

Ussuri River

Highlands dominate the territory of the krai. Most of the territory is mountainous, and almost 80% of it is forested. The average elevation is about 500 meters (1,600 ft). Sikhote-Alin is a mountainous formation, extending for the most part of the Krai. It consists of a number of parallel ranges: the Partizansky (Partisan), the Siny (Blue), the Kholodny (Cold), and others. There are many karst caves in the South of Primorye. The relatively accessible Spyashchaya Krasavitsa cave (the Sleeping Beauty) in the Ussuriysky Nature Preserve could be recommended for tourists. There are comparatively well-preserved fragments of the ancient volcanoes in the area.

The ranges are cut by the picturesque narrow and deep valleys of the rivers and by large brooks, such as the Partizanskaya, the Kiyevka, the Zerkalnaya, the Cheryomukhovaya, the Yedinka, the Samarga, the Bikin, and the Bolshaya Ussurka. Most rivers in the Krai have rocky bottoms and limpid water. The largest among them is the Ussuri, with a length of 903 km. The head of the Ussuri River originates 20 km to the East of Oblachnaya Mountain. The vast Khanka Lowlands extends into the West and the South-West of Primorye, carpeted by coniferous-deciduous forests. A part of the Lowland surrounding the largest lake in the Russian Far East, Khanka Lake, is occupied by a forest-steppe.

Flora and fauna

The geographic location of Primorye accounts for the variety of its flora. There are mountainous tundra areas, conifers and coniferous-deciduous forests, and forest-steppe, which is sometimes called the Far Eastern Prairie, where many ancient plant species have been preserved, including ferns, lotus, and the Chosenia willow.

The fauna of Primorye is also diverse. The following animals are found in the Krai: Ussuri black bear (Ursus thibetanus), Amur tiger, Amur leopard, lynx, wild boar, Manchurian deer (Cervus elaphus xanthopygos), Siberian roe deer, musk deer, long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus), sika deer, sable, Blakiston's fish owl, mandarinka duck (Aix galericulata), black stork (Ciconia nigra), scaly goosander (Mergus squamatus), chestnut-cheeked starling (Sturnia philippensis), black griffon (Aegypius monachus), large-winged cuckoo (Cuculidae family), and others. Among 690 species of birds inhabiting the territory of the former USSR, 350 are found in Primorye. Rich fisheries of salmon, Hucho taimen, lenok and marine fisheries of crab, pollock and other species make the aquatic and maritime environment a valuable resource for the region. However, the rich diversity of wildlife in Primorye is threatened by poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, Wild Salmon Center, and Russian NGOs including Phoenix Fund are active in the region's wildlife and habitat conservation.

History

Further information: History of the Russian Far East, History of Manchuria and Outer Manchuria

The acquisition of Siberia by the Tsardom of Russia and the subsequent Russian expansion to the Far East brought the Russians into direct contact with China. The Nerchinsk Treaty of 1689 demarcating the borders of the two states gave all lands lying south of the Stanovoy Mountains, including Primorye, to the Qing Empire. However, with the weakening of the Qing Empire[further explanation needed] in the second half of the 19th century, Russia began its expansion into the area. In 1858, the towns of Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk were founded. In 1858, Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky signed the Aigun Treaty with China, followed by the Beijing Treaty two years later. As a result of the two treaties, the Sino–Russian border shifted south to the Amur and Ussuri Rivers; granting Russia full control of Primorye.

Primorskaya Oblast was established as the easternmost division of the Russian Empire in 1856. It included the territory of modern Primorsky Krai as well as the territories of modern Khabarovsk Krai and Magadan Oblast, stretching from Vladivostok to the Chukchi Peninsula in the far north.

In the period from 1859 to 1882, ninety-five settlements were established in the Primorye region, including Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Razdolnoye, Vladimiro-Aleksandrovskoye, Shkotovo, Pokrovka, Tury Rog, and Kamen-Rybolov. The population was primarily engaged in hunting, fishing and cultivation. These activities involved more than two-thirds of the territory's inhabitants.

Coat of arms of Primorskaya Oblast in the beginning of the 20th century

The latter part of the 19th century saw significant economic development in Primorye. Coal mining became a prominent industry as did the export of sea-kale, velvet antlers, timber, crab, dried fish, and trepangs. The rapid economic expansion of Primorye was financed in large measure by Russian and foreign capital investment.

After the Russian Revolution, Primorskaya Oblast was replaced by the Zemstvo of Maritime Territory, and later by Far-Eastern Republic (1920–1922). Within the Russian SFSR, this became Far-Eastern Oblast (1922–1926) and then Far-Eastern Krai (1926–1938).

The area became a battleground for allied and Bolshevik troops in the Siberian Intervention. In 1922, shortly before the end on the Civil War, Primorye came under Bolshevik control, and the economic, scientific, and cultural development of the territory was dictated by the new government. The Soviet Government spent the following ten years combating "bourgeois ideology" in many areas of life and culture. As a result, the music, theater, literature, and the fine arts of Primorye were censored.

Primorsky was also the center of the Korean minority of Russia, with the Pos'et Korean National Raion being created under the policy of korenizatsiya. The Krai had 105 both fully and mixed Korean towns which used the Korean language. There were nearly 200,000 living in the Krai by the time of their deportation in 1938.

The period also saw the beginnings of centralized planning. As in the rest of the Soviet Union, priority was given to heavy industry, with a special emphasis on mining and commercial fishing. Rail and sea transit was greatly expanded, and new port facilities were constructed.

Primorsky Krai was formed by further subdivision of Far-Eastern Krai in 1938, as part of the Stalin-era policy of "unbundling". Primorsky Krai, as defined in 1938, corresponds to the northeastern part of the historical region of Outer Manchuria.

On April 18, 1942, the region became unwillingly involved in World War II as Primorsky Krai became the location of the landing of one of the 16 United States Army Air Corps B-25 Mitchell medium bombers which had been launched from USS Hornet to carry out the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan. Japan and the Soviet Union were not then at war. The landing occurred 40 miles (65 km) west of Vladivostok, the bomber's crew deciding to abort their mission while en route to Tokyo due to excessive fuel consumption.

The 1970s witnessed an expansion of scientific institutions in Primorye, especially in the city of Vladivostok. As a result, the city possesses several large research institutions such as the Institute of Biology and Agriculture, the Pacific Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, the Institute of Marine Biology, the Pacific Institute of Geography, the Pacific Oceanological Institute, as well as several Institutes affiliated with the Far Eastern Division of the Russian Academy of Science.

By the early 1990s, the once-small enterprises had developed into large companies. Some of the most prominent include the DVMP (FESCO) shipping company, the Dalmoreprodukt seafood concern[clarify], Progress Arsenyev Aircraft Works, and Vostok Mining. Commercial fishing plays an important part in the economy of the Primorye and includes firms like Vladivostok Trawling and Refrigerating Fleet (VBTRF), the Active Marine Fisheries Base of Nakhodka, and the Fishing and Marine Transport Fleet of Primorye. Numerous enterprises of the Russian Military Industrial Complex were also established in Primorye.

Natural resources

Meteorite

The krai is the location of the massive Sikhote-Alin meteorite, which fell February 12, 1947, in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, near the village of Paseka (approximately 440 km northeast of Vladivostok).