Primorsky Krai

Geography

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 kilometers (560 mi).

Topography

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 kilometers (561 mi). The head of the Ussuri River originates 20 kilometers (12 mi) 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.

Climate

History

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 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. More than two-thirds of the territory's inhabitants followed these occupations.

During the latter part of the 19th century, there was significant resource, industrial and resulting 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 and the victory of the communists, the new government renamed Primorskaya Oblast as the Zemstvo of Maritime Territory. It was defined as the 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 during the Siberian Intervention. In 1922, shortly before the end of the Civil War, Primorye came under Bolshevik control. The new government directed the economic, scientific, and cultural development of the territory. 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 the center of the ethnic Korean minority of Russia. The Pos'et Korean National Raion was created under the policy of Korenizatsiya. The Krai had 105 both fully and mixed Korean towns where residents used the Korean language as an official language. Nearly 200,000 ethnic Koreans were living in the Krai by the time of their deportation in 1938. The Soviet Union had earlier deported ethnic Chinese from western Siberia.

During this period, the Soviet government emphasized centralized planning of the economy. As in the rest of the Soviet Union, priority was given to heavy industry, with a special emphasis on mining and commercial fishing. There was widespread investment in construction of rail and sea transit, 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 accidentally involved in World War II, which the United States had entered after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Primorsky Krai was the location where one of 16 United States Army Air Corps B-25 Mitchell medium bombers landed. The group had been launched from USS Hornet to carry out the 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 had decided to abort their mission while returning from Tokyo to the Hornet due to excessive fuel consumption.

During the 1970s, the Soviet Union expanded scientific institutions in Primorye, especially in the city of Vladivostok. Several large research institutions are located here, 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, once-small enterprises in the city had developed into large companies. Some of the most prominent include the DVMP (FESCO) shipping company, the Dalmoreprodukt seafood concern, 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.

Politics

During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Primorsky CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). After 1991, the head of the Oblast administration and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.

The Charter of Primorsky Krai is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Primorsky Krai is the province's regional standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the krai Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.

Economy

Primorsky Krai's economy, the most balanced in the Russian Far East, is also the largest in absolute terms. Food production is the most important sector, represented mainly by fish processing. Annual catch exceeds two million tonnes, or one half of the Russian Far East total. Second is machine building, where half of the output is geared toward the fishing industry and shipyards. Defense is another important sector, producing naval vessels and military aircraft. The construction materials industry here provides for the whole Russian Far East. lead smelting is conducted in Rudnaya Pristan on the coast.

The timber industry, though in recession, is still second only to Khabarovsk Krai's with an annual yield of about 3 million cubic meters of timber. Primorsky Krai is the largest coal producer in the Russian Far East and generates more electricity than any other Russian Far East administrative division, but power shortages are common. Agriculture is also important; the krai produces rice, milk, eggs, and vegetables.

Primorsky Krai is the Russian Far East's banking and finance center. It has more than 100 banks and affiliates and well-developed futures and stock exchanges.

The krai's proximity to Pacific Rim markets gives it an edge over most other Russian Far East administrative divisions in developing foreign trade. Major trade items are seafood products, timber products, and ferrous metals. Major trading partners are Japan, China, and South Korea.

The economy will be further diversified with the addition of as many as 8 government sanctioned casinos to be built in the Primorye Gambling Zone, which encompasses the entire Primorsky Krai. Primorsky Entertainment Resort City, under development by NagaCorp Ltd. of Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, will be the largest. The development is expected to cost in the region of RUB11.6 billion (approximately HK$2.7 billion, US$350 million) and have a total footprint of 214.89 hectares.

Primorsky Krai's compact territory is well endowed with infrastructure. Its railway density is twice the Russian average. Railroads connect it with China and North Korea. Vladivostok, the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, was surpassed as a port by the nearby Nakhodka-Vostochny Port container, coal and timber terminals. Primorsky Krai-based shipping companies provide 80% of marine shipping services in the Russian Far East. All the krai's significant ports are now open to international shipping.

Demographics in the past

Several Tungusic and Paleosiberian peoples lived here prior to Russian colonization: Udeges, Nanais, Nivkhs, Orochs, Ulchs, Oroks, and Manchus.

Contemporary demographics

Population: According to the 2010 Census, the population of the krai is 1,956,497, down from 2,071,210 recorded in the 2002 Census, and further down from 2,258,391 recorded in the 1989 Census. Due to its geographical location, the krai boasts a mixture of not only ethnic Russians, but also Koreans, Volga Germans, Buriats, Nanais, Japanese, Chinese and Orochs. The indigenous Udege and their sub-minority, the Taz, are the region's aboriginals.

In the 2010 Census, the following ethnic groups were listed:

Total fertility rate:
2009 - 1.51 | 2010 - 1.49 | 2011 - 1.53 | 2012 - 1.65 | 2013 - 1.68 | 2014 - 1.73 | 2015 - 1.76 | 2016 - 1.73(e)

Average life expectancy in 1994 — 62.5 years (male — 56.8, female — 69.4).

Religion

According to a 2012 official survey 26.6% of the population of Primorsky Krai adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 6% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% adheres to other Orthodox churches or is an Orthodox believer without belonging to any church, and 1% of the population adheres to the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery) or to local Siberian native faiths. In addition, 24% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious, 35% is atheist, and 6.4% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.

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).

Sister districts