Russia is losing the Far East. Mining

China continues to actively explore the Russian Far East investing heavily in it. The other day, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui, visiting Vladivostok, announced that China's total investment in the development of the Far East amounted to more than $30 billion. Chinese business directs the largest investments in the oil and gas industry, Agriculture, financial sector.

Every year China invests in foreign countries$116 billion, $7 billion of which is in Russia. It has long been known that the Far East and part of the regions of Eastern Siberia are of great interest to China. Taking into account, on the one hand, the close geographical proximity, and, on the other hand, the richest resources of these Russian regions, China's interest is quite understandable. Now Chinese investments account for 85% of all foreign investments in the development of the Far East. There are 20 Chinese enterprises operating in Vladivostok and the priority development areas alone, and it is obvious that in the future their number will only grow.

Chinese entrepreneurs have been actively working in the Far East and Eastern Siberia for a long time. Of course, they are primarily interested in Natural resources. Previously, a century ago, Chinese merchants and semi-criminal elements penetrated the Far East for furs and ginseng. Now the activities of Chinese businessmen are mostly legal. However, in many cities of the Far East there are more and more Chinese firms and Chinese workers. It is known that the Chinese leadership does not prevent the "creeping" resettlement of Chinese workers in the regions of the Far East, knowing full well that in this way it increases its influence in the Far East and at the same time solves the problems of overpopulation in the northeastern and eastern provinces of the PRC, from where it comes to the Far East the bulk of the migrants.

Russia prefers to be friends with China, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't worry about Chinese economic expansion in the Far East. First, the Far East is an extremely sparsely populated region of Russia, especially in proportion to its area. Secondly, Chinese business, acting quite expansively, does not at all contribute to the development of Russian business itself. After all, Chinese companies are quite assertive and active, leaving no room for Russian competitors.

Although, on the other hand, the quality of infrastructure in the Far East is improving, jobs are appearing - including for the local population, more and more impressive funds are coming in, part of which goes to the development of territories. Chinese investments not only develop interesting projects, but also contribute to the further growth of the economic dependence of the Far East on neighboring China. Which is not surprising, given the enormous distance to Central Russia and the complexity of transport links.

What should Russia do in this situation? Attempts to more actively develop the Far East are also being made by the Russian government. It was not for nothing that the law on the Far Eastern hectare was adopted - somewhat "clumsy", but correct in that it draws attention to the very urgent problem of low population and undeveloped Far Eastern territories. Another thing is whether Moscow will be able to compete with Beijing in the current situation, or whether China will have to invest in the development of the Far East in the future more and more than Russia itself.

Territory of the Far East of Russia - geographical area, which includes areas in the basins of rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean. This also includes the Kuril, Shantar and Commander Islands, Sakhalin and Wrangel Islands. Further, this part of the Russian Federation will be described in detail, as well as some cities of the Russian Far East (a list of the largest will be given in the text).

Population

The territory of the Russian Far East is considered the most depopulating in the country. About 6.3 million people live here. This is approximately 5% of the total population of the Russian Federation. During 1991-2010, the population decreased by 1.8 million people. As for the population growth rate in the Far East, it is -3.9 in the Primorsky Territory, 1.8 in the Republic of Sakha, 0.7 in the JAO, 1.3 in the Khabarovsk Territory, 7.8 in Sakhalin, 17.3 in the Magadan Region, and 17.3 in the Amur Region. - 6, Kamchatka Territory - 6.2, Chukotka - 14.9. If the current trends continue, Chukotka will be left without a population in 66 years, and Magadan in 57.

Subjects

The Far East of Russia covers an area of ​​6169.3 thousand kilometers. This is about 36% of the entire country. Transbaikalia is often referred to as the Far East. This is due to its geographical location, as well as the activity of migration. The following regions of the Far East are administratively distinguished: Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin, Jewish Autonomous Regions, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk Territories. The Far Eastern Federal District also includes Primorsky Krai,

History of the Russian Far East

In the 1-2 millennium BC, the Amur region was inhabited by various tribes. The peoples of the Russian Far East today are not as diverse as they were in those days. The population then consisted of Daurs, Udeges, Nivkhs, Evenks, Nanais, Orochs, etc. The main occupations of the population were fishing and hunting. The most ancient settlements of Primorye, which date back to the Paleolithic era, were discovered near the Nakhodka region. In the Stone Age, Itelmens, Ainu and Koryaks settled on the territory of Kamchatka. TO mid-nineteenth Evenki began to appear here for centuries. In the 17th century, the Russian government began to expand Siberia and the Far East. 1632 became the year of foundation of Yakutsk. Under the leadership of the Cossack Semyon Shelkovnikov, a winter hut was organized on the coast of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bOkhotsk in 1647. Today, this place is the Russian port - Okhotsk.

The development of the Russian Far East continued. Yes, to mid-seventeenth centuries explorers Khabarov and Poyarkov went south from the Yakut prison. Na and Zeya, they encountered tribes that paid tribute to the Chinese Qing Empire. As a result of the first conflict between the countries, the Nerchinsk Treaty was signed. In accordance with it, the Cossacks had to transfer to the Qing Empire the regions formed on the lands of the Albazinsky Voivodeship. In accordance with the agreement, diplomatic and trade relations. The border under the agreement passed in the north along the river. Gorbitsa and mountain ranges of the Amur basin. Uncertainty remained in the area of ​​the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The territories between the Taikansky and Kivun ranges were undelimited. TO late XVII centuries, Russian Cossacks Kozyrevskiy and Atlasov started researching the Kamchatka peninsula. In the first half of the 18th century, it was included in Russia.

XVIII century

In 1724, Peter I sent the first expedition to the Kamchatka Peninsula. He headed it Thanks to the work of researchers, Russian science received valuable information about the eastern part of Siberia. We are talking, in particular, about the modern Magadan and Kamchatka regions. New maps appeared, the coordinates of the Far Eastern coast and the strait, which was later called the Bering Strait, were accurately determined. In 1730 a second expedition was created. It was led by Chirikov and Bering. The task of the expedition was to reach the coast of America. Interest, in particular, was represented by Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Chichagov, Steller, Krasheninnikov began to explore Kamchatka in the 18th century.

19th century

During this period, the active development of the Russian Far East began. This was largely facilitated by the weakening of the Qing Empire. She was involved in the Opium War in 1840. Military operations against the combined army of France and England in the areas of Guangzhou and Macau required large material and human resources. In the north, China was left virtually without any cover, and Russia took advantage of this. She, along with other European powers, participated in the division of the weakening Qing Empire. In 1850 Lieutenant Nevelskoy landed at the mouth of the Amur. There he established a military post. Convinced that the Qing government had not recovered from the consequences of the opium war and was inflamed in its actions and, accordingly, could not give an adequate response to Russia's claims, Nevelskoy decided to declare the coast of the Tatar Prospect and the mouth of the Amur to be domestic possessions.

In 1854, on May 14, Count Muraviev, who had information received from Nevelsky about the absence of Chinese military units, organized rafting on the river. The expedition included the Argun steamer, 29 rafts, 48 ​​boats and about 800 people. During the rafting, ammunition, troops and food were delivered. Part of the military went to Kamchatka by sea to strengthen the Peter and Paul garrison. The rest remained for the implementation of the plan for the study of the Amur region on the former Chinese territory. A year later, a second rafting was organized. It was attended by about 2.5 thousand people. By the end of 1855, several settlements were organized in the lower reaches of the Amur: Sergeevskoye, Novo-Mikhailovskoye, Bogorodskoye, Irkutsk. In 1858, the right bank was officially annexed to Russia in accordance with the Aigun Treaty. On the whole, it should be said that Russia's policy in the Far East was not of an aggressive nature. Agreements were signed with other states without the use of military force.

Physical location

The Far East of Russia in the extreme south borders on the DPRK, in the southeast on Japan. In the extreme northeast in the Bering Strait - from the USA. Another state with which the Far East (Russia) borders is China. In addition to the administrative, there is another division of the Far Eastern Federal District. So, the so-called regions of the Far East of Russia are distinguished. These are fairly large areas. Northeastern Siberia, the first of these, roughly corresponds to the eastern part of Yakutia (mountainous regions east of Aldan and Lena). The North Pacific country is the second zone. It includes the eastern parts of the Magadan Region, the Chukotka Autonomous Region, the northern parts Khabarovsk Territory. It also includes the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka. The Amur-Sakhalin country includes the Jewish Autonomous Okrug, the Amur Region, the southern part of the Khabarovsk Territory. It also includes Sakhalin Island and Primorsky Krai. Yakutia is included in Central and Southern Siberia, except for its eastern part.

Climate

Here it should be said that the Far East of Russia has a rather large extent. This explains the special contrast of the climate. Throughout Yakutia and in the Kolyma regions of the Magadan region, for example, sharply continental prevails. And in the southeast - monsoon type of climate. This difference is determined by the interaction of maritime and continental air masses in temperate latitudes. The south is characterized by a sharply monsoon climate, and maritime and monsoon-like for the north. This is the result of the interaction of land and Pacific Ocean. The Sea of ​​Okhotsk, as well as the Primorsky cold current along the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan, has a special influence on the state of the climate. Mountainous relief is also of no small importance in this zone. In the continental part of the Far Eastern Federal District, winters are not snowy and frosty.

weather features

Summer here is quite hot, but relatively short. As for the coastal regions, winters are snowy and mild, springs are cold and long, autumns are warm and long, and summers are relatively cool. On the coast, cyclones, fogs, typhoons and torrential rains are frequent. The height of the fallen snow in Kamchatka can reach six meters. The closer to the southern regions, the higher the humidity becomes. So, in the south of Primorye, it is quite often set at around 90%. Almost throughout the Far East in the summer there are prolonged rains. This, in turn, causes systematic river floods, flooding of agricultural land and residential buildings. In the Far East, there are long periods of sunny and clear weather. At the same time, continuous rains for several days are considered quite common. This kind of diversity of the Far East of Russia differs from the "gray" European part of the Russian Federation. There are also dust storms in the central part of the Far Eastern Federal District. They come from the deserts of Northern China and Mongolia. A significant part of the Far East is equated or is the Far North (except for the Jewish Autonomous Region, the south of the Amur Region, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories).

Natural resources

In the Far East, the reserves of raw materials are quite large. This allows him to be in the leading positions in the Russian economy in a number of positions. Thus, the Far East in the total Russian production accounts for 98% of diamonds, 80% of tin, 90% of boron raw materials, 14% of tungsten, 50% of gold, more than 40% of seafood and fish, 80% of soybeans, cellulose 7%, wood 13%. Among the main industries of the Far Eastern Federal District, it is worth noting the mining and processing of non-ferrous metal, pulp and paper, fishing, timber industry, ship repair and shipbuilding.

Industries

In the Far East, the main income is brought by the forestry, fishing industry, mining, and non-ferrous metal mining. These industries account for more than half of all marketable products. Manufacturing industries are considered underdeveloped. When exporting raw materials, the region incurs losses in the form of value added. The remoteness of the Far Eastern Federal District causes significant transport margins. They are reflected in the cost indicators of many economic sectors.

Mineral resources

In terms of their reserves, the Far East occupies a leading position in the Russian Federation. In terms of volume, tin, boron, and antimony available here account for about 95% of the total amount of these resources in the country. Fluorspar and mercury account for about 60%, tungsten - 24%, iron ore, apatite, native sulfur and lead - 10%. In the Republic of Sakha, in its northwestern part, there is a diamond-bearing province, the largest in the world. The Aikhal, Mir, and Udachnoye deposits account for more than 80% of the total diamond reserves in Russia. The proven reserves of iron ore in the south of Yakutia amount to more than 4 billion tons. This is about 80% of the regional volume. These reserves are also significant in the Jewish Autonomous Region. There are large coal deposits in the South Yakutsk and Lena basins. Its deposits are also present in the Khabarovsk, Primorsky Territories, and the Amur Region. Placer and ore deposits gold. Similar deposits were found in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories. In the same territories, deposits of tungsten and tin ores are being developed. Lead and zinc reserves are concentrated for the most part in Primorsky Krai. A titanium ore province has been identified in the Amur Region. In addition to the above, there are also deposits of non-metallic raw materials. These are, in particular, reserves of limestones, refractory clays, graphite, sulfur, and quartz sands.

Geostrategic position

The Far Eastern Federal District has the most important geopolitical significance for the Russian Federation. There is access to two oceans: the Arctic and the Pacific. Taking into account the high rates of development of the Asia-Pacific Region, integration into the Far Eastern Federal District is very promising for the fatherland. With a reasonable conduct of activities, the Far East can become a "bridge" in the Asia-Pacific region.

Cities of the Far East of Russia: list

These cities of the Russian Far East are of great economic and geostrategic importance for the Russian Federation. Blagoveshchensk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nakhodka, Ussuriysk are considered very promising. Yakutsk is of particular importance for the entire region. At the same time, it should be noted that there are endangered settlements. Most of them are located in Chukotka. This is mainly due to the inaccessibility of areas and severe weather conditions.

The Far East is traditionally called the territory of Russia, located off the coast of the Pacific and partially Arctic Oceans, as well as the Kuril, Commander, Shantar Islands and Sakhalin Island. The Far East is a huge territory, 36% of the total area of ​​modern Russia.

Geography and climate

The length of the region from Chukotka to the southwest to the borders of Korea and Japan is 4500 km. It captures the Arctic Circle, where snow lies all year round. The lands in the northern part of the Far East are bound by permafrost, on which the tundra grows. In fact, almost the entire territory of the Far East, except for Primorye and the southern half of Kamchatka, is located in the permafrost zone.

To the south the climate and nature change considerably. In the south of the Far East, taiga trees coexist with plants from the subtropics (which is not repeated almost anywhere in the world).

Far East. Nature

In the view of the majority, and in fact, the Far East is a vast taiga, mountains and other irregularities of the territory that attract extreme tourists so much. The rivers Amur, Penzhin, Anadyr and a number of less significant ones flow here.

The relief of the Far East has a strongly rugged character and is represented mainly by mountainous forms. There are several watershed ranges: Kolyma, Dzhugdzhur, Yablonovyo and Stanovoy. There are powerful mountain systems, for example: the Tukuringra and Jagdy ranges. The peaks of the mountain ranges of the Far East, as a rule, do not exceed 2500 m.

The landscapes of the Far East are very diverse. Plains stretch along its tributaries. In the north and west, these plains are covered with southern taiga forests of special Daurian larch. In the south, on the flat Khanka-Amur lowland, unique Manchurian broadleaf forests. Many relict and southern plants are found in them: Mongolian oak, Amur linden, white-bark elm, Manchurian ash, hornbeam, cork tree.

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The vast lowlands located between the mountain ranges are very interesting for their flora and fauna: Zee-Bureinskaya, Nizhne-Amurskaya, Ussuriyskaya and Prikhankayskaya. But in general, the plains occupy no more than 25% of the area of ​​the region.

Winters are severe and with little snow, summers are relatively warm and with heavy rainfall. Winter is characterized by weak winds, a large number of sunny days, little snow and severe frosts. Especially gets from frost to the inhabitants of the most remote mainland, for example, in Transbaikalia. Here, on average, up to 10 mm of precipitation falls during the winter. Sometimes you can't go sledding either.

Rains in the Far East, the closer to China and the sea, the more similar to showers in the tropics, but only in intensity, but not in temperature. In the summer in the Far East, you can easily come across a swamp; the swampiness of the territories reaches 15-20%.

The tastiest piece of Russia for the damned imperialists. The richest region, the natural pantry of diamonds (in Yakutia more than 80% of all reserves of Russia), in almost every subject of the region there are gold deposits (50% of Russia's reserves), deposits of non-ferrous metals, minerals, there is coal, and oil, and gas.

Cities of the Russian Far East

TO big cities include Vladivostok, Khabarovsk. These cities are of great economic and geostrategic importance for the country. Blagoveshchensk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nakhodka, Ussuriysk, Magadan should also be mentioned.

The city of Yakutsk is of particular importance for the entire region. But in Chukotka there are endangered settlements. The places there are harsh and hard to reach - people leave.

Population of the Far East

There are many nationalities in the Far East, but Russians predominate everywhere. Russians are about 88%, the second group is Ukrainians - about 7%. There are, of course, Koreans, Chinese (which is not surprising), Belarusians, Jews.

The population of the Far East is 6.3 million people. (about 5% of the population of Russia).

Indigenous peoples:

• Yakuts,
• Dolgans, Evenki and Eveny in the north,
• the northeast is occupied by the Eskimos and Chukchi,
• on the islands - Aleuts,
• in Kamchatka - Itelmens and Koryaks,
• in the Amur basin and to the east of it - Nanai, Ulchi, terms, Orochi, Udege, Nivkhs.

The number of Yakuts is about 380 thousand people, Evenks - 24 thousand. And the rest - no more than 10 thousand people. Difficult conditions residence determined that the urban population prevails over the rural. On average, 76% of the population of the Far East lives in cities.

Despite the rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing on the basis of confrontation with the West, there is a point of hidden conflict in the relations of these countries - the Far East, Sankei Shimbun writes in his article. Illegal Chinese migration to these lands worries Russians, and Chinese residents consider the territories “stolen” as a result of unequal treaties of the 19th century.

A conflict will erupt if the spark of Chinese nationalism is ignited, a Japanese newspaper warns.

The Chinese are infiltrating the Far East, where few Russians live, and suppressing them from a psychological point of view. Russian research institutes believe that in the near future the Chinese will become the most numerous nationality in the Far East region. The Chinese believe that with the help of unequal agreements that were concluded in the 19th century, part of the Far East, including Vladivostok, was taken away from them, so they are wary of the Russians.

While the leaders of Russia and China are enjoying a "honeymoon" in relations against the Western countries, a conflict is flaring up right under their noses.

The Chinese attack Russia not in tanks, but in suits.

In July, the American company ABC News published an analytical article written by a Russian expert. According to Russian media, a Russian government official in charge of border control said that 1.5 million Chinese have illegally entered the Far East over the past year and a half. While the numbers are somewhat exaggerated, he says, there is definitely a significant influx of Chinese crossing the border.

According to the Carnegie Moscow Center, in 1977 there were only 250,000 Chinese in Russia, but now their number has grown to two million people, which is comparable to the population of a large city. The government organization responsible for migration control claims that in 20-30 years the Chinese will dominate the Far East, becoming the largest nationality.

Population of the Far East federal district, which has an area twice the size of India, is 6.3 million people, which is not much more than the population of Japan's Hyogo Prefecture. At the same time, the population of the Chinese provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, bordering Russia, exceeds 100 million people.

Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, which are located on opposite sides of the Amur River that runs along the border, reflect the difference in the development of both regions.

Opposite a provincial town with a population of 200 thousand people stands a large modern city from high-rise buildings with a population of two million people.

The ABC News article notes that the Russian Far East is to China what the United States is to Mexico: these countries use their neighbors to drain population surpluses. Meanwhile, relations between Russia and China cannot be compared with relations between Mexico and the United States, where a presidential candidate proposes to build a wall to combat illegal migration. As for Russian-Chinese relations, China is superior to Russia in them, where it sends its population.

In 20 years the mayor will be a Chinese?

After the collapse of the USSR, the population of the Far East was declining. There is a serious labor shortage problem in the region. The area of ​​abandoned lands has grown; local residents alone are unable to maintain all the fields in proper condition.

According to a professor at the University of Chicago Loyola Mikhail Khodarkovsky, who published an article in The New York Times, over the past ten years, 800,000 square kilometers of agricultural land have been leased to the Chinese at a low price, which is twice more sizes Japan. There is a large-scale activity in the cultivation of soybeans, corn, as well as the breeding of pigs.

This year, the Trans-Baikal Territory, which borders China, agreed to lease 1,150 square kilometers of land to Chinese companies, about half the size of Tokyo. The lease term will be 49 years. The price is amazing: about 500 yen per hectare per year. The Russians expressed a strong protest: According to them, in 20 years the mayor will be a Chinese.

The Russian government has passed a law allowing Russians to lease land free of charge in the hope of speeding up their resettlement, but many experts fear that the post-Soviet situation could repeat itself. In the 1990s, the shares of state corporations were snapped up in the blink of an eye. As a result, only a special caste associated with the authorities lined their pockets.

The Far East cannot stand up without China, which leads to an influx of Chinese.

Professor Khodarkovsky notes: "The Russian lands along the Amur have already turned into a Chinese fiefdom."

Unrecovered lands.

As a result of the influx of Chinese, a movement for the return of the lands is emerging, but the return of the Russian territories will not be easy.

The Russian Empire, which was part of the Western forces, in 1858 and 1860 signed the Aigun and Beijing treaties with the weakened China, under which it received Far East region. These vast territories, including Primorsky Krai, are several times larger than Japan. As a result, China lost access to the sea in the northeast of the country. These were humiliating and unequal treaties for China - as in the situation with Hong Kong, which was ceded to Great Britain after the Opium War.

In the 1960s, a territorial conflict even broke out between China and the USSR. It came to an armed clash. Nevertheless, after the end of the Cold War, negotiations began on the demarcation of the borders, and in 2008 the parties reached an agreement. At present, Russia and China have no territorial problems.

Despite this, statements about the lands taken by Russia often appear on the Chinese Internet.

In July, The New York Times produced a report on Vladivostok, which last years more and more Chinese visit. This city western style, whose name means "own the East". This abandoned coastal region developed as a stronghold in the Far East.

“Obviously, these lands belonged to us. But I don’t think about returning them as soon as possible,” says a Chinese from Jilin Province. A representative of one of the Vladivostok historical research institutes emphasizes: “Chinese scientists and officials do not talk about the rights to Vladivostok, but ordinary Chinese, thinking about unfair treaties, believe that someday these territories should be returned.”

Ice cream as a symbol of the "honeymoon"

The territorial nationalism fueled by the Chinese authorities over Taiwan, Tibet, the Senkaku archipelago and the South China Sea has already gone beyond the government's intentions and turned towards Russia. Many Chinese already believe that the Far East is stolen territories.

During a meeting at highest level, which was held in September in Hangzhou, President Putin presented to the head of China Xi Jinping his favorite Russian ice cream, thus illustrating the "honeymoon" in bilateral relations. Russia and China are in confrontation with Western countries over Crimea and the South China Sea, respectively, and are strengthening bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, Pandora's box, fraught with the territorial problem in the Far East, is still closed. If nationalism escalates, then the ice cream is likely to melt quickly.