Message about the Far East. Interesting facts about the Khabarovsk Territory

The land is distant and at the same time so close, known to everyone and at the same time has not yet fully revealed its riches - such is the Far East, the easternmost part of our Motherland. This land attracts the most courageous, courageous people. There is a lot of contrast, unusual here.

The vast expanses of the Far East. This is clearly visible on any school map. The Far East occupies one seventh of the country. At least a dozen European states such as Italy or Norway can fit on its territory. The Far East Region includes Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai with the Jewish Autonomous Region, Magadan Region with the Chukotka National District, Kamchatka with the Koryak National District, as well as the Amur and Sakhalin Regions.

The nature of the Far East is extremely diverse. Yes, this is not surprising! After all, the region stretches from north to south for more than 4.5 thousand km, that is, a little more than from Murmansk to Batumi. There are places here that resemble the Kola Peninsula, and the Moscow region, and Georgia, but you can also find a lot of things that are not in the European part of our Motherland.

Northern Sakhalin is located at the latitude of Kaluga, but there is real tundra in this part of the island. In Primorye, you can see how wild grapes - a plant predominantly of the subtropics - wrap around the mighty trunk of the Ayan spruce - a tree characteristic of regions with a harsh climate. Bamboo, creepers, magnolia vine, fern and next to it - fir, larch, cedar.

There are active volcanoes in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. Typhoons often break through to the shores of Primorye, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands - storms that are characteristic only of tropical and subtropical regions.

People living in the European part of the USSR know that the highest water level in the rivers occurs in the spring, when the snow melts, and by the end of the summer the level drops sharply. In the Far East, the opposite is true: the rivers flood the most in summer; streams, which can be easily forded by the end of spring, turn into powerful streams in summer.

The climate of this region is peculiar. The Far East occupies the outskirts of the vast Asian continent. The seasonal winds blowing in these places - monsoons (in winter - from the mainland, in summer - from the ocean) make winter in most of the Far East cold and snowless, and summer - warm and humid. In late July - early August, there are heavy showers in the south of the region. For a week and a half, sometimes up to 3/4 of the annual precipitation falls here. This is why the rivers overflow so strongly. Coming out of the banks, they flood huge areas.

The northern part of the Far East is a cold, harsh region.

Nature generously endowed the Far East with its gifts. What is not here! Underground storerooms store large reserves of gold and tin, coal and oil, iron ore, molybdenum, tungsten, antimony, mica, graphite, and mineral building materials. And although this region has not yet been studied enough, even what is already known is striking in its scale. It is no coincidence that Sakhalin, for example, is called the "treasure island".

The green ocean - this is how the forest riches of the Far East can be called. Forests cover 3496 of the entire territory of the district. More than 20% of our country's timber reserves are concentrated here. What kind of trees can not be found in the Far Eastern forests! Korean cedar, Dahurian larch, black fir, Ayan spruce reach great heights. Some of them are centuries old. Erofey Khabarov, Vasily Poyarkov and other Russian explorers who discovered this richest region could pass near these forest giants.

In the Far Eastern forests there are many valuable species that are rarely found on earth. Such, for example, is Amur velvet. Its trunk, like an expensive fur coat, is wrapped in thick bark, which is used for the production of corks, insulation boards, and linoleum. No less valuable is the so-called iron birch, which in terms of hardness of wood is not inferior to backout - the hardest tree in the world growing in the tropics. For exceptionally durable wooden products, there is no better tree than iron birch. Maak's euonymus grows here, the trunk and roots of which contain a special juice. It can be used to make gutta-percha. In the wilderness of the forest, experienced taiga residents find ginseng, which is called the “root of life” for its healing properties.

A hunting lover cannot find a better region than the Far East. Animals and birds are found in abundance in Chukotka and in the south of Primorye, in Kamchatka and in the Amur region. There are many fur-bearing animals - sables, weasels, ermines, squirrels, foxes, lynxes, wolverines. Hunting for them is of great importance for the economy of the region.

What kind of fish you will not see in the Far East! And salmon, and herring, and cod, and flounder. In the Amur, for example, Kaluga is found. Its weight sometimes reaches 1 ton. The coastal waters of Kamchatka are famous for crabs. There are many whales in the seas and oceans.

Speaking about the natural resources of the Far East, one cannot fail to mention the energy that the rivers conceal. Who has not heard of the Volga hydroelectric power station. V. I. Lenin and them. XXII Congress of the CPSU? Giants! And on the rivers of the Far East, 18-20 such giants can be built.

The Far East is very rich in mineral springs, which are not inferior in quality to the best springs in the Caucasus. Especially valuable are the numerous hot mineral springs of the Amur region, Kamchatka, Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. They are used not only for treatment. In greenhouses heated by such hot waters, even grapes can be grown all year round.

The Soviet people did a lot to use the wealth of the Far East. Over the past 30 years, a large number of enterprises have appeared here, primarily heavy industry - ferrous metallurgy, oil and coal industries. Mechanical engineering, especially shipbuilding, received a diversified development. This region also occupies a leading place in the country in the extraction of gold, tin and other non-ferrous metals.

There is no region in the Soviet Union where more fish are caught and more canned fish is produced than in the Far East. The Far Eastern economic and geographical region is an important producer of soybeans and rice. The new Party Program - the Program for Building Communism in the USSR - provides for the further development of all these branches of the national economy.

The development of the southern regions of the Far East is closely connected with the Amur and the Trans-Siberian Railway. Favorable climatic conditions, vast areas of unused, but suitable for agricultural development, have long attracted people from the European regions of Russia. The first settlers then moved mainly along the Amur. They developed the lands located near the river, sowed wheat and oats. The Amur region gradually became the main granary of the Far East. Then gold was discovered here. The beginning of the gold rush and the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway caused a new influx of people. Enterprises of the timber and food industries appeared in the Amur region. The cities of Blagoveshchensk and Alekseevsk (now Svobodny) began to grow. But still, until the October Revolution, the vast region remained deaf, sparsely populated.

Now the leading place in the economy of the Amur Region is occupied by the mining of gold, coal, river shipbuilding and ship repair, the timber and woodworking industries. In addition, this area is rightly called the main supplier of agricultural products of the Far East.

Blagoveshchensk, which recently turned one hundred years old, is the administrative, cultural and largest industrial center of the region. The cities of Raichikhinsk, Svobodny, Belogorsk, Zavitinsk, Shimanovsk owe their growth to Soviet power.

If the traveler, going down the Amur to its mouth, was guided by old maps, then from the Lesser Khingan to the Tatar Strait, he could find only two names on them: Khabarovsk and Nikolaevsk. Khabarovsk resembled merchant Blagoveshchensk, and Nikolaevsk was just a village. A.P. Chekhov, passing here on his way to Sakhalin, wrote about Nikolaevsk: “Almost half of the houses are abandoned by their owners, dilapidated, and dark windows without frames look at you like the eye sockets of a skull.” Almost everything that is available in the Khabarovsk Territory was created during the years of Soviet power. A variety of engineering, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, oil refining, building materials industry, coal and timber industries - this is not a complete list of industries in the Khabarovsk Territory.

By the beginning of 1962, there were 40 urban-type settlements and 8 cities in the region. And what cities! Khabarovsk has become a large modern city in the Far East with a population of 349,000 people.

And Komsomolsk-on-Amur, built by young people, has grown so much that it is difficult to compete with it in terms of the number of inhabitants and in terms of amenities even such ancient cities as Smolensk, Vladimir, Tambov, Kaluga. Now in Komsomolsk-on-Amur there is the firstborn of the ferrous metallurgy of the Far East - Amurstal, machine-building plants, sawmills, a fish processing plant. Near Komsomolsk-on-Amur, his younger brothers grow up: Amursk with a pulp and paper mill and Solnechny. There are a lot of spruce forests in the Khabarovsk Territory, and this is the main raw material for the pulp and paper industry. On the basis of a recently found tin deposit, a mining and processing plant is being built in the city of Solnechny. Deposits of tin ores are concentrated on a small area. The economic conditions for their development are very favorable. Part of the raw materials will be mined in an open way. The cost of tin here will be one of the lowest in the country.

FOR 100 YEARS

At the Far Eastern gates of the Soviet land, on the ocean, stands Vladivostok.

The city has convenient bays, the best of them, with a large area, with high banks, is called the Golden Horn.

... A little over 100 years ago, the Russian military transport "Manchzhur" entered these places. The sailors saw a quiet windless harbor, dense taiga, still untouched by man, on the high slopes of the hills. Sailors fell in love with this glorious corner. 40 people landed on the beach. These were the first inhabitants of the future city.

Vladivostok has a great history. It is full of tragic events of the first years of the revolution. Later, the residents of Vladivostok got rid of all the Soviet people from foreign invaders and the White Guards. In 1922, the Red Army threw Japanese, American and other invaders into the ocean, who were trying to restore the old order to our land.

… And now the forest of construction cranes is growing thicker and thicker in the city. Over a hundred years of Vladivostok's existence, 1 million 400 thousand m 2 of housing has been built. According to the seven-year plan, people will receive 200 thousand m 2 more than was built in a whole century!

Vladivostok residents are proud of the huge construction scope of their city.

In its northwestern region, the buildings of the town of science - the Far Eastern branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences - are growing. Further north, along the bay, sanatoriums and boarding houses - "recreation areas" are being built. And there will be a large residential area nearby.

It's not just the boundaries of the city that are expanding. The face of the old center is changing. Cinemas, libraries, the House of Pioneers, universities, multi-storey residential buildings are being built at a rapid pace. The contours of new streets, avenues and squares are already visible through the apparent randomness of large construction projects. The features of a modern port city stand out.

The port itself has changed unrecognizably and continues to change. It is equipped with advanced technology that facilitates human labor. Through it, not only goods are imported into our country, but also machinery, equipment and products of Soviet industry are exported to other countries.

Do not recognize the former Vladivostok! The city entered the second century of its life renewed.

Nikolaevsk-on-Amur is a junction of waterways and a center of the fishing industry. Every year the role of Sovetskaya Gavan - a city and a seaport, a center of the fish processing and timber industry - is growing.

To the south of the Khabarovsk Territory is Primorye - one of the most wonderful corners of our Motherland. It is impossible to imagine the present day of this region without the coal mines of Suchan and Artem, without the polymetallic mines of the Tetyukhinsky district, without the industrial enterprises of Ussuriysk, Lesozavodsk, Iman, Spassk-Dalny and, of course, primarily Vladivostok.

This city was founded over a hundred years ago. At first, there was a parking lot for Russian military ships, and later Vladivostok turned into a major port. Now Vladivostok is the gateway of our Motherland to the Pacific Ocean, to world markets. Among the cities of the Far East, it is second only to Khabarovsk in terms of population.

In the south of Primorsky Krai, not far from Vladivostok, there are several ports and centers of the fish processing industry. Among them, the city of Nakhodka stands out. Its port, refrigerator and powerful shipyard are equipped with the most modern technology.

The only region in our country that is separated from the mainland by the sea is Sakhalin. It includes Fr. Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. In the Kuriles, every island has its own nature, its relief, its own characteristics. They say about Sakhalin: "The spool is small, but expensive." Its bowels store oil, gas, coal, iron ores, mercury, gold. Coastal waters here abound with fish and marine animals; 2/3 of the island is covered with forest. The land can produce good crops of potatoes, vegetables and sugar beets.

Extraction of oil, coal, fishing and processing of fish, production of pulp and paper - this is what characterizes the industry of today's Sakhalin region. There are no such large industrial centers as Khabarovsk or Vladivostok, but each city and village (and there are many of them on the island) has its own “specialty”. Okha, for example, is the city of oil workers, Uglegorsk is coal miners, Nevelsk is fish workers, Dolinsk is wallet workers. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is the industrial and cultural center of the region. Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky - the center of the coal, fish, timber and food industries; in addition, it is a major port in the Tatar Strait. Korsakov, Kholmsk are, first of all, seaports connecting Sakhalin with Primorye, the Okhotsk coast, the extreme North-East, and Kamchatka.

The Kamchatka region in the recent past was a remote outskirts of tsarist Russia. Canadian, American, Japanese industrialists and Russian merchants exploited the natural wealth of Kamchatka, dooming the indigenous peoples of the region to extinction.

Kamchatka today is the country's largest fish "workshop", the most important region for hunting, fur farming, and the region for harvesting and processing crabs. The region provides a tenth of the Union's catch of fish, sea animals, whales, every tenth can of canned fish produced in our country.

Fishing is associated with the placement of processing plants along the western and eastern coasts. New industries for the region have been created here - the forestry and woodworking industries, mechanical engineering and metalworking, and the building materials industry.

Hunger, poverty and lack of rights are gone. Now in Kamchatka almost every village has a cinema, radio, all children go to school. Educational institutions have been set up, newspapers are being published. From the seaport of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, many ships go to Chukotka, Sakhalin, Primorye, to the shores of America.

"The land of icy silence" - this is how the present Magadan region was called in the past. The harsh climate, proximity to the cold pole, tundra, complete lack of roads, extremely poor population hindered the slightest development of this vast region. Could it have been possible half a century ago to think that it would become the country's largest gold and tin mining area, that coal mines and fish plants, timber industry enterprises and machine-building plants would grow here, that a large modern city would arise on the shores of the harsh Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bOkhotsk, in Nagaev Bay Magadan, that a beautiful highway - the Kolyma tract - will go deep into the region, dozens of comfortable urban-type settlements will appear? All this was created in the Magadan region by Soviet people in defiance of nature.

The Far East have done a lot to boost the economy of their region. Brave, wonderful people built Komsomolsk-on-Amur, mining enterprises in Chukotka, plow up the virgin lands of the Amur and Primorye, fish in the open ocean. The natural wealth here is enormous, but there are still not enough people - after all, in a territory that is more than 5.5 times larger than France, the population is 10 times less than in this country.

The Far East is one of those areas of our Motherland that are being mastered primarily by visitors. Here you can meet an Arkhangelsk lumberjack and an Astrakhan fisherman, a machine builder from Leningrad and a collective farmer from the Kuban, residents of the Moscow region and Moldova, a Russian and a Ukrainian, a Belarusian and a Tatar, a Moldavian and a Jew, a Chuvash and an Armenian. The names of settlements often speak about where people moved to the Far East from: Kievka, Chernigovka, Astrakhanka, Kishinevka, Latvia ...

There are also relatively small groups of indigenous peoples in the Far East who have inhabited this region since ancient times: Koryaks, Itelmens, Chukchis, Aleuts, Evenks, Evens, Nanais, Nivkhs, Ulchis, Udeges, Tazis, Orochs, Eskimos, Ainu, etc.

All this friendly multinational family is working, sparing no effort, doing everything possible to make their land even more beautiful. After all, in twenty years the Soviet people will live under communism. So it is said in the new Program of the CPSU, and so it will be. But for this, our people still have a lot to do. Big tasks must also be solved by the inhabitants of the Far East of the Soviet country, who enthusiastically participate in communist construction.

New houses of Amursk are rising. New deposits of coal, tin, gold and other non-ferrous metals are being developed. In Tungor, the new oil region of Sakhalin, oil rigs have risen. Big changes are taking place in the fishing industry. In the Far East, floating fish factories have been operating for a long time, which can not only catch fish, but also process it. They go far into the ocean, and after a month and a half they deliver frozen fish, canned food and other fish products to the shore.

Timber industry complexes are being created - large centers of the timber, woodworking and pulp and paper industries, equipped with the latest science and technology. Hydroelectric power stations are being designed on the Amur and its tributaries, which will not only run current through the wires, but also put an end to the destructive spills of the Amur forever.

In the next 20 years, the 22nd CPSU Congress decided, three powerful new metallurgical bases will be created. Residents of the Soviet Far East will take part in the construction of one of these bases together with the Siberians.

Much attention is also paid to the agriculture of the region. One of the most important tasks in this area is the creation of a solid fodder base for animal husbandry. The sowing of corn for silage and grain is expanding, and the areas occupied by soybeans and fodder beans are increasing.

Fishing and fur farming will be further developed.

The Soviet Far East has a great future. The people of our country, primarily the youth, who wrote more than one glorious page in the annals of the development of the Far East, will create new cities, factories, mines, factories, state farms.

And in many ways this future depends on you, young reader, on your participation in the development of this region. Strong, skilful hands and hot young hearts are badly needed in the Far East.

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On the topic: "Far East"

I.Introduction…………………………………………………………………3

II.Geographical position……………………………………….4

III.Climate…………………………………………………………………5

IV.Population…………………………………………………………..5

V.Resources………………………………………………………………….9

VI. Coal industry …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

VII.Mining industry ……………………………..20

VIII. Fisheries……………………………………………….21

IX. Forestry, woodworking, pulp and paper industry……………………………………………………..23

X. Power industry………………………………………………..26

XI . Light industry……………………………………….30

XII . Water transport………………………………………………30

XIII . Railways………………………………………………….35

XIV . Road transport…………………………………..38

XV. Civil Aviation………………………………………….40

XVI.Pipeline transport…………………………………….41

XVII . Agriculture……………………………………………….41

XVIII . Conclusion………………………………………………………..43

XIX . Literature………………………………………………………..44

Introduction

The region includes the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Khabarovsk Territory, Primorsky Territory, Amur, Sakhalin, Kamchatka and Magadan regions. According to a number of basic characteristics (economic and geographical location, natural resources, conditions for their development, specialization of the economy), two sub-regions are distinguished: North (Yakutia-Sakha and Magadan Region) and South (Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, Amur, Sakhalin and Kamchatka Regions). The Far East South is much more favorable for economic development than the North. About 30% of the region's area is home to 80% of its inhabitants. The north, on the contrary, is characterized by harsh nature and sparsely populated areas. The development of valuable minerals is the main specialization of the region, which determines its place in the Russian economy. Industrial centers associated mainly with the extraction of minerals are significantly removed from each other.

There are two most important factors that determine the position of the Far East in the system of Russian regions. First of all, the special economic and geographical position of the region. It is characterized by remoteness from the main, most populated and developed regions of the country, as well as marginality and limited contacts with the only neighbor - Eastern Siberia.

The second factor is a powerful resource potential. The Far East is one of the richest regions of Russia. This gives him the opportunity to occupy an important place in the country's economy in a number of raw material positions.

The development of the regions of the Far East for many years was strictly regulated from the center in order to ensure the defense security of the state, most regions of the region were closed zones, since significant potential for the needs of the military-industrial complex was created here for many years. As a result, for a long time, these regions were economically isolated to a large extent from the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, from their closest neighbors. In recent years, against the backdrop of the dynamically developing economies of many Asia-Pacific countries, the Far Eastern region of Russia, for a number of reasons, has found itself in a position of lagging behind.

So, despite the grandiose name - "an outpost of socialism on the Pacific coast", the Far East within the USSR played the role of a raw materials appendage and a means of solving military-political problems. Despite the declared regularity of the socialist mode of production - "pulling up lagging territorial links", in the Soviet period this region constantly lagged behind its neighbors - Western and Eastern Siberia in terms of economic growth

Geographical position

The Far East occupies a special place in Russia and the Asia-Pacific region and is a unique subcontinent of the Eurasian continent, washed from the north and east by the seas of the Arctic and Pacific oceans. The western border of the region runs from the confluence of the Shilka and Argun rivers (the beginning of the Amur River) through the Stanovoy, Dzhugdzhur and Kolyma Uplands to the Chaun Bay in the East Siberian Sea. From the south, the Far East borders on the territories of the PRC and the DPRK. Its extreme northern point is Cape Shelaginsky, the southernmost point is at the mouth of the Tyumen-Ula River.

The most important feature of the economic and geographical position of the Far Eastern economic region is its great remoteness from the main economic potential of Russia. The area is located on the eastern outskirts of the country, it is separated not only from Moscow, but even from the industrial centers of Siberia by distances measured by many thousands of kilometers.

The total area of ​​the Far East is 6215.0 thousand square meters. km. (36% of the country's area). The territory of the Far East stretches along the Pacific coast for 4500 km. Here are located the largest peninsula - Kamchatka (350 thousand sq. km.), the largest island of the country - Sakhalin (76.4 thousand sq. km.), the archipelago with the largest number of islands - the Kuriles and many other archipelagos and islands. The Far East has the longest coastline among the regions - 17.7 thousand km. (with islands).

The territory of the Far East is located in 4 time zones. AT I time zone (Kamchatka Oblast and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug), the difference between local and world time is +12h. (between local and Moscow time +9 h.) II belt (Magadan region) difference between local and world +11h. (+9 hours with Moscow). AT III (Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories) this difference is +10h. (+7 hours compared to Moscow); in IV time zone (Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Chita region) +9h. (+6 hours compared to Moscow).

Most of the Far East (about 75% of the territory) is occupied by plateaus and low uplands (up to 1000-2000 m). The Pacific coast is dominated by young mountains, plateaus, mountain ranges and ranges. The largest mountain formations are the Sikhote-Alin, Burensky, Verkhoyansky, Stanovoy, Dzhugdzhursky, Koryaksky ridges, as well as the Chukotka and Aldan highlands. There are 160 volcanoes in Kamchatka, 28 of which are active, and there are many geysers. Kamchatka and the Kuriles are part of the seismic belt. It is in Kamchatka that one of the largest active volcanoes in the world is located - Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4750 m). Plains and lowlands occupy only relatively small areas (about 25% of the territory), mainly along river valleys, and it is in these areas that the main economic life of the region is concentrated. Main plains: Zeya-Bureya, Sredneamurskaya, Prikhankayskaya, Central Yakutskaya.

There is a great variety of soils corresponding to the types of vegetation zones: in the tundra - tundra gley, marsh-peat, in the forest-tundra - swampy, podzolic-peaty, in the taiga - podzolic, marsh peat, peat-gley, in the southern zones - brown and brown-taiga, meadow- chernozem soils. Permafrost occupies up to 90% of the area of ​​the Far East, which makes construction and agriculture difficult.

The climate of the Far East is distinguished by a special contrast - from sharply continental (the whole of Yakutia, the Kolyma regions of the Magadan region) to monsoonal (southeast), which is due to the vast extent of the territory from north to south (almost 3900 km.) And from west to east (to 2500-3000 km.). This is determined by the interaction of continental and sea air masses of temperate latitudes. In the northern part, the climate is exceptionally harsh. Winter with little snow, lasts up to 9 months. The southern part has a monsoonal climate with cold winters and wet summers.

In winter, currents of cold air rush to the southeast from the powerful Asian High. In the northeast, along the outskirts of the Aleutian Low, the cold continental air of Eastern Siberia interacts with warm sea air. As a result, cyclones often occur, which are associated with a large amount of precipitation. There is a lot of snow in Kamchatka, blizzards are not uncommon. On the eastern coast of the peninsula, the height of the snow cover can sometimes reach 6 m. Snowfalls are also significant on Sakhalin.

In summer, air currents rush from the Pacific Ocean. Maritime air masses interact with continental air masses, as a result of which monsoon rains occur throughout the Far East in summer. The monsoon climate of the Far East covers the Amur Region and Primorsky Territory. As a result, the largest Far Eastern river, the Amur, and its tributaries flood not in the spring, but in the summer, which usually leads to catastrophic floods. Devastating typhoons often sweep over coastal areas, coming from the southern seas.

Population

In 1998, the total population living in the Far East was 7263.1 thousand people (in 1991 - 8057 thousand people) or 5.0% of the population of Russia.

The dynamics of the population in the Far East reflects the all-Russian trend, since 1991 there has been a constant decline in it. The rate of population decline for the period from 1992 to 1997 is from 1% to 2% per year, which is higher than the national figure (the most significant decrease in the population occurred in 1994 - by 2.1%). In 1998, compared with 1997, the population of the Far East decreased by 1.1%, while the reduction in the Russian Federation was 0.3%. The decrease in the number is influenced by the decrease in natural population growth and migration loss outside the region.

Since 1993, natural population growth has become negative, and the value of this factor, in general, the decline in population by 1996 was 22%. The rate of natural population loss after 1993 in the regions of the Far East amounted to 1-4 people per 1 thousand inhabitants. The exceptions are the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Here, in the course of the 1990s, a phenomenon unique for Russia has been observed – natural population growth. In 1998, for the first time since 1991, Kamchatka and Magadan oblasts experienced a slight natural increase in population (0.3 and 0.7 people per 1,000 inhabitants).

The largest population lives in Primorsky Krai, the share of Primorsky Krai in the total population living in the Far East increases compared to other regions (from 28.5% in 1991 to 30.2% in 1998). The Khabarovsk Territory ranks second in this indicator (21% in 1998).

The highest rate of population decline for the period from 1991 to 1997. were observed in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (15.1% in 1992 and 11.5% in 1994) and in the Magadan Region (9.9% in 1992). The most stable is Primorsky Krai, the decline in numbers was significantly below 1% and only in 1997 amounted to 1%. In the Khabarovsk Territory, the dynamics of population decline is also stable, although the rates are slightly higher than in Primorsky Territory: in 1991-98. the decline in numbers did not exceed 1.5% of the total population of the region per year.

In 1998 The largest population decline occurred in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (4.4%), in the Magadan Region (2.3%) and in the Sakhalin Region (1.9%). The smallest reduction was observed in the Khabarovsk Territory (0.7%), in the Amur Region and Primorsky Territory (0.8% each).

At the same time, the share of the population living in the Far East in the total population of Russia since 1991 to 1998 decreases. In 1998 this figure was 4.96% compared with 5.42% in 1991. The largest part of the population in 1998. lived in Primorsky Krai (1.5% of the population in the Russian Federation), the smallest - in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug (0.02% of the all-Russian indicator) and in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (0.06% of the all-Russian indicator).

Primorsky Krai has the highest population density (13.48 people per 1 sq. km.), the Koryak Autonomous Okrug has the lowest density (0.11 people per 1 sq. km.).

The main factor in the population decline is migration outside the Far East, mainly to the western regions of Russia for permanent residence. The migration loss reached the highest rates in the northern zone of the Far East - in Chukotka and in the Magadan Region, where in 1992-1995. migration outflow reached 6-12 people per 100 inhabitants. Cities were subjected to migration processes to the greatest extent, rural areas to the least extent.

January-November 1998 174334 people arrived in the Far East, mostly they entered the region from other regions of Russia (82.2% of the total number of those who entered the region). The largest number of migrants arrived in Primorsky Krai (32.7% of the total number of those who entered the region) and Khabarovsk Krai (18%). During the same period, 231,902 people left the Far East, mostly the population went to other regions of Russia (90.4% of the total number of those who left). The largest number of those who left - from Primorsky Krai (25.8% of the total number of those who left) and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) - (16.9%). Yakutia) - 17906 people, Sakhalin region - 9283 people and Kamchatka region - 5801 people. The population exchange with foreign countries for the Far East region was positive and amounted to 26 people. Among the territory of the Far East, the positive balance of population exchange with foreign countries was in Primorsky Krai (4169 people). However, here it is necessary to take into account the exchange of CIS countries and the remigration of the population.

The official number of refugees in the Far East as of January 1, 1999 was 8,751. The largest number of refugees arrive in Primorsky Krai (4135 people or 45.3% of the total number of refugees). The Amur region follows with a significant margin, 1677 refugees have arrived here so far (18.4% of the total). To a lesser extent, refugees seek to settle in the Magadan region - 205 people (2.3% of the total) and in Yakutia - 26 people (0.3% of the total). The real number of refugees, especially in the southern regions of the Far East, is much higher than the official figures.

In 1998, as in previous years, the urban population prevailed in the Far East (75.9% of the total). The rural population was 24.1%. The highest proportion of the population living in urban areas is observed in the Magadan region (89.9% of the total population) and in the Sakhalin region (85.8%). The smallest share of the population living in cities is in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug (24.8% of the total population) and in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) 64.4%. In total, as of January 1, 1999, 5512.3 thousand people lived in cities, and 1750.8 thousand people lived in rural areas.

The ratio between the urban and rural population in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories has practically not changed over the 1990s (78.1%/21.9% and 80.9%/19.1%, respectively, as of January 1, 1999). The proportion of the population living in the cities of the Amur Region has decreased (from 67.9% in 1991 to 65.6% in 1998), in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (from 66.6% in 1991 to 64.4% in 1998 .).

The most urbanized are Primorsky Krai (29% of the total urban population of the Far East lives in cities) and Khabarovsk Krai (21.4% of the urban population of the Far East lives in cities)

The largest (by number) cities in the Far East are Vladivostok (626.5 thousand people in 1996) and Khabarovsk (616.3 thousand people in 1996)

Resources of the Far East

Mineral resources. The Far East has the largest reserves of mineral resources, in terms of the volume of reserves of which the region occupies a leading position in Russia. Far Eastern reserves of antimony, boron, tin account for about 95% of all reserves of these resources in Russia, fluorspar and mercury - up to 60%, tungsten - 24% and about 10% of the total Russian reserves of iron ore, lead, native sulfur, apatite.

The world's largest diamond-bearing province is located in the north-west of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia): the Mir, Aikhal, and Udachnoye diamond deposits account for over 80% of Russia's diamond reserves.

The proven reserves of iron ore in the south of Yakutia amounted to more than 4 billion tons (about 80% of the regional one), and the reserves of these ores are significant in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Large coal reserves are located in the Lena and South Yakutsk basins (Yakutia), in the Amur Region, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories.

The Far East region is one of the most important gold-bearing regions of Russia. Ore and placer gold deposits are concentrated in the Republic of Sakha, Magadan, Amur regions, Khabarovsk Territory and Kamchatka.

Tin and tungsten ores have been discovered and are being developed in the Republic of Sakha, the Magadan Region, the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories. The main industrial reserves of lead and zinc (up to 80% of the regional total) are concentrated in Primorsky Krai. A large titanium ore province (Kalarsko-Dzhugdzhurskaya) has been identified on the territory of the Amur Region and the Khabarovsk Territory. The main deposits of mercury are located in the Magadan region, Chukotka, Yakutia and the Khabarovsk Territory.

In addition to the above, there are reserves of non-metallic raw materials: limestone, marl, refractory clay, quartz sand, sulfur, graphite. In Tommot, on the upper Aldan, unique deposits of mica have been explored.

Forest resources. The forest resources of the Far East are large and varied. Forests here account for over 35% of the total Russian resources. The most common forests are larch forests, in which the main part of timber reserves is concentrated (more than 60%). This type of forest is common in Yakutia, the Amur and Magadan regions and the Khabarovsk Territory. Spruce-fir forests account for more than 5% of the area of ​​all forests and 12% of the wood reserves of the Far East. These forests predominate in Primorsky Krai and Sakhalin. The most valuable are cedar-broad-leaved forests (with the highest concentration of wood), which make up about 3 million hectares. They cover 1% of the territory of the Far East.

Of the forest resources of non-timber origin, it is worth noting the unique species of medicinal plants (ginseng, eleutherococcus, Manchurian aralia and others, in total - more than a thousand species), as well as hundreds of species of food plants, mushrooms, etc.

Land resources. The main resource to which all other species are tied is land resources. The land fund of the Far East is 616.9 million hectares. It lists five main land types: forests (45.5%), reindeer pastures (30.3%), agricultural land, and other land. There is a very small area of ​​land (1.1%) where agricultural production is possible. Of course, some increase in the area is possible due to the drainage of swamps, land reclamation, but this requires significant financial resources. Here, even at a fairly low density, there is only 1.32 hectares of agricultural land per capita, and these lands are infertile, waterlogged, uncomfortable, and require huge expenditures for melioration.

Territorially, land resources are unevenly distributed. So the main part of agricultural land is located in the south of the Amur Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories.

Water resources. The Far East is rich in sea, ocean and land resources. The seas belong to the basins of the Arctic and Pacific oceans. The rivers mainly belong to the basin of the two largest rivers - the Lena and the Amur, which flow into the Arctic and Pacific oceans, respectively, and they are so large that the tributaries flowing into them, in turn, are large rivers along which navigation is possible. The hydrographic network of the Far East includes many relatively small lakes.

The seas of the Far East: Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi (northern coast), Bering, Okhotsk, Japanese (east coast) - have a huge water area (over 3.5 million sq. km.) And a variety of natural resources, both biological and and mineral.

The Lena River begins in Eastern Siberia, but flows mainly through the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), its length is 4400 km, the basin area is 2490 thousand square meters. km., the average annual runoff is 488 cubic meters. km. In terms of water content, it ranks second in Russia after the Yenisei. The main tributaries of the Lena: Vilyui (2650 km.), Aldan (2273 km.), Vitim (1837 km.), Olekma (1436 km.), Nyuya (798 km.), Kirenga (746 km.), Big Patom (570 km. .).

The Amur River begins in Mongolia, but flows mainly through the Far East (Amur Region, Jewish Autonomous Region, Khabarovsk Territory). Its basin also includes the rivers of Primorsky Krai. The length of the Amur is 4440 km, of which 2.8 thousand km are in the Far East, the basin area is 1855 thousand square meters. km. (of which 922 thousand sq. km. fall on the territory of Russia), the average annual flow is 346 cubic meters. km. In terms of water content, the Amur ranks fourth in Russia after the Yenisei, Lena, and Ob. The main tributaries in the Far East: Zeya (1242 km.), Ussuri (897 km.), Amgun (723 km.), Selemdzha (647 km.), Bureya (623 km.), Bikin (560 km., a tributary of the Ussuri ), Tungusska with the rivers Kur and Urmi (544 km.).

There are also many rivers in the Far East that independently flow into the seas. The largest are: Olenyok (2292 km.), Kolyma (2129 km.), Indigirka (1726 km.), Alazeya (1590 km.), Anadyr (1150 km.), Anabar (939 km.), Yana (872 km. .) Kamchatka (785 km.) and Penzhina (713 km.). Their total average water discharge at the mouth is 14 thousand cubic meters. m per second.

There are many small lakes in the Far East (about 300 have a surface area of ​​more than 2 sq. km.). The largest of them is Lake Khanka, located in the Primorsky Territory (the surface area is over 4 thousand square kilometers). The shores of lakes are often swampy. The degree of mineralization of water in them is different - from fresh to salty.

Of the other water resources in the Far East, surface swampiness is widespread, which plays an important role in water regulation. Underground waters have frequent outlets of mineral and thermal springs.

In terms of overall moisture content, the Far East is provided with water resources for economic activity. The average water supply per inhabitant is 5 times higher than the average for Russia. But these numbers are misleading. The lowest water supply per inhabitant is in the Sakhalin Region and Primorsky Territory, the most densely populated areas of the region. Moreover, in the south of the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, as well as in some of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where most of the population of the region lives, there is a real shortage of fresh water. This is due either to the freezing of rivers or to droughts during the intertyphoon period.

biological resources. The richness of the Far East in water and forest resources provides a variety of biological resources, which include the resources of the seas, rivers and lakes, as well as land resources.

Biological resources of the sea. The marine biological resources of the Far East are enormous, mainly concentrated in the 200-mile coastal zone and on the shelf of the Far Eastern seas. The total volume of fish and seafood in the Russian economic zone reaches 26 million tons, including 16 million tons of cod fish species (pollock, navaga, cod, hake, etc.), 3 million tons of herring, from 0.3 up to 0.7 million tons of flounder, perch, sardines, salmon, saury. Seafood stocks amount to 2.5 million tons - these are krill, squid, crab, trumpeter, scallop, anfeltia, shrimp, trepang, seaweed. These resources are unevenly distributed over the water area of ​​the Far Eastern seas. The most productive are the Sea of ​​Okhotsk (46% of production) and South Kuril (18% of production) fishing areas.

It is also necessary to highlight the diversity of marine animals. Seals, walruses, fur seals, sea otters live here, as well as whales and sperm whales.

Biological resources of land. The taiga, which occupies a significant part of the territory of the Far East, is home to a significant number of rare large animals. These include over 10 species of predators (tiger, brown and Himalayan bear, wolf, various species of lynx, leopard, etc.), about 40 species of fur-bearing animals (moose, wild boars, deer, roe deer, etc.) and up to 100 species of hunting birds .

The southern Ussuri taiga has the richest diversity of fauna, where about 700 species of animals coexist, among which there are both northern and southern species.

Flora and fauna. In the Far East, the boundaries of vegetation zones are very tortuous. Nevertheless, several main zones are distinguished: the zone of the Arctic tundra (islands and the coast of the Arctic Ocean), the tundra zone (Chukotka and Koryak Autonomous Okrugs, slightly - Yakutia), the forest-tundra zone. The zone of coniferous forests (taiga) has the largest area. To the south, there is a zone of coniferous-deciduous forests of the taiga, to mixed and broad-leaved forests in the south.

Animal world. The fauna of the Far East is diverse. Marine animals are of industrial importance: fish, mollusks, sea animals, etc. The most unique species of land animals are the Ussuri tiger, brown and Himalayan bears, East Siberian leopard, etc. About 40 species of fur-bearing animals live in the Far East. The most famous animal species of the Far East include squirrel, otter, ermine, hare, raccoon dog, weasel, fox, American mink, muskrat, arctic fox, sable, red deer, wild boar, musk deer, roe deer, elk, reindeer, bighorn sheep, and many others. Up to 100 species (often the rarest) birds nest here.

Reserves. The total area of ​​reserves in the Far East is 37.16 thousand km, or 1.19% of the region's territory. This is significantly higher than the similar indicator for Russia as a whole. The reserves are distributed unevenly by administrative divisions: in the Magadan region - 2, Kamchatka - 1, Sakhalin - 1, Amur - 2, Khabarovsk Territory - 2, Primorsky Territory - 5.

Hydrology and hydrographic network. The Far East is washed by the waters of the East Siberian, Chukchi, Okhotsk and Japan seas. Most rivers are characterized by a short length. The bulk of inland water resources belong to the basins of the two largest rivers - the Lena (tributaries of the Vilyui, Aldan, Vitim, Olekma, etc.) and the Amur (Zeya, Ussuri, Amgun, etc.). The rivers Olenek, Kolyma, Indigirka, Alazeya, Anadyr, Anabar, Yana, Kamchatka, Penzhina have independent basins. The hydrographic network of the Far East includes many relatively small lakes (about 300 of them occupy an area of ​​more than 2 square kilometers). The largest of them is Lake Khanka (4 thousand sq. Km.).

Recreational resources. This type of resource is due to a large number of other types of natural resources. Of the recreational resources, it is necessary to note beach and water (sandy and small-pebble beaches, coastal waters), health-improving and sports (unique conditions for sport fishing and hunting, winter sports and recreation, healing mineral and thermal springs, therapeutic mud, etc. ., the rarest types of microclimate and phytoncidity of individual territories), tourism (the relief provides opportunities for all types of tourism - hiking, horseback, water, automobile - of all categories of complexity, up to mountaineering). Practical nutritional and medicinal value are hydro-mineral resources. All administrative territories of the Far East have highly effective mineral waters. The most famous are the mineral waters of the Shmakovka (Primorsky Territory) and Kuldur (Jewish Autonomous Region) resorts.

In the southern part of the Far East, geographical and climatic conditions create potential for the development of tourism (including water and automobile) and recreation (including sea bathing).

Fuel and energy resources. The fuel and energy resources available in the Far East include large deposits of oil and gas, brown and hard coal, oil shale, hydropower resources and the deep heat of the Earth, wind, solar and ocean energy.

The main energy resource used in the Far East is coal. About 100 deposits have been explored in the region with proven reserves of 19.3 billion tons (63% - brown coal and 37% hard coal, among which 40% are coking. In addition, 9.1 billion tons of reserves have been preliminary estimated). Coal deposits are unevenly distributed across the territory of the Far East. More than 80% of probable resources and 42% of proven reserves are located in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

The main oil and gas reserves lie on the territory of two vast oil and gas provinces: Sakhalin (large deposits of gas and oil on the shelf) and Leno-Vilyui (natural gas reserves). Oil and gas basins and areas have been explored in Kamchatka, in the Magadan Region, the Khabarovsk Territory, as well as on the adjacent shelf of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Sea of ​​Japan and the Bering Sea (projected neti reserves are about 9 billion tons, of which more than 65% are on the shelf), but so far only fields on Sakhalin (high quality oil) are being developed. More than 60% of the natural gas reserves of the Far East are located in the Leno-Vilyui oil and gas province. The predicted resources in the entire Far East are estimated at approximately 25 trillion cubic meters. cube m.

The hydropower resources of the Far East are based on the potential of large and medium-sized rivers, which is estimated at about 270 billion kWh. The hydropower potential has not yet been fully exploited (taking into account the HPPs under construction by 6.6%), although its economic efficiency for many regions of the Far East is obvious.

The region also has the opportunity to create tidal power plants (the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk), power plants using geothermal waters (Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands), wind power plants (north, Amur Region, Primorsky Territory), and solar energy installations.

coal industry

Raw material base. The Far East has colossal reserves of brown and black coals. The predicted resources of the region, according to various estimates, are 1.2-1.8 trillion tons. The main resources (1.7 trillion tons) are concentrated in Yakutia, where about 900 coal deposits and manifestations are known. It accounts for 11% of the world's coal reserves and more than 30% of Russia's reserves. The most extensive coal-bearing deposits are located in the north-west of Yakutia, in the Lena coal basin. However, the mining and geological conditions of this region, its remoteness and lack of development do not allow us to consider the basin of the river. Lena is promising for a large-scale increase in coal production here, at least in the next decade. The same reasons will hinder the development of the coal mining industry in the Zyryansk region, located in the northeastern part of Yakutia, although its estimated resources are highly estimated - 30 billion tons.

The main raw material base of the coal industry of the Republic of Sakha, and indeed of the entire Far East, is the South Yakutsk coal basin, which, according to preliminary estimates, has 35 billion tons of coal, including high-quality power and coking coal. One of the technological advantages of the deposits of this basin is the occurrence of coal in thick (10-60 m) seams.

The coal industry of the Amur region has a significant raw material potential. More than 90 deposits and manifestations of hard and brown coal are known here, the total predicted resources of which reach 71 billion tons. However, due to the complex mining and geological conditions of the occurrence of coal-bearing strata, only 14 billion tons are considered suitable for production.

On Sakhalin, in the central and southern parts of the island, more than 60 deposits have been discovered with a total resource of 20 billion tons, including 12 billion tons (60%) of hard coal and 1.9 billion tons (9.5%) of coking coal. Almost half of the coal reserves lie at a depth of less than 300 m. At the same time, the mining and geological conditions of most deposits are complex: the bedding is steep, they are subject to severe tectonic disturbance, which reduces the economic efficiency of their development.

In the Khabarovsk Territory, industrial coal content is developed in the basin of the river. Bureya and to a lesser extent in the valley of the river. Gorin, north of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Local small-scale coal manifestations are also found in other regions of the region. The total forecast resources as of 1990 are estimated at more than 13 billion tons, of which 4 billion tons (30%) are coking coal.

Coal deposits in Primorsky Krai cover almost a tenth of the region's territory. There are about 100 coal deposits and occurrences here. At the same time, almost all hard coal deposits, with the exception of Sinegorskoye and Putsilovskoye, are classified as small, with resources of no more than 75 million tons. Among brown coal deposits, one - Bikinskoye - is classified as large-scale, 13 as medium-scale, and at least 20 as small-scale. The total predicted resources of Primorsky Krai are 4 billion tons.

The Magadan Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Koryak and Chukotka Autonomous Regions have much less raw material potential. However, the local coal reserves here are sufficient to fully cover the needs of these regions, subject to the commissioning of new explored deposits. The only region in the Far East with a scarce raw material base for the fuel industry remains the Kamchatka region. But given that the priority industry of Kamchatka both today and in the future is the fishing industry, which makes high demands on the ecological cleanliness of the spawning river basins, any large-scale development of coal mining is recognized as inexpedient here.

In comparison with the forecast (1.2-1.7 trillion tons), the explored reserves of coal in the Far East are small. The balance reserves of category A + B + C 1 amount to 18 billion tons, of which 1 billion tons do not meet world standards. Reserves of high-tech coals are estimated at 710 million tons.

Prepared for extraction and developed large coal deposits with reserves of 500-1000 million tons are located in Yakutia, the Amur Region, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories:

Elga deposit of brown coal - 1500 million tons Neryungri deposit of coal - 600 million tons Chulmikanskoe deposit of coal - 1000 million tons Kangalasskoe deposit of brown coal - 1000 million tons Svobodnenskoye brown coal deposit - 1700 million tons Erkovetskoye brown coal deposit - 500 million tons (reserves of the Yuzhny site) Urgal coal deposit - 1000 million tons Bikinskoye (Nizhnebikinsky) brown coal deposit - 500 million tons

The share of these nine deposits in the total coal reserves of the Far East, put on the state balance sheet, is 49%. At the same time, 33% of explored reserves are in Yakutia.

Absolutely all types of coals are represented in the Far East, ranging from high-quality anthracites and cokes to low-calorie brown coals.

Primorsky Krai is distinguished by the greatest variety of technical grades of coal. Brown coals (B1, B2, B3) account for more than 80% of the production here. Among the hard coals of the Partizansky basin, grades Zh (fat) and T (lean) predominate, the share of which in the explored reserves is 55% and 25%, respectively. There are also gas (grade G), coke (K), long-flame (D), sintering and weakly sintering (C and SS), lean sintering (OS) bituminous coals. Guerrilla coals are easily enriched by the wet method. The Razdolnensky basin is rich in grade D coals and valuable anthracites (A). Among the anthracite deposits, Sinegorskoye has good prospects, where the balance reserves of anthracite fusenite coals (AF) reach 14 million tons. High-calorie grade D coals are mined at the Lipovets deposit. They contain an increased amount of resin bodies, which increases their value as a chemical raw material for the production of adhesives, bitumen, pyrolysis varnishes, solvents, epoxy resins, etc.

In the South Yakutsk basin, bituminous coals of grades Zh, K, KZh (coke fat), OS, SS are common. Medium-ash coals (11-15%), with a sulfur content of 0.2-0.4%, high-calorie, with a specific heat of combustion for working fuel of 23-24 MJ / kg.

In the Zyryansk coal basin, low-sulfur coals of grades SS and Zh are mined, which have a moisture content of 9%, an ash content of 14% and a lower calorific value (working fuel) of about 23%.

The deposits of the Lena Basin contain mainly brown coal with a wide range of qualities, accounting for 57% of the total predicted resources of the basin. Coals are low-ash (5-25%) and low-sulfur (0.2-0.5%), the calorific value of the working fuel varies within 14.5-24.2 MJ/kg.

Predominantly lignite deposits are also distributed on the territory of the Amur Region (Amur-Zeya basin). These are mainly coals of technological group B1. Hard coals, which make up 23% of the region's reserves, belong to grades G, SS, K. ​​Here there are both heavily watered coals (moisture content of more than 50% at the Tygdinskoye, Svobodnenskoye and Sergeevskoye deposits), and coals with low moisture content at the Ogodzhinsky and Arkharo-Boguchanskoye deposits (up to 9%). All coals are low-sulfur, ash content varies within 24-35% at Ogodzhinsky and Tolbuzinsky hard coal deposits and 17-18% at Yerkovetskoye and Svobodnenskoye lignite deposits. The highest calorific value (5-7 thousand kcal/kg for working fuel) is characteristic of Ogodzhinsky and Tolbuzinsky coals. The Tolbuzinskoye deposit is also suitable for the extraction of coking coal.

In the Khabarovsk Territory, coal deposits have been explored in large volumes, although the region, according to preliminary estimates, also has huge reserves of brown coal (the predicted resources of the Middle Amur region alone are estimated at 7 billion tons). The coals of the largest Urgal deposit in the region are gas (grade G6), high-ash (32%), low-sulphur (0.4%), are characterized by low humidity (7.5%) and high calorific value (19.97 MJ / kg for working fuel ). Difficulty in enrichment can be considered a significant drawback of the Urgal fuel. The predicted resources of coal suitable for coking are estimated at 4 billion tons.

The raw material base of Sakhalin provides great opportunities for the extraction of high-calorific coals of grades D, G and K. The coals of the Mgachinskoye, Lesogorskoye, Uglegorskoye, Lopatinskoye deposits are enriched by the wet method.

Almost all regions of the Far East have coal suitable for coking and chemical processing with the possibility of obtaining a wide range of products not yet produced in the region. Some deposits, in addition, are promising for the extraction of rare earth elements from coal, primarily germanium (Chulmikanskoye, Bikinskoye, Pavlovskoye, Shkotovskoye, etc.)

From 1970 to 1990, coal production increased by 60.5%. The average annual growth rate in the industry during this period was 2.5%. The maximum production volume - 57.2 million tons - was reached in 1988, after which a sharp decline began in the coal industry of the Far East. During the period from 1990 to 1998, production decreased by more than one and a half times, which is associated with the general economic crisis in the country and the closure of many unprofitable mines. In general, the rate of decline in coal production in the region was lower than the average for Russia (with the exception of the Magadan region, where a threefold drop was observed). Thanks to this, the Far East managed to maintain a fairly high share in the total Russian coal production - about 12%.

The coal industry occupies a significant place in the sectoral structure of most regions. In Yakutia, Amur, Sakhalin, Magadan regions, to a lesser extent in Primorsky Krai. This is one of the leading sectors of the economy and in recent years, despite the decline in coal production, the share of the industry in the industrial structure of the regions has increased. Until 1980, the main supplier of fuel in the Far East was the Amur region, where more than 14 million tons were mined annually. All this volume was provided by sections of the Raichikhinsky brown coal deposit, which was operated for more than 50 years. With the depletion of its reserves and reaching the design capacity of the Bikinsky and Neryungri deposits, the leading positions in coal mining were taken by Primorye and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). In 1985-1990. these regions produced 14-18 million tons each. Their total share in production in the Far East was 63%. In 1998, coal production in Primorye and Yakutia decreased to 9.4 and 9.6 million tons, respectively, but due to a stronger decline in other regions, their total share in coal production increased to 70%.

The layout of coal mining enterprises, formed in the past decades, turned out to be ineffective in the market conditions. Up to 10 million tons of thermal coal were imported to the Far East annually. At the same time, local resources were not developed enough. Currently, the deficit of solid fuel in most regions remains. Large volumes of coal are imported to the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories (8-10 million tons each). The energy sector of Kamchatka operates almost entirely on imported fuel (about 500,000 tons). Partially in other regions, Sakhalin buys coal. The Amur region, after the depletion of the Raichikhinsky deposit, is also faced with the need to import fuel from Eastern Siberia and Yakutia.

To strengthen the raw material base of Primorskaya GRES, the construction of the Luchegorsky-2 open pit with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year has begun. The electric power industry of the southern part of the Primorsky Territory will be fed by the Pavlovsky brown coal deposit, where in the coming years it is planned to bring two mines to their design capacity - Pavlovsky-2 (4.5 million tons) and Severo-Zapadny (450 thousand tons). . in year).

The electric power industry of the Amur Region is gradually switching to Boguchansky and Erkovetsky coal grades B1. In the longer term, it is planned to bring into operation the Svobodnensky lignite deposit in combination with the new state district power station (open mining of 10-15 million tons per year is possible), as well as the large-scale development of higher-quality Ogodzhi coal (more than 3 million tons per year) .

The coal industry of the Khabarovsk Territory will expand its potential due to the further development of the colossal reserves of the Urgalsky and Bikinsky deposits, where existing projects provide for an increase in coal production by 2.3 million tons per year by open pit and by more than 1 million tons by underground mining.

On Sakhalin, the almost completely depleted Vakhrushevskoye deposit, the coal from which the Sakhalinskaya GRES operated and which once provided almost a third of the region's needs for thermal coal, is being replenished by a gradual increase in production at the Solntsevskoye deposit.

Great efforts have been made in recent years to create competitive coal mining enterprises based on small open pits. Particular attention is paid to this direction in the Primorsky, Khabarovsk Territories, in the Magadan Region, Koryaksky and Chukotka Autonomous Okrugs. The implementation of the "Small cuts" program in Primorye will, according to its developers, increase coal production in the region by 1.5 million tons. In the northern regions, the development of local small deposits should lead to a significant reduction in the share of expensive imported coal and stabilize the work of public utilities.

The coal industry of the Far East in the coming years will have to overcome a number of serious problems, which, however, are characteristic of the entire fuel industry in Russia. The main one is to increase the efficiency of production in the extractive sector through the technical and technological renovation of coal companies and the restructuring or closure of unprofitable enterprises. The policy of the state in solving this problem is aimed at turning the coal industry into a non-subsidized or low-subsidized industry. At the same time, the federal government does not have sufficient investment resources to help companies carry out technical and technological modernization. For this reason, the restructuring of the industry was reduced, in fact, to the closure of unprofitable mines and reorientation to open-pit mining. This process affected almost all regions of the Far East, with the exception of the Amur Region, where coal was originally mined in open pits. Currently, almost 90% of coal is mined in the Primorsky Territory, while in Russia as a whole, open mining accounts for 62%. More economical open-pit mining is intensively increasing in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Sakhalin Region. However, in strategic terms, this process has an obvious drawback: the closure of mines leads to a reduction in the share of high-quality coal in production and a decrease in the value of coal products.

Export potential of the industry. The presence of the coal-mining enterprises of the Far East in the foreign market over the past ten years has not only not increased, but has become even less noticeable than at the beginning of economic reforms. On a relatively large scale, export supplies of coal and coke are carried out by Yakutia. The maximum volume of export of Neryungri coals - 8 million tons - was reached in 1990. Primorsky (max. 89.9 thousand tons in 1996) and Sakhalin (80 thousand tons in 1995) are supplied to the external market in incomparably smaller quantities. d) coal. On a very limited scale, coal is also exported from the Amur region.

The geography of export supplies of Far Eastern coal is Japan, South Korea, China and other countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

Mining industry.

The mining industry of the region is the extraction of gold, diamonds, tin-bearing, tungsten, lead-zinc and other ores, the production of non-ferrous metals, as well as ferrous metallurgy.

It is obvious that the mining industry is guided by the reserves of raw materials, therefore, the centers of the mining industry are located near rich deposits of raw materials. Also of great importance are the following 2 factors: the factor of natural conditions and the environmental factor.

The extraction of non-ferrous metals grew rapidly in the Far East, and even now it is not experiencing such a significant decline as in other industries. The main part of the country's tin is mined in the Far East, the region's share in the all-Russian mining of gold, silver, tungsten, lead, zinc, mercury, fluorite, bismuth and other valuable minerals is significant.

The “Queen of the Far East” continues to be the gold mining industry, which is one of the oldest branches of the national economy of the region. Enterprises of this industry are located throughout the Far East. It has long been carried out in the basins of the Zeya, Selemdzhi, Bureya, Amgun rivers, in the mountains of the Aldan Highlands, Khingan and Sikhote-Alin. Now new areas have become gold mining areas - Kolyma-Indigirsky and Chukotsky; in the first, gold mining was started in the 30s, in the second - in the 60s. The Magadan region and the Republic of Sakha give 2/3 of all gold in Russia. The oldest gold mining area is the Amur Region. It was she who at one time created world fame for the Far East as the largest gold-bearing region. And today the Amur region gives the country a lot of gold. The main method of gold mining here is the cheapest, dredge. The Kolyma-Indigirsky mining region is connected by a highway with Magadan and Yakutsk, and by sea with the south of the Far East region. Placement of gold mining is focal in nature. The boundaries of the centers are determined by the areas of distribution of ore formations and alluvial gold of the developed deposits, the creation of common service areas and infrastructure for a certain group of mines: power plants, construction, repair, supply and trade bases, schools with boarding schools, medical institutions, etc. Such a focal nature of the mining industry is characteristic, by the way, of other northern regions of the Far East.

Extraction and enrichment of tin-bearing ores in the Far East are also common in many places. In terms of tin mining, the Khabarovsk Territory became one of the leading regions of the country after the war. The first-born of the tin mining industry here is the Khingalovo plant, which in 1948 produced the first concentrate at its processing plant. In the 1960s, the Solnechny tin mining and processing plant was put into operation in the Khabarovsk Territory. Now two quarries and a processing plant are operating at this plant. In addition to Chukotka, mining and enrichment of tin-bearing ores are carried out in the Verkhne-Ayansky region of Yakutia, where ores with the highest tin content are mined at the Deputatsky Combine, and therefore cheaper than in other places in Russia. Tin-bearing ores are also mined in the west of the Jewish Autonomous Region and near Komsomolsk. But their extraction was especially significant in the south of Sikhote-Alin, in the Dalnegorsk-Kavalerovo region. A large complex of various mining industries has developed here. Even before the revolution, gold mining and the development of lead-zinc ores began, and during the Soviet years several tin mining and processing enterprises were built. The area has a developed transport network, unified bases for the repair of mining equipment.

With the commissioning of the Plamennoye mine in the Magadan region in the Far East, a new industry has emerged - the extraction of mercury. In the 1970s, new mercury deposits were discovered in the Koryak Highlands. In 1959, the Iultin mining plant in Chukotka was put into operation and this marked the beginning of the tungsten industry in the Far East.

The efficiency of non-ferrous metallurgy largely depends on how timely the technical equipment of enterprises will be brought into line with the changing nature of the raw material base. Thus, the decrease in the cost of gold mining, which was outlined in the late 70s and early 80s, is associated with the creation of powerful mining equipment for the development of deposits with a low metal content, deep placers in frozen soils at low temperatures. In the open-pit mining of placers, the main role will be played by an increase in the capacity of earth-moving machines, the introduction of high-performance hydraulic elevators, mass conveying, etc. Preparation for a wider use of the ore resource base requires finding the best ways to develop primary deposits, creating equipment for the conditions of the Far East. Non-ferrous metal ores are usually complex. Therefore, one of the important tasks is the extraction of not only basic metals, but also associated elements contained in ores.

Fish farm.

The fishing industry of the Far East reached its peak in the 1970s and 1980s. At that time, it accounted for almost 1/3 of the all-Union catch of fish, sea animals and seafood. Nowadays, the situation has not worsened at all, now the Far Eastern seas provide about 60% of fish production in the Russian Federation, and even now, in our difficult time, canned fish, canned seafood, fresh-frozen fish, salted herring and some other types of fish products are supplied from here to many regions of the country, as well as for export. Since the 1970s, fishermen have moved from passive coastal fishing to active fishing in the open seas and oceans. The areas of active fishing are the Bering and Okhotsk Seas (fish and sea animals), the Sea of ​​Japan (fish), the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and Antarctica. Crabs are caught in the waters surrounding the southern and western parts of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. A crab cannery has been created, the products of which are in demand on the world market. At present, the basis of the fishing industry is active fishing in the open seas, which is occupied by a large fishing, fish processing and transport-refrigeration fleet. Ocean fishing has significantly expanded the range of fish products: sea bass, hake, hake, halibut, saury, tuna, sable fish and such fairly new types of seafood as shrimp, squid, scallops, mussels.

The most important factor in the orientation of the fishing industry is raw materials, that is, the entire industry as a whole is oriented towards the coast (this applies to the coastal economy).

The fishing industry of the Far East in pre-perestroika times produced more than 700 types of products, including world-famous caviar, salmon, and canned crab. All this was achieved due to the fact that the fishing industry received a new fishing and transport fleet. At that time, the Far East had the largest fleet of large freezing fishing trawlers (BMRT) in the USSR. Currently, most of these vessels are morally and physically obsolete, and the arrival of new vessels is extremely rare. But, despite this, a fairly powerful coastal fishing industry continues to function - fleet bases, fishing ports, ship repair plants, fish processing plants, refrigerators.

For a long time, the growth of the fishing industry was held back by the fact that its coastal base could not cope with the processing of all the fish delivered by the fishing fleet. With the transition to active sea fishing, when ships go fishing for a long time, the processing of catches is carried out mainly directly at sea on large herring floating bases with artificial cooling of holds, floating crab canning plants and refrigerators. The increase in the capacity of refrigerators made it possible to produce much more fresh-frozen products. If in 1958 frozen products accounted for less than 1/3 of all fish processing products, then in 1968 it was already almost 2/3. In the 1980s, the technique and technology of processing fish at fish factories was improved, complex mechanization was introduced at the acceptance and processing of raw fish, harvesting and shipment of fish products. Salting of chum salmon and pink salmon remained very time consuming for a long time: it was necessary to perform manually up to 10 different operations. Now salmon are salted in chilled circulating brines, and the savings on the salting of each 1000 centners of chum salmon is more than 1.5 thousand rubles (1975).

About half of all fish products in the Far East come from Primorsky Krai. A special place in its fishing industry is occupied by crab canning and whaling, which, by the way, is now almost completely stopped under the moratorium on the conservation of the whale population, which was recently signed by the Russian Federation. Other large fishing areas in the Far East are Kamchatka and Sakhalin (they provide 2/5 of the total catch approximately equally). On Sakhalin, for example, the fishing industry provides more than one-third of the total gross industrial output of the region. So, in 1985, in one day, Sakhalin gave the country 13-15 thousand centners of fish and about 250 thousand cans of canned food (in terms of conditional). The fishing industry of the Khabarovsk Territory is represented by 6 fish processing plants and 10 fish factories, in addition, about 50 fishing collective farms are engaged in fishing. The importance of fishing in the Magadan region has grown. Of the fishing bases, one can single out the bases of the Vladivostok-Nakhodka and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky complexes, which play the main role in the catch and processing of fish. A special role in the fisheries of the Far East is played by the Amur River, in its waters there are such valuable fish species as kulaga, whitefish, silver carp, grass carp, etc.

In the fishing industry, the main task is to eliminate the disproportion in the development of the fleet and its coastal base. In the future, the expansion of ocean fisheries will be accompanied by an increase in coastal fishing. Great importance is attached to measures for the protection and breeding of salmon fish. One of the promising areas is the commercial breeding of scallops and other mollusks, as well as algae. An increase in fish catch will be accompanied by the processing of low-quality fish raw materials into products of increased nutritional value using a new technology.

Forestry, woodworking, pulp and paper industry.

The vast forest wealth of the Far East (about 11 billion cubic meters) led to the creation of one of the largest logging and wood processing complex here, the effectiveness of which is determined by the concentration of large forest resources, including many valuable species of wood, with a high proportion of mature and overripe trees. In 1969, the export of timber in the Far East amounted to 24 million cubic meters. (including 20 million cubic meters - business), and in 1993 - 35 million cubic meters. This industry was not particularly affected by the decline in production, and according to some data, the removal of timber in 1995 slightly exceeded the same indicator in 1993. In the southern part of the Far East - in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, the Amur and Sakhalin Regions - 54 sq.m. out of every 100 sq.m. territory. The main logging bases are located in the territories adjacent to the Lower and Middle Amur and the entire Ussuri, to the middle Zeya and Bureya, in the center and south of Sakhalin and in the upper reaches of the Lena river basin. A new timber industry base is currently being created in the area adjacent to the Baikal-Amur Mainline.

The factor of raw materials is of decisive importance for the location of the timber industry, and the factor of areas where finished products are consumed is of great importance. Two factors have an equally strong influence on the location of the woodworking industry: raw materials and areas of consumption of finished products. The location of the pulp and paper industry is of decisive importance for the factor of raw materials, and two factors are equally weak: fuel and energy resources and areas where finished products are consumed.

Most of the wood - over 40% - is harvested by the Khabarovsk Territory (it provides more than 40% of lumber, 70% of plywood and more than 20% of cardboard), almost 20% - Primorsky and about 10% each - Sakhalin, Amur Region and Yakutia. Larch, spruce, cedar and fir are mainly cut down, and in the Amur and Ussurye - and broad-leaved forests; small-leaved forests are used very little. Among the forest products exported from the Khabarovsk Territory, it is necessary, first of all, to name standard houses, plywood, containers, parquet, coniferous vitamin flour, fodder yeast, ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. In Primorsky Krai, a significant increase in timber harvesting, the production of sawn timber, plywood, fiberboard and chipboard occurred in the 70s - 80s. Approximately then, new capacities came into operation at the Iman woodworking plant, Artyomovsky and Imansky sawmills, the Ussuriysk woodworking plant, etc. Cities such as Lesozavodsk and Iman became centers of woodworking. Their products - lumber, plywood, furniture, parquet, prefabricated houses, barrels, boxes, skis, chipboard and fiberboard - are in great demand. About 2/3 of wood and products of its processing are sent to other regions and for export to Japan, Cuba (in 1993-1995, deliveries to Cuba decreased quite significantly), Australia and other countries.

Of the coniferous trees, the most valuable are Dahurian larch, Ayan spruce, Siberian and Korean fir. Their wood can be used for pulp, varnish, red paint, adhesives and tannins, and as timber. Korean cedar is widespread in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories. Its wood is light, has a beautiful pinkish tint, is strong enough and can be easily processed. It is used in the wood chemical industry to produce turpentine, rosin, valuable coniferous oil, and good plywood can also be made from it. Black fir is of great economic importance. Of great value are deciduous trees - oak, birch, poplar and especially linden and ash. Ash wood, distinguished by its strength and beauty of the pattern, is used for the production of high-quality plywood; it is also used in machine and shipbuilding.

There are tree species in the Far East that occupy small areas, but play a significant role in the economy. Such, for example, is Amur velvet, from which corks, insulating boards, linoleum, etc. are made. Very beautiful and durable Amur walnut wood is highly valued in carpentry, furniture and plywood industries. Of the numerous types of birches common in the Far East, one should especially highlight the so-called iron birch, which is not inferior in hardness to boxwood. Weaving shuttles are made from yellow birch, which also has hardwood. White birch wood is good for plywood and furniture production.

Transportation of Far Eastern timber to the west, through the forest-rich regions of Siberia, where the cost of its harvesting is lower, is economically unprofitable (the exception is high-value wood species that are not available in other regions of the country). The level of development of the forestry and woodworking industry does not yet fully correspond to the opportunities available here. In the logging industry, the parameters of actual deforestation are below the size of the allowable cutting area (approximately 1/3), that is, there are large reserves for increasing logging. A lot of broad-leaved wood remains not exported, while conifers are completely exported. Conditionally clear cuts sometimes take on an extensive scale, which adversely affects the restoration of forest resources. The noted circumstances are associated with the delay in the construction of logging roads, the fragmentation and insufficient production capacity of logging organizations, and the lag in the development of deep mechanical and chemical processing of wood raw materials. The available calculations show that in the Far East, for every thousand cubic meters of wood produced, much less processed wood products are produced than in a number of western regions of the country. The insufficient level of development of wood processing leads to the export of unreasonably large amounts of roundwood to European regions, which leads to high transport costs and increases the load density of railway transport communications in the western direction. In addition, practically no waste from the logging site and woodworking is used. Therefore, in the forestry, pulp and paper and woodworking industries, back in the 80s, a course was taken to organize production for the complete processing of wood. The development of chemical-mechanical and chemical processing of wood will make it possible to make fuller and more rational use of timber resources, increase the yield of the most important types of products from each cubic meter of harvested wood, and increase the efficiency of the industry. The integrated use of wood raw materials would make it possible to reduce transport costs by transporting more qualified wood products, save a lot of valuable wood, and increase the efficiency of the timber and woodworking industries. Available data show that out of 1000 cu. m of commercial wood receive 450 cubic meters. plywood and 500 cu. m of waste, from which 320 cubic meters can be made. particle boards. These boards and plywood are enough to replace 2000 cubic meters. lumber, which requires 3000 cubic meters. business wood. The Far East has all the necessary conditions for the extensive development of the mechanical and chemical processing of wood: the richest forest resources, fuel and energy, a good supply of water, free land for industrial construction.

One of the main directions for increasing the economic efficiency of the forestry and woodworking industry of the Far East is the creation not of separate isolated, albeit powerful enterprises, but of large timber industry complexes consisting of wood harvesting facilities and its consistent and deep mechanical and chemical processing.

Achieving the planned production volumes requires the expansion of existing and construction of new enterprises. Such a peak occurred in the 70s - 80s. Then the Sovgavansky, Amgunsky, Padalinsky timber industry enterprises, the Lithuanian plywood plant, the Birobidzhansky sawmill, the Khorsky hydrolysis and yeast plant, the house-building shop at the Khorsky timber processing plant, the Tungussky and Mukhinsky house-building factories and many other industries came into operation.

The timber and woodworking industries are the most developed in the Far East. They have received especially great development in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, in the Republic of Sakha, Amur and Sakhalin Regions, from where a significant part of sawn timber is exported. The pulp and paper industry is developed in South Sakhalin, which is the leader in the production of paper in the entire Eastern Economic Zone. The production of cardboard is located in the Khabarovsk Territory (Amursk) and on Sakhalin, plywood - in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories. The woodworking industry is also represented by housing construction, the production of packaging, furniture, plywood and hydrolysis plants, but these industries are underdeveloped. This hinders the further development of logging, since the transportation of roundwood over such long distances to the European part is inefficient, roundwood is also unprofitable for export. Therefore, in the future, constant attention will be paid to the expansion of highly qualified wood processing, including in the area of ​​the Baikal-Amur Mainline.

Power industry

Industry development. In the sectoral structure of the economy of the regions of the Far East, the energy industry occupies a very prominent place - from 12.7% in the Primorsky Territory to 37% in the Magadan Region. In terms of the cost of fixed production assets, this is one of the most capacious areas of the national economy. In the Magadan and Amur regions, for example, up to 40% of all OPFs are concentrated in the energy sector. In Primorsky and Khabarovsk krais, whose economies are more diversified, the electric power industry accounts for about 10% of the OPF. Nevertheless, the electric power industry in the Far East is not a branch of specialization. Its high share today is due to a sharper decline in production in other industries.

The maximum value of electricity generation in the history of the Far Eastern energy industry was reached in 1991 - 48.1 billion kWh. This is 4.6 times more than in 1970. The average annual growth rate of electricity generation in 1970-1991 were higher than the average for Russia, and amounted to 7.5%. Such a high dynamics during this period is associated with the implementation of electrification programs for the Trans-Siberian Railway, as well as the growth of energy consumption in industry and the residential sector. After 1991, there is a gradual decline in electricity generation caused by the general economic crisis in the country. During the period from 1991 to 1997, the decline in production in the electric power industry of the Far East amounted to 21.3%, while in the entire industry it was more than 50%. In general, the annual decline rates here were higher than the average for Russia, which indicates a more depressed state of the region's economy.

By the end of 1998, the total installed capacity of the electric power industry in the Far East reached 13.4 million kW. Electric energy is generated by more than 8,800 installations, both public and departmental. At the same time, about 85% of the energy is generated by public power plants owned by large energy companies that are part of the structure of RAO "UES of Russia". The region is characterized by the presence of a large number of low-power diesel plants operating in remote and hard-to-reach settlements.

The Far East belongs to the regions with a low level of energy consumption per capita. In 1990, the gross per capita electricity consumption here was 5,800 kWh, while the Russian average was 7,254 kWh. By 1996, energy consumption in the region had dropped to 4785 kWh per capita, that is, by 18% compared to 1990. At present, the average per capita electricity consumption in the Far East is 1.3-2.7 times less than in industrialized countries.

Despite the rapid development of the Far Eastern energy industry in previous decades, the industry remains a weak link in the region's economy. Due to the lack of available funds, technical and technological renewal has practically ceased in recent years. Many energy facilities started in the 1980s have been frozen or are being built at an extremely slow pace. The crisis of the payment system has exacerbated the situation with the provision of the Far East with fuel raw materials. Low-cost types of energy have not yet become a priority in the region's economy. As a result of all this, the cost of energy in the Far East is at least 4 times higher than in neighboring Siberian regions that make the most of the hydropower potential (Irkutsk Region, Krasnoyarsk Territory).

The electric power industry in its current state exerts powerful price pressure on the cost structure in industrial sectors and ultimately makes the products of the Far Eastern enterprises uncompetitive in the domestic and world markets.

Energy systems. In the Far East, generating capacities and transmission networks are combined into six power systems. The largest of them cover Primorsky Krai (installed capacity 2692 thousand kW) and the Republic of Sakha (2036 thousand kW). The remaining energy systems have a capacity of less than 2 million kW.

From the point of view of energy supply, some regions of the Far East, due to their geographical location, are isolated and self-sufficient. Sakhalin and Kamchatka regions have absolutely closed energy systems. Small power flows from the Magadan region to the northernmost regions of Yakutia and to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug are possible. The energy systems of the southern zone form a single power grid "Vostok", which allows you to regulate the energy balance in the regions, but has no access to the Russian main power lines.

Traditionally, the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories were energy deficient in this network, where approximately 80% and 95% of intra-regional electricity needs were covered by their own generating capacities. The missing electricity came from the Amur Region and Yakutia. During peak hours, the energy deficit in the Primorsky Territory was covered by overflows from the neighboring Khabarovsk Territory. In recent years, due to a sharp drop in industrial production, the Khabarovsk Territory has become energy surplus, and the consumption deficit in Primorye has decreased to 5%.

In power networks, voltages of 110 and 220 kV are usually used. Main transmission lines with a voltage of 500 kV. are federal property. Most regions have a high degree of centralized power supply.

Industry outlook. Further development of the electric power industry in the Far East is dictated by the need for technical modernization, wider use of highly profitable types of energy and cheap local resources.

Within the framework of traditional energy, in the future it is planned to strengthen the role of hydroelectric power plants in providing the region with electricity and heat. To do this, in the Amur region, 102 km from the village. In Novobureisk, the Bureyskaya HPP with a design capacity of 2000 thousand kW is being built. The average annual output at this power plant will be 7.1 billion kWh. Most of the work at the Bureyskaya HPP has been completed. Its commissioning will make it possible to compensate for the closure of thermal power plants with worn-out equipment and provide cheaper electricity to the neighboring Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories. In addition, it is planned to build another hydroelectric power station in the northwestern part of the Amur Region - on the river. Gilyuy. In the Magadan region, the Ust-Srednekanskaya HPP with a design capacity of 1,000 thousand kW is under construction. With its commissioning, the generating capacity of the region will increase by one and a half times.

In order to ensure sustainable and cost-effective energy supply to hard-to-reach areas in Primorsky Krai and Kamchatka Oblast, it is planned to continue the construction of small hydropower plants. In Kamchatka, in addition to small HPPs in the Bystrinsky district, a cascade of small HPPs is being built on the Tolmacheva River, which will include three stations with a total capacity of 45,000 kW.

On Sakhalin, in connection with the large-scale development of oil and gas fields in the near future, power plants operating on natural gas will receive priority development. In 1996, the construction of the Nogliki gas turbine station began here. Located 6 km from the main gas pipeline Dagi-Katangli-Nogliki, it will consume up to 71 million cubic meters. m of gas per year and have a capacity of 72 thousand kW. In the future, it is planned to expand the Okhinskaya CHPP, which will be supplied with additional combined-cycle boilers with a unit capacity of 80,000 kW. At the same time, the now isolated Okhinsky energy center is supposed to be connected to the Central Energy Grids, thereby completing the formation of a unified energy system on Sakhalin. The laying of a gas pipeline to the south of the island will create conditions for the construction of the Sakhalin State District Power Plant-2 with steam-gas generators with a capacity of 345,000 kW. The new power plant will make it possible to gradually decommission the current state district power plant, which has exhausted its technical resource. It is also planned to transfer CHPP-1 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which currently runs on coal, to more economical and environmentally friendly gas fuel.

Khabarovsk Krai and Kamchatka Oblast also have gasification programs for the electric power industry. In the Khabarovsk Territory, power facilities located along the current Okha-Komsomolsk gas pipeline and near the Komsomolsk-Khabarovsk gas pipeline under construction will be switched to gas fuel. In Kamchatka, there are projects for the development of the gas fields of the peninsula with the simultaneous conversion of existing thermal power plants to gas fuel, which today operate on expensive imported coal. First of all, it is planned to transfer the power plant in the Sobolevsky district (12 thousand kW) to combined cycle technology. Currently, with the participation of Japanese companies, projects are being developed for the installation of gas-fired boiler units with a capacity of 400-500 tons of steam per hour at the Vladivostok CHPP and two gas-oil power units of 100,000 kW each at Partizanskaya GRES.

The strategy for the development of the energy sector of the Far East assumes the widespread use, where possible, of non-traditional energy sources. It is planned to build several geothermal stations in Kamchatka and the Kurile Islands, including the Verkhnemutnovskaya Geothermal Power Plant with an installed capacity of 12,000 kW (the first unit was put into operation in 1998), and the Mutnovskaya Geothermal Power Plant of four power units with a total capacity of 80,000 kW. At the operating Pauzhetskaya GeoTPP, as part of its modernization program, it is planned to introduce additional generators, as a result of which the plant's installed capacity will increase by 21,000 kW.

In the long term, with a significant increase in electricity consumption by industry, it may be necessary to build nuclear and tidal power plants. NPP sites have been selected in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, pre-project studies have been carried out. Areas favorable for the construction of a TPP are located on the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the Khabarovsk Territory. There are quite detailed studies of projects for the construction of tidal power plants in the Tugur and Penzha bays, where tidal fluctuations in sea level reach 13-14 m. The average capacity of the Penzha TPP according to the project is 11,500 thousand kW. Together with the Tugur TPP (10,000 thousand kW), it can, in principle, fully satisfy the future needs of the south of the Far East for electricity.

Light industry

The share of light industry in the total production of the Far East is less than 1%. The light industry of the Far East is represented by textile, knitwear, leather and footwear and other industries, the enterprises of which are located mainly in large and medium-sized cities.

A significant decline in production in the 1990s was caused by the non-competitiveness of the bulk of products and the reorientation of demand for imported products.

Water transport

Sea ports. Maritime transport plays an important role in the economy of the Far East and Russia as a whole. Through the seaports, the export flows of Russian goods to world markets and the supply of imported products from the countries of the Asia-Pacific region to Russia are ensured. In addition, for some regions (Magadan, Kamchatka, Sakhalin regions, the northern regions of the Khabarovsk Territory), sea transport is practically the only way to deliver goods there.

There are 32 seaports along the coast of the Far East, including 22 commercial and 10 fishing ports, as well as about 300 harbors with piers and anchorages. In total, there are about 270 commercial enterprises performing port functions in the region.

The most important ports with year-round navigation are (from south to north): Zarubino, Posyet, Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Vostochny, Vanino, Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, on Sakhalin - Korsakov and Kholmsk.

The main port facilities are concentrated in the Primorsky, Khabarovsk Territories and the Sakhalin Region. Large ports located here can process up to 100 million tons of cargo per year. In 1997, the volume of cargo received by them amounted to 28 million tons, which is equal to 74% of the total cargo turnover of the ports of the Far East.

According to data for 1997, up to 58% of the processed cargo is exported, and 3.9% imported. Coastal cargoes account for 19.5%. The ports of the Far North and Sakhalin are mainly focused on cabotage. The share of cabotage in the port of Magadan is 80%, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - 85.9%, Kholmsk - 99%. In the commercial ports of Vladivostok and Vanino, where cabotage cargoes also played an important role in the past decades, their share has now greatly decreased: in Vladivostok - to 9%, Vanino - to 38%.

Export flows from the Far East coast are formed due to the supply of timber, fish and seafood, metal, coal, and ore to the Asia-Pacific countries. Food products prevail in the commodity structure of imported cargoes.

There are two sea ferry crossings in the Far East - "Vanino-Kholmsk", which has been operating since 1973, and a crossing from Korsakov to the island of Hokkaido (Japan), opened in 1995. The volume of traffic from Vanino to Kholmsk in 1988, when ten ferries operated at the crossing, reached 5.5 million tons. In recent years, no more than 1.3 million tons of cargo have been transported by four ferries plying on this route.

The largest ports of the region - Vladivostok, Nakhodkinsky, Vostochny, Vanino - have access to the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which predetermines their role as points of attraction for transit cargo flows through Russia to the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. In 1997, 22 thousand international containers were transported along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Currently, a transport hub is being formed in the south of Primorsky Krai to serve transit cargo from the northern provinces of China and Mongolia to the Asia-Pacific countries and back. In addition to the well-equipped ports of Nakhodka and Vladivostok, capable of handling almost any cargo, this transport hub will also include the Zarubino seaport, which received international status a few years ago. The port of Zarubino is located 70 km from the border with China and at the shortest distance from North Korea. Traditionally, the cargoes processed by it are metal products, timber, and fish. Focusing on attracting transit cargo from China and Mongolia, the port built a woodchip transshipment complex and started building terminals for processing grain and containers. By 2002, the port of Zarubino plans to increase its cargo turnover to 1 million tons, including 250,000 tons of wood chips, 250,000 tons of grain and 150,000 tons of container cargo. In the port area, an intensive reconstruction of the railway and motor transport infrastructure is underway, adapted for the efficient servicing of transit flows.

The port infrastructure of the Sakhalin Region will be further developed. Here, in addition to the reconstruction of the main Sakhalin ports - Kholmsk and Korsakov - it is planned to build two new ports. One of them, in the city of Shakhtersk, on the western coast of the island, will become the base port for the export of coal from the Solntsevsky lignite deposit, the largest in the region, located 35 km from Shakhtersk, the other, in Nabil Bay, on the western coast of the island, will specialize in reloading Sakhalin oil to foreign consumers. (Currently, reloading work is being carried out here from the raid.)

The project for the construction of an oil terminal in De-Kastri (Chikhachev Bay, Khabarovsk Territory) is also connected with the implementation of international projects for the development of oil and gas fields in Sakhalin. The Okha-Komsomolsk-on-Amur oil and gas pipeline passes through this place, and in the future, when the development of the western oil fields of Sakhalin begins, the De-Kastri oil loading port may become the most convenient point for further transportation of Sakhalin oil to domestic and foreign markets.

Sea transport. About 200 shipping companies are registered in the Far East, owning a total of slightly more than 1,000 ships for ocean, coastal and intra-port navigation. The vast majority of them are small, having one or two vessels or renting vessels. On the basis of the seaports of Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Kholmsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsk, Tiksi, the largest shipping companies operate: Far Eastern (FESCO), Primorskoye, Vostoktransflot, Sakhalinskoye, Kamchatskoye and Arkticheskoe. These companies together own a fleet of 310 units and transported about 23 million tons of various cargoes in 1997 (in 1992 the volume of transportation was 40 million tons). The fleet includes ships for various purposes - container ships, bulk carriers, ro-ro ships, timber carriers, wood chip carriers, rail and car ferries, tankers (including ice-class ones), refrigerators, icebreakers, passenger liners, etc. Two companies are specialized: Primorskoye Shipping Company has the most powerful tanker fleet in Russia (44 vessels with a total deadweight of 635 thousand tons) and transports oil, oil products, liquid food products and chemicals, Vostoktransflot specializes in the transportation of refrigerated cargo.

Vessels of Far Eastern companies carry out coastal and ocean transportation. In 1997, 7.5 million tons of cargo were transported in coastal navigation. The main domestic transportation is carried out on the lines Vladivostok-Magadan, Vladivostok-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Vladivostok-Anadyr, Vanino-Kholmsk, Nakhodka-Tiksi. The Sakhalin coastal navigation zone covers the main ports of the region and settlements of the Kuril Islands. In the Khabarovsk Territory, a regular connection has been established from Nikolaevsk-on-Amur to Okhotsk, Chumikan and Ayan. In Primorsky Krai, coastal transportation of goods over short distances is extremely poorly developed.

Far Eastern cargo ships call today at 150 ports in more than 60 countries of the world, supporting Russia's foreign trade with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and Southeast Asia. The most important directions of international transportation are Japan, China, Republic of Korea, USA, Australia, New Zealand. Primorskoye Shipping Company successfully operates on international trade-cross routes in Southeast Asia, India, China, Europe, Africa, Australia and South America. FESCO ships serve Australia-USA container lines calling at the largest Australian ports (Sydney, Melbourne, Blisbane, Adelaide) and US ports (Seattle, Portland, Auckland, Long Beach). Together with the South Korean company "Hyundai" the line "KSDS" (Korea-Singapore-Dalian-Singapore) was organized. Since April 1998, a new high-speed container carrier Kapitan Afanasiev has been put on the line "Busan-Incheon-Vostochny-Vladivostok". The Sakhalin Shipping Company operates on the lines "Singapore-Kolkata", "Vanino-Shanghai-Hong Kong-Vanino", "Kholmsk-ports of Japan".

The technical capabilities of the Russian fleet make it possible to escort transport ships along the Northern Sea Route. A test voyage on the Kandalaksha icebreaking ship, carried out in August 1995, showed the high efficiency of this route: the ship reached Kirkenes (Norway) from Yokohama in 27 days. If not for the numerous stops during which international experts studied the ice situation, the voyage from the Bering Strait to Norway could have taken only 10 days.

Representative offices of Far Eastern shipping companies are open in Vietnam - Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh, North Korea - Rajin, China - Shanghai, Far East, Hong Kong, UAE - Dubai, USA - New York, Taiwan - Taipei, Japan - Tokyo, Great Britain - London, Republic of Korea - Ulsan, Norway - Oslo, and also in Singapore.

River navigation. With an underdeveloped road and rail infrastructure, the provision of the Far East with navigable river routes is three times higher than the average Russian level. For every 10 thousand square meters. km of territory there are 31 km of river routes. The navigable rivers are the Amur (on the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory, the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Amur Region), Ussuri, Amgun, Maya, Tunguska (in the Khabarovsk Territory), Zeya, Selemdzha, Bureya (Amur Region), Lena, Vilyui, Kirenga, Vitim, Olekma , Aldan, Indigirka (Republic of Sakha), Kolyma (Magadan Region, Republic of Sakha), Anadyr (Magadan Region). However, most of the rivers flow in the northern subpolar latitudes, through the sparsely populated territories of Yakutia and the Magadan region, and therefore the intensity of the use of these waterways is low.

In terms of transport, the busiest river in the north is the Lena, which is navigable throughout its entire length within Yakutia. Cargo transportation is carried out between ports and marinas of cities and towns of the republic: Osetrovo, Kirensk, Lensk, Yakutsk, Sangary, Bulun. The mouth of the Lena is connected by a channel with the Arctic port of Tiksi, which significantly expands the possibilities of delivering goods to the northern regions of Yakutia.

In the southern zone of the Far East, operated inland waterways run along the Amur and its tributaries. The total length of navigable fairways here reaches 6,000 km. The navigation period lasts 5-6 months. The depth and width of the Amur make it possible to use self-propelled ships and barges with a carrying capacity of 500 to 3000 tons, and in the lower reaches up to 5000 tons.

Most of the cargo transportation along the Amur falls on the relatively large ports of Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. In 1997, the volume of transportation along the Amur amounted to about 6 million tons. The vessels of the Amur Shipping Company, the largest river carrier in the region, deliver goods to the northern regions of the Khabarovsk Territory and the Amur Region, as well as to the coastal points of Sakhalin, Primorye, and the Magadan Region. In the past decades, the shipping company, working mainly on domestic lines, annually transported over 5 million tons of cargo. Today, having significantly expanded the geography of navigation by calling at foreign ports (Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, Singapore), it carries half as much - about 2.5 million tons. Nevertheless, the Amur Shipping Company remains one of the largest river shipping companies. companies in Russia, which accounts for 4.7% of the total volume of cargo transportation by river transport in the country.

With the opening of borders for trade with China, the Amur became an international transport artery. On the Russian side, Blagoveshchensk, Nizhneleninskoye, Poyarkovo, Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur acquired the status of open ports. From the Chinese side, the ports of Heihe, Sunhe, Tongjiang, and Fuyuan became available for the entry of Russian ships. Far Eastern exporters supply river sand and other building materials, timber, and fertilizers to the neighboring country. Food and consumer goods are imported from China. In the future, it is planned to carry out transit transportation of goods from Japan and South Korea to the northern provinces of China along the Amur and its right tributary, the Songhua.

Amur plays an important role for passenger traffic. In 1997, the Amur River Shipping Company alone transported 1.2 million people. In recent years, with a decrease in passenger traffic on domestic routes, there has been a trend towards an increase in traffic on routes to and from China.

Railways

The development of railway transport in the Far East began at the end of the last century, with the laying of the South Ussuri railway and the railway station in Vladivostok in 1891. The rapid construction of railways continued until 1916. During this period, trains were launched on the Vladivostok-Khabarovsk section, a single-track track was laid from the Kuenga station to Zavitinsk, and later to Khabarovsk (Amur Railway), and, finally, in 1916, with the completion of the bridge across the Amur, through traffic began along the Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting the eastern outskirts with the center of Russia.

In the 1930s, in order to strengthen the country's defense capability and ensure year-round communication with the new military-industrial center created in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the Khabarovsk-Komsomolsk railway was laid with a length of 500 km, and later - in 1945 - this highway was extended to Sovetskaya Gavan, where one of the naval bases of the Pacific Fleet was located.

The third stage of active railway construction in the Far East (1972-1984) is associated with the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Passing 200-500 km north of the Trans-Siberian Railway, BAM not only reduces access to the Pacific Ocean for transit and export cargo, but also is a necessary infrastructure for the development of the region's natural resources in the future, with the country's economic growth. Regular traffic along the BAM was opened in 1989. However, due to unfulfilled forecasts regarding the growth of exports of Siberian oil to Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries, as well as due to the economic recession that began in Russia, the highway is used extremely poorly. Only some of its sections are exploited more or less intensively, in particular, Berkakit-Tynda-Bamovskaya station, through which coal is transported in large volumes from the Neryungri open pit. In general, the Baikal-Amur Mainline is loaded today by no more than 10% of its potential capacity.

Over the past 107 years, about 9 thousand km of railway lines have been laid across the region. Nevertheless, the provision of the Far East with railways is significantly lower than the average Russian level: for every 10 thousand square meters. km of territory here accounts for only 14 km of railway lines, while in Russia as a whole - more than 50 km.

In the regions of the Far North (Kamchatka, Magadan regions, Chukotka and Koryak autonomous districts, as well as Yakutia, with the exception of its southernmost part, where the railway line connects Neryungri and Berkakit with the Baikal-Amur Mainline), this type of transport is generally absent. The railway network is concentrated mainly in the southern zone of the Far East - in the Primorsky, Khabarovsk Territories, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Amur and Sakhalin Regions. Occupying 23% of the total area of ​​the region, these territories have a total of 8.6 thousand km of railways in operation, that is, 98% of their total length in the Far East.

Among the administrative entities of the Far East, the Sakhalin Region and Primorsky Territory are distinguished by the highest density of railways, where for every 10 thousand square meters. km of territory accounts for 168 and 96 km of tracks, respectively. However, the network existing here was formed at the early stages of the economic development of the region of the East and has not been updated in recent decades.

On Sakhalin, the railways are single-track, for the most part they have a gauge of 1067 mm, and only on a 42-kilometer section the road meets the Russian standard - 1520 mm. 420 km of railway tracks in the north of the island were built on a temporary basis. For the most part, this is a narrow-gauge railway 750 mm wide, operated by the Rosneft-Sakhalinmorneftegaz company to ensure the vital activity of numerous oil fields and having access to the port of Moskalvo in the north, and in the northeast to the village of Katangli (Nabil Bay), from where Sakhalin oil is loaded to tankers.

In Primorsky Krai, during periods of intensive cargo transportation by rail, the backward technical equipment of the railway network, especially port stations, becomes a deterrent. Due to the insufficient throughput capacity of public cargo areas, large volumes of cargo are processed on poorly mechanized access roads of industrial enterprises, which entails excessive downtime of wagons during cargo operations. The Trans-Siberian Railway has not yet been electrified in intensively exploited sections. In December 1998, trains were transferred to electric traction on the Khabarovsk-Bikin section (223 km). Thus, the electrification of the Trans-Siberian within the Khabarovsk Territory has been completed. As for the Primorsky Territory, here the main highway is electrified only in the Vladivostok-Ussuriysk section. The transfer of trains to electric traction on the Bikin-Ruzhino section (175 km) is scheduled for 1999-2003, and on the Ruzhino-Ussuriysk section (246 km) electric trains are planned to be put into operation in 2004-2009.

Until recently, the weak link of the Trans-Siberian Railway was a single-track bridge over the Amur near Khabarovsk. At present, the first stage of its reconstruction, which began in 1991, has been completed. The bridge, 2617 m long, now has two railway tracks and a car overpass on the second tier, where work is still ongoing. As a result of modernization, the speed of movement on the Khabarovsk section of the Trans-Siberian Railway increased to 90 km per hour for freight and up to 100 km per hour for passenger trains. The annual freight turnover on this section is 14577.4 (net) million tons/km.

This is another favorable prerequisite for the revival of the transit of international containers along the Trans-Siberian Railway, which in the 80s received up to 150 thousand containers annually. For the Asia-Pacific countries, and, above all, Japan, this is the shortest way to deliver containerized cargo to Central and Western Europe. The Trans-Siberian Railway reduces the delivery time of containers by 15-17 days and, if tariffs are agreed with the railroads of Poland and Germany, it can become more financially profitable.

Despite the technical backwardness of railways and rolling stock, rail transport in the southern zone of the Far East traditionally plays an important role in freight and passenger transportation. Railroads carry out the main trade with other regions of Russia. This type of transport on Sakhalin transports 30% of all cargo. In the Primorsky Territory and the Amur Region, the share of rail transportation is 40-50% of the total volume of cargo, in the Khabarovsk Territory - more than 70%. The main flow of domestic and export cargo is formed by three industries - fuel (coal, oil products), ferrous metallurgy and timber industry.

The capabilities of the existing railway network today fully meet the needs of the regions. However, in the future, with the growth of the economy and foreign trade of Russia with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, there will be a need for further development of this network.

In the future, the most large-scale railway construction will be carried out in the northern regions of the Far East, where there are practically no railways. Currently, the construction of the railway line Tynda-Berkakit-Tommot-Yakutsk (830 km on the Berkakit-Yakutsk section) is underway. The railway track has already been laid to Aldan. This branch will continue to Magadan.

In Sakhalin, large-scale development of oil and gas fields will require the continuation of the construction of the Korsakov-Nogliki railway line to Okha, in order to combine it with the already operating Moskalvo-Okha section, to create a trans-Sakhalin railway crossing the entire island from south to north.

Automobile transport

The total length of the road network in the Far East, including departmental roads, is 78.3 thousand km. The density of the automobile network in the region is significantly lower than in Russia as a whole, and only Primorsky Krai has an indicator close to the Russian average.

Almost 80% of paved roads are concentrated in the southern zone of the Far East and Sakhalin. The federal highways Ussuri, Kolyma and Amur pass through these territories.

The Ussuri motorway, 800 km long, built in 1935, connects the two most densely populated regions, Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. The highway passes through the most economically developed territories and connects about 200 settlements of the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories with the regional and regional centers. In recent years, major reconstruction work has been carried out on the highway: the roadway in many sections has been updated and expanded, new bridges and overpasses have been built. Thanks to technical improvements, the road has become more comfortable and safer.

The Kolyma highway runs along the Yakutsk-Khandyga-Magadan route and is connected to the road network of the Amur Region in the south. Part of this route is laid along the winter road.

The Amur Highway is a newly built road connecting the Amur Region and the Khabarovsk Territory with the regions of Eastern Siberia. On the section "Chita-Khabarovsk" it has a length of 1200 km. The construction of the motorway will continue to Nakhodka (the length within the Primorsky Territory is 628 km). Running to the east of the existing Vladivostok-Khabarovsk highway, this road will give the northern regions, poorly developed in terms of transport, direct access to the major ports of Primorye. At the same time, the configuration of the road network in the regions where the Chita-Khabarovsk-Nakhodka highway will pass will take on a more complete look - new loop roads will appear that will improve transport links between cities.

Due to their focal location and the predominance of roads of low technical categories, mainly intra-regional transportation over short distances is carried out along the highways in the Far East.

The share of road transport in all types of transportation is quite significant. On Sakhalin, more than 40% of cargo is transported by trucks. The proportion of this type of transport is even higher in Yakutia, in the Magadan and Kamchatka regions, where there are no railways. In the southern regions of the Far East, this share is 25-30%. However, with the improvement of the technical condition of roads, the role of road transport will certainly increase here.

The most tense links of the automobile network are sections that provide intensive cargo flows to and from ports.

On Sakhalin, the geography of motor transport links with ports practically duplicates the railway network, with the exception of the Ilyinsk-Uglegorsk-Boshnyakovo, Tymovskoye-Aleksandrov-Sakhalinsky roads, which do not have railway parallels.

In the Khabarovsk Territory, there were no roads leading to the main ports - Vanino and Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, until recently. Only last year, the Lidoga-Vanino highway, 346 km long, was put into operation, along which it is planned to carry out regular container transportation, and a little earlier, automobile traffic was opened along the entire length from Komsomolsk to Nikolaevsk. Year-round automobile communication with the coast has been established in the north of the region: here, in extreme natural conditions, a road was laid from the port of Ayan to Nelkan, which solves the problem of delivering goods to the northernmost regions of the region.

In Primorsky Krai, the Vladivostok-Nakhodka road (142 km) is of exceptionally great importance, connecting the regional center with the ports of Nakhodka and Vostochny Port. Reconstruction work is currently underway on this section in order to increase the class of the highway. In the future, it is planned to build an alternative high-speed highway from Vladivostok to Nakhodka, which will be 28 km shorter than the existing road. In the coming years, in accordance with the regional program for the development of transport infrastructure, it is planned to rebuild roads and bridges on the Osinovka-Dalnegorsk-Rudnaya Pristan-Terney route, which is the only transport artery in the mining regions of the region. Intensive modernization is being carried out on the Razdolnoye-Khasan line, which connects Vladivostok with the southernmost ports of the region, with the DPRK and China. This is one of the priority objects for investment by the administration of Primorsky Krai, since the road is included in the zone of influence of the international Tumangan project and, after reconstruction, will help expand trade with neighboring countries.

Road transport in the southern zone of the Far East plays an extremely important role in trade with China. In recent years, 13 road border checkpoints have been opened here, including five in the Primorsky Territory, three in the Amur Region, two in the Khabarovsk Territory and three in the Jewish Autonomous Region.

civil Aviation

The vast expanses of the Far Eastern territories and the insufficient development of land routes predetermine the increased importance of air transport here. This is especially true for passenger traffic, where aviation plays a leading role both on intraregional and interregional lines. In general, in the Far East, the share of air transport in passenger traffic is about 38%. However, there are many regions and settlements in the region for which the aircraft is the only means of communication with the "mainland".

There are more than 200 civil airports and airfields in the Far East, 105 of them are located in the south of the region. For the most part, these are airfields with unpaved runways, which fail in spring and autumn, and only thirteen have a special concrete pavement designed to receive heavy passenger and transport aircraft. The main air harbors through which the main flow of passengers and air cargo passes are the administrative centers of the territories and regions - Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Blagoveshchensk, Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yakutsk.

About 2 million passengers and about 30 thousand tons of cargo are annually transported by aircraft of the Far Eastern Regional Air Transport Administration. The main flow of cargo and passengers falls on Khabarovsk, which is located at the intersection of air routes and has the highest potential in the Far East (its capacity is 1,500 passengers per hour). Regular flights are operated from Khabarovsk to more than 40 cities in Russia and the CIS. The second most important airport is Artem (44 km from Vladivostok), capable of handling up to 700 passengers per hour, and taking into account the newly built international terminal - up to 800 passengers per hour. Through air lines, Vladivostok has a direct connection with 20 Russian cities. After modernization and expansion, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk will become a major airport, which will be able to receive up to 1,200 passengers per hour.

After the opening in 1995 for international flights of new air corridors over the territory of the Russian Far East (Okha - Sakhalin Region, Roshchino - Primorsky Territory, Blagoveshchensk-Srednebeloe-Bomnak - Amur Region, Yelizovo-Ust-Kamchatsk-Tilichiki-Anadyr - Kamchatka and Magadan region, Omolon-Takhtoyamsk - Yakutia) significantly expanded the opportunities for the development of international airlines. Today, Russian airlines Vladivostokavia, Vostok (Khabarovsk), Mavial (Magadan Airlines), Sakhalin Airways, Sakhaavia, Aeroflot and others operate on international routes from Far Eastern airports, as well as foreign "Alaska Airlines", "Korean Air" and the national carrier of the DPRK "Air Koryo". The administrative centers of the Far East are connected by regular routes with Niigata, Hakodate (Japan), Anchorage, San Francisco (USA), Harbin (PRC), Seoul, Busan (Republic of Korea), Pyongyang (DPRK), Singapore. Charter flights are operated to many cities of the Asia-Pacific countries.

Pipeline transport

On the territory of the Far East, pipeline transport has been developed in three regions - on Sakhalin, in the Khabarovsk Territory and in Yakutia.

The longest pipeline branches here are laid for the transportation of Sakhalin oil and gas to the Khabarovsk Territory. The throughput capacity of the main pipeline Okha-Komsomolsk during periods of full load of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Khabarovsk oil refineries - consumers of Sakhalin oil - is 5 million tons per year. The current main pipeline is planned to be extended to Khabarovsk. In 1998, a gas pipeline was put into operation at the Komsomolsk-Solnechny section (40 km), in 1999 the gas pipeline will be brought to the city of Amursk, and in three or four years to Khabarovsk (about 400 km).

On the territory of Yakutia, oil and gas pipeline transport is at the very beginning of its development. The gas pipeline network covers the settlements of Taas-Tumus-Yakutsk-Pokrovsk. Oil is supplied through the Talakan-Vitim temporary pipeline (110 km), which operates only during the warm periods of the year.

In the future, with the development of new oil and gas fields in Sakhalin, it is planned to continue the gas pipeline from Khabarovsk to Primorsky Krai. A grandiose project for laying a 6.6 thousand km main oil and gas pipeline is proposed by the Sakhagaz company (Yakutia). In the event of its implementation, Yakut oil and gas will come to the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (up to Seoul

Agriculture of the Far East

In terms of the value of the gross volume of agricultural products, the first place in 1997 was occupied by the Amur Region (23.4% of the products of the regions of the Far East). In second place was Primorsky Krai (18.2%), giving way to the leader of the Amur Region (in 1991, the share of Primorsky Krai was 26.6%, Amur Region - 20.2%). In third place is the Republic of Sakha (18.0%), yielding only 0.2% in terms of value to Primorsky Krai (in 1991, its share was 13.7%).

The share of the Khabarovsk Territory in 1997 was 17.7% (1.6% higher than in 1991). At the same time, until March 25, 1991, it included the Jewish Autonomous Region, whose share in the gross agricultural production in 1997 amounted to 2.7%.

The share of the Kamchatka region increased significantly - from 6.5% in 1991 to 9.6% in 1997. At the same time, the share of the Sakhalin region slightly decreased - from 10.5% to 8.2%. The smallest share in 1997 (excluding the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug) belonged to the Magadan Region - 2.2% (in 1991, together with the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, it was 6.5%).

Natural patterns are observed in the structure of agriculture: in the northern regions (Magadan Region and the Republic of Sakha), the share of animal husbandry is higher (61.1 and 59.0%, respectively) than crop production (38.9% and 41%). Thanks to this, the Republic of Sakha is the leader in the Far East in terms of livestock production (23.3% of all livestock products in the Far East).

In the rest of the regions, which account for about four-fifths of the gross agricultural production of the Far East, the share of crop production was higher. Crop production occupied the greatest weight among the regions of the Far East in the agricultural products of the Amur Region - 62.5%. In 1997, about 27% of the crop production of the Far East was produced in the region. In the Sakhalin Oblast, production in the crop sector accounted for 60.2% of the total volume of gross agricultural output. Khabarovsk Krai and Kamchatka Oblast had a somewhat less pronounced specialization in crop production - 58.4% and 57.5%. In Primorsky Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Region, the shares of crop production (51.3% and 52.4% respectively) and livestock farming (48.7% and 47.6%) are approximately the same.

Gross agricultural production includes not only the cost of raw crop and livestock products: it includes the value of work in progress in crop production (costs for sowing winter and spring crops, tillage and other work carried out in the estimated year before the start of harvesting for the next year's crop), the cost of raising livestock, poultry and other farm animals in the reporting year, as well as the cost of beekeeping and fish farming.

Therefore, an important indicator of the dynamics of agriculture is the assessment of the gross yields of the main agricultural crops and the production of the most important livestock products in physical terms.

Comparison of 1998 with the indicators of 1991 shows that natural volumes of vegetable and sunflower harvest have increased. In general, the volume of potato harvest in the Far East in 1998 was 22.1% higher than in 1991. Primorsky Krai became the undisputed leader in potato production (33.7% of the gross potato harvest in the Far East). The collection of vegetables in the Far East also increased significantly - by 39.4%. The main producers were Khabarovsk and Primorsky krais and Amur oblast (28.6%; 22.4% and 20.1%, respectively). Moreover, the main share of these crops in 1998 was grown in households (88.3% of potatoes and 77.1% of other vegetables). Sunflower harvest increased by 11%, with the main increase observed in 1998 (the growth rate against the previous year was 54%).

The harvest of grain and leguminous crops in 1998 in the Far East amounted to 49.8% of the volume in 1991. About 54% of the gross harvest of these crops belonged to the Amur Region.

Livestock production in 1998 was significantly lower than in 1991, meat production in the Far East decreased by 53.7% (compared to 1997, a decline of 22% was observed). The most important meat producers were the Republic of Sakha (27.3% of natural production volumes of the Far East) and the Amur Region (24.5%). The share of households in the total volume of meat production in 1998 reached 60.5%.

Milk production in the Far East in 1998 amounted to 45.4% of the volume in 1991. The largest volume was produced in the Amur region (200 thousand tons or 30.4% of the production of the Far East). In general, for the Far East, the proportion of households in the total volume of milk production in the Far East exceeded 63%.

The main share of egg production (77.5%) was provided in 1998 by agricultural enterprises and farming (peasant) households. 33.2% of the total egg production in the Far East was concentrated in Primorsky Krai, 28.3% - in Khabarovsk. In general, for the Far East, production volumes in 1998 amounted to 36.1% of the 1991 volume.

Conclusion

Now the situation in the Far East is quite difficult. A critical situation has developed in the fuel and energy complex. The enterprises of the Primorsky Territory owe more than 180 billion rubles to the power industry, which leads to the shutdown of most industries and their financial paralysis. Even the largest enterprises such as JSC "Dalzavod" (Vladivostok) are forced to stop. There is a real undeclared war for energy resources between the regions of the Far East. Thus, oil products coming from Siberia to Kamchatka are confiscated in the ports of Vladivostok and Nakhodka. In 1993, 76 thousand tons of fuel paid for by Kamchatka were confiscated. Such stories are not uncommon in the region. So, coal is delivered to Sakhalin under guard, otherwise the trains with fuel will be confiscated by the Khabarovsk Territory.

Among the traditional industries of specialization is the fishing industry. The Far East, with its 5% of the Russian population, produces more than 50% of the country's fish products. State fishing enterprises produce up to 75% of the total catch of fish and seafood, they own 90% of the industry's fixed production assets. However, the state of the fleet is such that 64% of the mining, 95% of the processing and 56% of the transport vessels should already be decommissioned. The industry is close to disaster.

It stretches along the coast of the Pacific Ocean and its seas for almost 4,500 km from northeast to southwest, from Chukotka to the borders with Korea. The northern part of the region is located beyond the Arctic Circle, where snow lies almost all year round. The seas washing the coast, even in summer, are not completely cleared of ice. The southern part of the region lies at 40 latitudes. Here you can find subtropical plants (for example, creepers) with northern spruces and larches. The first explorers of the south of the Far East wrote: "... this is an amazing land... Here the sable meets the tiger, and the grapes wrap around the spruce...". Ginseng - a plant of the forests of the Far East - is well known for its healing properties. This plant has been preserved here for a long time, from Mesozoic or Paleogene times.

The Far East has a complex geological structure: most of it was formed in the Mesozoic era, and only Kamchatka, Sakhalin and a number of islands were formed much later, in the Alpine or Cenozoic era of folding.

The Far East is predominantly a mountainous area. In the south, medium-altitude and low ridges (Sikhote-Alin, Dzhugdzhur) predominate, and in the north there are highlands (Chukotskoe, Koryakskoe) and plateaus (Anadyrskoe) with extensive lava covers and short ridges. The highest point of the Far East is Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano (4750 m). About a quarter of the territory is occupied by plains, which are confined either to intermountain depressions (for example, the Middle Amur) or to the coasts (for example, Kamchatka). The largest plain is the Zeya-Bureya.

Of the minerals of the Far East, it is necessary to note the rich deposits of non-ferrous metal ores, and primarily tin. The Far East is part of the Eurasian tin belt, stretching from Chukotka to the Sunda Islands. Gold deposits have been discovered along the tributaries of the Amur and in Chukotka. In the north of Sakhalin there is an oil basin, in Primorye - coal.

The Far East is located in a seismic zone, earthquakes and volcanoes are frequent here. This is because there is a junction of lithospheric plates here. Coastal areas are especially mobile. Seaquakes are observed here, which are the cause of the occurrence of waves of destructive force, called tsunamis. Active volcanoes are not uncommon in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. In 1975, the strongest volcanic eruption occurred in Kamchatka. He threw out a huge amount of slag, volcanic bombs and ash. Lava poured out like a river at a speed of up to 3 km per hour. There is an amazing place in Kamchatka - the Valley of Geysers, where there are 20 gushing springs that emit steam and hot water. The largest geyser in the valley is Velikan. Most of them gush at regular intervals. The heat from hot springs is used in Kamchatka for heating, and a geothermal power plant operates on it.

The climate of the Far East is monsoonal. The large extent of the region from north to south caused differences in temperatures. In winter the temperature fluctuates from - 15-20°С to - 32-34°С. Cold air at this time of the year comes from the Asian High. Precipitation falls mainly in summer, they are brought by monsoons from the Pacific Ocean. The annual amount of precipitation is from 500 to 1000 mm. Precipitation falls in the form of torrential rains. In winter, there is little precipitation, the thickness of the snow cover is small, so the soils freeze deeply. Permafrost occurs on individual islands.

The climate of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands differs from the mainland of the Far East. There is no permafrost, milder winters and cool summers, much more precipitation than on the mainland - up to 1600 mm. The distribution of precipitation over the seasons is more even.

Many rivers flow through the territory of the Far East: the Amur with its tributaries, the Anadyr and others. The rivers are full-flowing and are characterized mainly by rain feeding, however, to the north, the proportion of melted snow water in the feeding of rivers increases. Floods near the Far Eastern rivers do not occur in spring, but in summer. Often they take the form of catastrophic floods, leading to large losses. For example, the 1958 flood caused 30 times more damage than the 1928 flood, even though the flood was just as bad. The rivers of the Far East are used to generate electricity. Several hydroelectric power stations have been built on the Amur and its tributaries.

Almost half of the territory is occupied by the zone of arctic deserts and tundra. A significant part of it is occupied by mountains, in which the tundra is gradually replaced by mountain tundra, consisting of shrubs and scale lichens. Mountain tundras are gradually replaced by cold deserts with stone placers. Below the tundra zone is the forest zone. Stone birch forests are typical for Kamchatka, which do not form dense massifs. The surface of the earth in these forests is covered with tall grass meadows (their height reaches 1.5 m). Stone birch forests do not rise above 700 m.

The forests of the south of the Far East are characterized by the presence of subtropical vegetation: cork, Manchurian walnut, lemongrass, and grapes. The forests of the south of the region are called the Ussuri taiga. The forests of the Ussuri taiga are arranged in tiers: Korean cedars, black firs and spruces grow in the uppermost tier. Yews, maples, wild apple trees, and birches grow below. The undergrowth is represented by grass cover. The trees are intertwined with vines. Medicinal ginseng grows in the forests, iron birch, which has very hard wood, wild grapes, lemongrass, the berries of which contain a lot of vitamins. The fauna of the Far East is rich and varied: roe deer, wild boars, deer, tigers, martens, forest cat, Himalayan bear, badger, otter, Siberian weasel and others. Leopards, blue magpies, turtles, mandarin ducks live in the reserves.

The mountainous relief determines the development of altitudinal zonality. The combination of belts changes when moving from north to south and from west to east (due to the distance from the coast). In Sikhote-Alin, for example, at the foot there is a belt of broad-leaved forests, which, with height, are replaced by coniferous-broad-leaved, and then dark coniferous forests. In the upper part of the forest belt there are forests consisting of stone birch, dwarf pine. Above these forests there is a mountain tundra, and on the peaks there is a belt of eternal snows and glaciers.

The Far East has long been mastered and used by man. Logging is carried out in the forests of the southern part of the region. Agro-climatic resources make it possible to develop agriculture here and to obtain crops of grain, legumes; horticulture is developed in the south of the Far East. The seas of the Far East are very rich in fish (salmon). Crab fishing is carried out off the coast of Kamchatka. Fur-bearing animals are hunted in the forests of the Far East.

The most important task facing the Far East today is the rational use and protection of rich fish resources.

Ancient history of the Far East

The history of the study of the ancient past of the Far East

The Far East has long attracted the attention of travelers and researchers with numerous remains of human life, which testified to the high level of development of local tribes, the vibrant life that once flowed here, and close ties with neighboring peoples. The first information about the Far Eastern monuments of antiquity came from the Russian Cossacks in the 17th century.

In the 18th century, a number of generalizing works on the history of Siberia and the Far East appeared by S. U. Remezov, G. F. Miller, and S. P. Krasheninnikov. The works of these scientists and travelers contributed to the growth of interest in the distant and little-studied outskirts of Russia, about the historical past of which even the most educated people of that time had very vague ideas.

By the middle of the 19th century, the observations of travelers and researchers aroused interest in the archeology of the Far East and laid the foundation for the systematic collection of information about its antiquities, as well as the accumulation of knowledge about the life, economy, dwellings, and the language of the indigenous population.

A number of expeditions to Siberia and the Far East were made by mining engineer I. A. Lopatin. Wherever he had to work, he collected information about archeological monuments, made sketches of stone tools, ancient dwellings, and household utensils. He described 49 sites of Primorye and Sakhalin.

Random photos of nature
In 1884, the Society for the Study of the Amur Territory was established, headed by F. F. Busse, and an attempt was made to move from random finds and incidental descriptions to a targeted search for archaeological sites.

In the nineties of the last century, travels began in Primorye and the Amur region of the outstanding researcher of the Far East and writer V. K. Arsenyev. He conducted excavations, described 228 archaeological sites, collected numerous legends of local peoples about disappeared tribes and past events.

The works of M. I. Yankovsky, V. P. Margaritov, A. I. Razin, A. Ya. Gurov, G. S. Novikov-Daursky also accumulated significant material. In the museums of Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk, extensive collections of antiquities were collected, revealing the material culture of that distant time.

But truly extensive archaeological research unfolded in the Far East only from the middle of the 20th century. They are connected, first of all, with the name of Academician A.P. Okladnikov, an outstanding scientist, a tireless researcher. A.P. Okladnikov made his first scientific expedition in 1925, when he was only 17 years old. In the future, the expeditionary routes of the scientist passed along the great Asian rivers - Lena, Angara, Amur, Kolyma, Indigirka; he worked in Mongolia and Korea, Central Asia and beyond the Arctic Circle, studied the ancient cultures of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, Sakhalin and the Kuriles. Since 1953, the Far Eastern Archaeological Expedition organized by him began a systematic, purposeful study of the ancient history of the Amur and Primorye.

A.P. Derevyanko, Zh.V. Andreeva, G.I. Andreev, V.E. Medvedev, E.V. Shavkunov, V.E. Larichev, R.S. Vasilievsky, V. A. Golubev, V. O. Shubin; Asia - N. N. Dikov, Yu. A. Mochanov.

And yet, the Far Eastern land continues to store the greatest number of facts about the distant past of mankind, and excavations bring more and more new discoveries. Our knowledge of the past can be compared to an iceberg: the knowledge that has become the property of history is its upper part. But much is still hidden from the inquisitive mind of man, and scientists of new generations have a lot of work to do. So, let's start our journey into the depths of millennia.

The Ancient Stone Age in the Amur Region and Primorye

In this part of the work, I will talk about glaciation, the sites of the most ancient people and their tools, as well as what were and how the most ancient inhabitants of the Amur Region and Primorye lived, about the settlement of the Amur Region and Primorye, about the life and life of “a reasonable person, about their tribal community. mankind began over a million years ago. In those distant times, there was a separation of man from the animal world and the formation of human society began. The climate of the Earth then was warm and mild, tropical vegetation occupied vast spaces, including in the Far East.

The earliest traces of the life of the most ancient people were found in Africa and Southeast Asia. From here began their resettlement to other territories of the globe. It was a long and complex process that required a significant amount of time, measured in tens of thousands of years.

Approximately 700 thousand years ago, a widespread cooling of the climate began in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, which was accompanied by glaciation of most of Asia, Europe and America. Glaciers formed on the tops of large mountains. When their size increased, the glaciers began to slide into the valleys, occupying more and more new spaces. Cold air, bypassing mountain barriers, passed far to the south. Heat-loving vegetation disappeared, many species of animals died out. They were replaced by new flora and fauna.

The most powerful was the ice shell of Europe - up to two kilometers thick. It stretched from the British Isles to the Urals and covered an area of ​​about five million square kilometers. The north of Asia was covered by an eight-hundred-meter thick ice sheet with an area of ​​about four million square kilometers. Periods of glacial advance alternated with periods of warming and melting of ice masses.

In the south of the Far East, a cold snap also set in. But the climate was still milder than in Europe, Siberia, and northern Asia. On the territory of the Far East, either there was no ice cover at all, or it was insignificant. Perhaps the ridges bordering the Amur and Primorye created an insurmountable barrier to the flow of cold northern air. In any case, representatives of the ancient preglacial flora still grow in the Ussuri taiga - velvet tree and Manchurian walnut, wild grapes and lemongrass, aralia and ginseng, which has amazing healing properties. The vine vine wraps around the northern spruce, and the black birch leans towards the lotus, the most delicate flower of the south. Of course, the general cooling had an impact on the vegetation of the south of the Far East: the herbaceous cover increased, birch and pine began to predominate in the forests, moss bogs occupied large areas. Mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, bison, elk, deer, brown bears, tigers now roamed the endless expanses.

Such circumstances, undoubtedly, should have contributed to the early appearance of man in the south of the Far East. This was confirmed by the discoveries made by archaeologists in the basins of the Zeya and Amur rivers.

The first finds were made near the village of Filimoshki on the Zeya River. Examining the bank washed away by a stormy river, in a layer of well-rounded river pebbles, the members of the archaeological expedition discovered stones that were clearly split by strong blows. There were traces of processing on the stones. Did man or nature work on them? This is the question scientists have asked themselves. Further searches, which brought about a dozen chipped pebble pellets, left no doubt: these are tools, and they were made by human hand. Finds in Filimoshki are not the only ones in the Amur region. Pebble tools found near the village of Kumary in the Upper Amur basin and near the Ust-Tu River, which flows into the Zeya, were another confirmation of human habitation in the Far East in ancient times. This allows us to rightfully assume that the south of the Far East, along with Africa, Southeast Asia and Southern Europe, was once part of the area of ​​​​settlement of the most ancient people. After all, the age of the Amur tools was 150-200 thousand years!

Rough and primitive in form, these tools were made from whole or split river pebbles, which nature had first worked on. For centuries, and perhaps millennia, a stormy river tossed them or rolled an ancient glacier until they acquired ideal smoothness and oval shape. From the pebbly shallows, the hand of the master raised them and turned them into tools.

One end of the pebble was hewn with several strong chips. This is how the working edge of the blade of a stone tool was made. The untreated smooth part of the pebble at the end opposite the blade served as a handle that was comfortable to hold in the palm of your hand. These were hand axes with an end blade. They reached a length of 10-20 centimeters. man could

to perform with them all the work in which a strong massive blade was needed and at the same time it was necessary to deliver strong blows - to chop, cut, dig the ground, for example, when extracting edible plants or when extracting small animals from holes. The ax could serve as a weapon for defense or attack, especially when hunting animals.

For processing skins, scrapers were made - massive flat pebbles with a side blade. And at the ancient Amur sites, tools were found, the blades of which were processed in such a way that a point was formed in the middle - a “nose”. Such products served as cutting tools and were used as cutting knives in the manufacture of clothing from skins.

In their appearance, all the most ancient Far Eastern tools resembled the pebble products of Africa, Europe, Southeast and Central Asia, belonging to the same period.

The pebble stone processing technique was later improved and spread widely throughout the Far East.

The advancement of primitive people from the southern regions of Asia to the Far East was due to vital necessity. They, hunters and gatherers, needed vast areas of land, rich in edible vegetation and game, to make a living. The Far East in this regard, despite the rather harsh climate, was a fertile land. The thirst for prey attracted hunters further and further into the depths of uncharted regions.

The first people who appeared in the Far East are not yet fully formed intelligent beings. In science, they are called "handy people." Small in stature (155-165 centimeters), stocky build, with a massive skeleton and powerful muscles, they moved on two legs, and their upper limbs were basically already real human hands, and the right hand was more developed. They walked stooping, and ran, crouching to the ground. Their faces were characterized by a low sloping forehead, superciliary arches strongly protruding forward, massive jaws, and an almost complete absence of a chin. The "skillful people" were explained by separate sounds and simple words.

The most ancient man was no longer a completely helpless creature. He knew how to make the simplest tools, knew and used the life-giving power of fire, although he still did not know how to get it on his own. All this allowed him to overcome many difficulties in the struggle for his existence. But the ancient man could not survive alone. Constant concern for obtaining food, the need for protection from predatory animals forced people to live in groups - in small groups of 30-40 people. The first human groups were called herds.

So, the most ancient people in the Far East appeared a very long time ago. Archaeological finds have proved that the earliest traces of human activity in this area date back to the Early Paleolithic.

Millennia passed. Man improved the tools of labor, changed himself. In the south of the Far East, a large number of sites of ancient people who lived 40-10 thousand years ago, that is, at the end of the Old Stone Age, were discovered.

In terms of body structure and appearance, people of this period did not differ in any way from people of our time, and their hands were already capable of performing a variety of, including very complex, labor actions. Their brain did not differ from the brain of a modern person and twice the weight and volume of the brain of the previous “handy man”. On this basis, they were called “reasonable people,” that is, thinking people. "A reasonable man" owned a coherent speech. The advent of modern man was a huge step forward in the history of mankind.

In the Amur region, sites dating back to the end of the Paleolithic era were found near the village of Kumary, near the village of Gromatukhi, near Lake Borodino on the Middle Amur. In Primorye, two monuments are most interesting - Osinovka (the central part of Primorye) and Ustinovka (eastern Primorye).

A very interesting picture was revealed to the gaze of archaeologists during excavations near the village of Osinovka, not far from the city of Ussuriysk. In different places of the excavated surface, beaten, but not yet finished pebbles, as well as ready-made axes, were scattered. On the territory of the parking lot, scientists discovered the remains of an ancient workshop. A large quartzite pebble with a chipped surface served the ancient master as an anvil - a stand for upholstering workpieces. It clearly shows the recesses formed from the impact of a stone on a stone. During processing, pebbles, apparently, were inserted into special devices - clamps, splitting the thick branch of the tree. One end was carefully hewn on both sides so that a wide sharp blade was obtained. Then the edges of the blade were treated with smaller chips - retouching, sharpening it. Next to the anvil were flakes chipped from pebbles and partially processed pebble blanks. It is not known what caused the ancient master to stop working at full speed. But it is thanks to this find that we now have the opportunity to look into the daily life of the ancient inhabitants of the southern part of the Far East and mentally imagine them at work. As you can see, the products of the Osino craftsmen bear the imprint of the ancient pebble tradition.

Along with massive pebble tools, people at the end of the Paleolithic era used new tools - knives, scrapers, spear and dart tips, and chisels. For their manufacture, a lamellar stone processing technique was used, which was a big step forward in the culture of primitive man. Plates were chipped from well-rounded river pebbles - blanks for future tools. The blanks were carefully hewn, and then processed on both sides with small, elegant chips, sharpened. This technique was called double-sided retouching. From the plates, mainly sharp cutting and piercing tools were made. Their manufacture required patience, precision, dexterity, good knowledge of the properties of the stone.

The research conducted by scientists makes it possible to learn not only about the tools of labor of an ancient person, but also about his life, occupations, and his struggle for survival in nature. In the Paleolithic era, the population of the Amur region and Primorye was still not numerous. His main occupation was hunting wild animals. Fishing and gathering were a good support.

Interesting finds were made in the south of Primorye in the cave of the Geographical Society (named after this public organization), reaching a length of 26 meters. The bones of about 40 species of various animals found here, split with the help of massive tools, made it possible to establish that the contemporaries of a person who lived in this area more than 20 thousand years ago were mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, bison, horse, roe deer, wolverine, wolf, deer, leopard, bull, hyena, tiger, deer, brown bear. It was the home of skilled hunters who owned various stone tools and methods of hunting these animals. Stone hunting equipment was also found here: the tips of darts and spears, knives for hunting and butchering carcasses, scrapers for processing skins. By splitting and sharpening the bones of animals, the inhabitants of the cave made cutting and piercing tools from them.

At a time when people lived in the Osinovka area and in the cave of the Geographical Society, the climate in Primorye and the Amur region was more severe than now. Glacial processes continued. Herds of mammoths, bison, and rhinoceroses roamed across the endless expanses - from the Amur to Chukotka. Sometimes they consisted of 150-200 animals. Their long, stiff coat protected them from severe cold. Cave hyenas, bears, tigers competed with man for the possession of warm caves in which one could hide during the long winter. But more often than not, the victory went to the man. The cave became his first dwelling. On the plains, people usually made dwellings from the ribs of mammoths and other large animals and covered them with skins.

Ancient people led a wandering lifestyle. Following the nomadic herds of wild animals, primitive hunters were forced to move over considerable distances, stopping only for a short time in suitable places and being content with a temporary shelter. The oldest inhabitants of the Far East of the Paleolithic era did not leave traces of permanent dwellings.

People hunted bulls, deer, armed with clubs, clubs and spears. Sometimes they managed to suddenly attack a herd of animals and drive them to a steep cliff. Crazed with fear, the animals died in dozens, rolling into the abyss. Then the hunters had a big holiday: they had plenty of meat, skins for clothes and fat - this wonderful source of heat and light on long winter evenings and hearty food, from which a tired hunter regained strength and dexterity. But such holidays were quite rare among people. Much more often, hunger was their constant companion during the nomadic pastures.

A great success for the hunters of the Ice Age was the extraction of mammoths - gigantic animals well adapted to the cold climate. They reached four meters in height, and their powerful tusks were up to five meters long. A pair of these tusks weighed at least 400 kilograms!

Of course, not all mammoths were giants. So, the tusk of a mammoth found within the city of Khabarovsk, not far from the locomotive depot when digging a foundation pit at a depth of eight meters, weighs 60 kilograms, its length is 2.55 meters, and the girth at the base is 48 centimeters. This tusk is presented in the exposition of the Khabarovsk Museum of Local Lore.

Mammoth inspired fear in ancient people. The hunt for him was difficult and dangerous. But man has learned to conquer the beast-mountain. Sometimes hunters drove these huge animals into swamps and swamps. When bogged down, mammoths became human prey. Often they landed in deep holes dug by people on the paths leading to a watering hole, and disguised from above. Such a hunt required the efforts of the entire team.

Joint hunting, gathering and other labor activities, a common dwelling, a common fire that warms its inhabitants - all this rallied and united people. Gradually, the primitive herd was replaced by a tribal community - a collective of relatives. In each community there were several dozen people - relatives. The men hunted and made tools. Women were engaged in gathering, sewing clothes, cooking. The man took care not only about himself and his children, but also about the whole community. Food, skins, tools belonged to the whole family, were common.

The woman-mother was highly respected - the keeper of the fire, the educator of children. Kinship was transmitted through the maternal line. Therefore, such tribal communities were called maternal. The maternal clan existed in the Far East, as in other regions of the globe, for quite a long time.

Let's summarize:

Thus, the not too severe, relatively stable climate created favorable conditions for the settlement of ancient human groups in the territory of the Far East. The rich flora and fauna contributed to the development of hunting, fishing, and gathering. Tools were improved. Man has acquired a modern form. From the primitive herd, people moved on to the maternal tribal community.

Amur and Primorye during the Mesolithic

I turn to a new task, in which I will describe the retreat of the glacier, the change in flora and fauna, the improvement of tools and the appropriating economy.

The Old Stone Age lasted hundreds of thousands of years. Much less time in the history of mankind takes the period of the Mesolithic - the Middle Stone Age. It was a period of changes in the climate, animal and vegetable sea of ​​the globe, as well as in the life of human society.

At the end of the Paleolithic, a significant climate warming occurred on Earth. The glaciers have receded. They disappeared in the mainland of Eurasia, with the exception of the Far North and mountainous regions above 3500 meters above sea level. The last stage of the ice age ended 10-8 millennia ago. Significant changes have taken place in the vast expanses once occupied by glaciers and tundra. They also touched the territory of the Far East, its southern and northern regions. In the south, rivers and lakes have acquired their modern appearance, in the north, the contours of the Bering and Okhotsk Seas have their current outlines. A climate similar to today's has formed: sharply continental, with snowy winters and hot summers in areas remote from the sea, and more humid and mild on the coast. About 12 thousand years ago, the formation of the modern flora and fauna took place. In the forests of the southern part of the Far East, the number of conifers has decreased and the proportion of broad-leaved vegetation has increased. In the north, climate warming has led to a change from dry tundra to marshy tundra.

Many species of animals have disappeared, including the mammoth, cave bear, woolly rhinoceros. In the north, only wild deer have adapted to the new conditions. It has become the main object of hunting of the population. Numerous colonies of seals, seals, fur seals settled on the coasts of the northern seas after the retreat of the glaciers. Elk, wolf, brown bear, red deer, roe deer, spotted deer, wild boar, and Ussuri tiger settled in the forests of the southern part of the Far East. The rivers and lakes here abounded with fish, and in the summer they were enlivened by flocks of geese and ducks.

Changes have taken place not only in nature, but also in the life of human groups.

To master the taiga and the post-glacial steppes, man needed many inventions. The first and main of these were the bow and arrows. Their appearance was a real revolution in the primitive technology of the Stone Age. Compared to all other throwing devices, the bow turned out to be the most effective and most powerful long-range weapon of ancient hunters and warriors. He surpassed all guns in terms of lightness, ease of handling, accuracy and speed of fire. An arrow fired from a bow flew farther and more accurately than a spear. The spear flew no further than 30-40 meters. The arrows inflicted serious damage at a distance of 80-100 meters. Arrows with stone and bone tips passed right through the bison's body. The widespread use of bows and arrows contributed to the further development of hunting, significantly improved the life of the hunting tribes and greatly facilitated their daily hard work.

During the Mesolithic period in the south of the Far East, pebble and lamellar stone processing techniques continue to develop. The first prevails in the Amur region, and the second - in Primorye.

At all settlements, archaeologists discovered special work sites - original workshops where stone was processed and stone tools were made.

Very interesting discoveries were made by archaeologists in the area of ​​the city of Khabarovsk. Here, on a high terrace along the right bank of the Amur, several Mesolithic settlements were discovered. Hearths of heavily burnt river stones have been preserved from them. There were many guns around the hearths. The finds were of great interest to scientists. And that's why. Among the Amur stone tools, the most common were regularly shaped items made of flat pebbles, excellently worked on one side with wide chips. The oval blades of the tools were sharpened with fine retouching. These are the first stone axes. Using them, the ancient inhabitants of the Amur region could now make wider use of the wealth of forests and waters, not only more successfully build shelters from rain and cold, but also make various hunting and fishing devices. Wooden boats hollowed out with axes were used to move and catch fish, which was rich in Amur.

In the south of the Far East, such a universal tool as a leaf-shaped knife-blade, processed with double-sided retouching, has become widespread. Some of the blades found by archaeologists could serve as excellent combat daggers and hunting knives for butchering prey. They could easily rip open the skin of the beast and dismember it into pieces. Other blades, more massive, were quite suitable as spearheads. The smallest could serve as tips for light throwing darts. Of the Mesolithic monuments of Primorye, the settlement near the village of Ustinovka is the most famous. There were excellent conditions for human life here: a high terrace near the river, around - a beautiful taiga, where even now you can meet wild boar, red deer, and even the "owners" of these places - a bear or a tiger. But not only hunting and fishing attracted people here. Here, tuff is found in large quantities - a stone of volcanic origin, which served as a material for the manufacture of tools. Separating plates from stone blanks, ancient craftsmen made knives, piercers, scrapers, chisels, arrowheads from them - almost all the tools a person needs in everyday life.

Hunting and fishing during the Mesolithic period continued to be the main occupations of the ancient Amurs and Primorye. At this time, man so far only took everything ready-made from nature: he killed animals, caught fish, and collected edible plants. Such an economy is called appropriating.

All the energy of human activity, all the strength of his labor were directed only to the extraction of food and materials for the manufacture of clothing, dwellings, tools, to the use of natural resources in finished form. Man's powers and possibilities remained limited, constrained by direct dependence on nature. This dependence left a certain imprint on all conditions of human existence. The harsh and dangerous life of hunters, fishermen and gatherers of the Stone Age required a constant effort. It was full of deprivation and hard exhausting work. The people of the Mesolithic era, like their Paleolithic ancestors, were forced to endure all the vagaries and accidents of natural phenomena. Short periods of abundance of animal and vegetable food gave way to long months of hunger strikes, when the old food supplies were already exhausted, and it was still far from the creation of new supplies. Years of relatively abundant food were often followed by years when the very existence of hunting and fishing communities was threatened.

The Mesolithic inhabitants of the Far East continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle. They lived in light portable dwellings such as chums and remained in one place as long as there were a lot of animals and game nearby. They still did not know how to make pottery - ceramics, and did not need it. They did not stay long in one place, and fragile earthenware was useless to them. Scientists call such ancient cultures pre-ceramic. All of them belong to the period of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic.

Concluding this part of the work, it should be noted that:
The finds made in Primorye and the Amur region showed that the Mesolithic population had stepped far ahead in comparison with the Paleolithic man. The most important inventions of the Mesolithic era made it possible to improve hunting and fishing trades and make them more productive. And although the population of the Far East still remained small and individual areas inhabited by people alternated with huge uninhabited areas, the person already knew and knew a lot, and therefore further changes in his life were not long in coming.

Development of the Far East in the 19th century
The Russian Empire had a colossal territory. Thanks to the energy and courage of the explorers of the 16th-18th centuries (Ermak, Nevelskoy, Dezhnev, Wrangel, Bering, etc.), the border of Russia was advanced far to the east, to the very coast of the Pacific Ocean. 60 years after Yermak's detachment crossed the Ural ridge, their sons and grandsons were already cutting down the first winter quarters on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The first to reach the harsh coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk were the Cossacks of Ivan Moskvitin in 1639. Active development of the Far East by Russia began under Peter 1 almost immediately after the Poltava victory and the end of the Northern War with the conclusion of peace with Sweden in 1721. Peter 1 was interested in sea routes to India and China, the spread of Russian influence in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, reaching the “unknown part” of North America, where the French and British had not yet managed to reach. New Russian lands with their inexhaustible wealth, fertile soils and forests became an integral part of the Russian state. The power of the state has increased markedly. “Amazed Europe, at the beginning of the reign of Ivan the Third, hardly even suspecting the existence of Muscovy, sandwiched between Lithuania and the Tatars, was stunned by the appearance of a huge empire on its eastern outskirts.” And although this territory belonged to the Russian Empire, the way of life of the peoples who inhabited it from the Urals to Sakhalin remained at a level not far from the primitive communal one that existed among them even before they were colonized by Russia. Power was limited to the activities of the royal governors and the maintenance of small garrisons in any large settlements. The tsarist government saw in Siberia and the Far East primarily a source of cheap raw materials, and an excellent place for exile and prisons.

Concluding this part of the work, I note that only in the 19th century, when Russia entered the era of capitalist development, did intensive development of vast areas begin.

Early 19th century in the Far East

In this part of the work, it can be noted that at the beginning of the 19th century, the gradual development of the territories of the Far East began. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, no extensive exploration of the Far East had yet been undertaken. There was not even a permanent population along the upper reaches of the Amur River. Although limited to the Amur region in this territory, of course, it is impossible.

The main event of that period was undoubtedly the expedition of G.I. Nevelsky in 1819-1821. He managed not only to explore the coast of Sakhalin, but also to prove that he is an island. Further work on the study of the Far East brought him another victory. He discovered the location of the mouth of the Amur. In his studies, he imagined an extremely uninhabited coast. Indeed, according to the data of that period, the number of local population in the Far East among different nationalities ranged from one to four thousand people.

Undoubtedly, the main researchers were the Cossacks and the resettling peasants. It was they who mastered the territory of the Far East on land. In 1817, the peasant A. Kudryavtsev visited the Gilyaks on the Amur. He learned that the land on which they live is very rich and far from civilization. In the thirties, the runaway Old Believer G. Vasiliev told about the same.

Concluding this part of the work, we can say that it was in the 19th century that the intensive development of the Far East began.

Russia's interests in research in the East

Having information about the uninhabited territory of the Far East and the lack of control of the local population, the Russian government in the fifties of the nineteenth century raised the issue of delimitation of territories before China. In 1854, proposals were sent to Beijing to begin negotiations.

On May 28, 1858, the Aigun Treaty was concluded, according to which the division of the Far Eastern regions took place. This was a very important stage in the development of the Far East as a whole. Since now any expedition or even just settlers were required to take into account the belonging of a particular territory.

As a result, Russia received additional wealth and settlements from which to collect taxes. The exploration of territories now also acquired the aspect of exploration of minerals.

Continued research and development of territories

In this part of the work, a more extended study of the Far East can be traced. In 1844, traveling in the north and distant regions of Siberia, A.F. Middendorf also ended up on the Amur River. His research made it possible to establish the approximate route of the Amur channel. He and his follower in 1849 - G.I. Nevelskoy led a wave of Russian peasants and Cossacks. Now the study and development of the Far East became more expanded and systematic.

In the fifties, two districts were already formed in the lower reaches of the Amur - Nikolaevsky and Sofia. The Ussuri Cossack and Yuzhnossuri districts were also formed. By the beginning of the sixties, more than three thousand people had moved to these territories.

In 1856, three Russian posts were set up on the territory of the future Amur Region: Zeya, Kumar and Khingan, but active settlement of these regions began only in 1857. In the spring of that year, the first three hundred of the Amur stud farm, newly formed from Transbaikalians, were moved down the Amur. Since 1858, the process of intensive development and settlement of the Far East by Russian settlers began. From 1858 to 1869 more than thirty thousand people moved to the Far East. About half of all Russian settlers were Cossacks from the neighboring Trans-Baikal region.

Now every day in the Far East was marked by intensive development and study of the area. Until then, no one had yet compiled a complete map of the Far East. Although almost all pioneers and researchers attempted to do this. Their research in this area was hindered by a very large area of ​​​​the territory and its extreme unpopulation. Only in the early seventies, thanks to the joint efforts and by order of the Tsar personally, a very approximate map of the main populated areas of the Far East was compiled.

The construction of the Siberian railway, begun in 1891. and completed in 1900 played a great role in the economic development of these areas. This especially strengthened the positions of the Russian state in the Far East. A city and a naval base were built on the Pacific coast. And so that no one doubts that these lands are Russian, the city was called Vladivostok.

Summing up the above, I note that in the 19th century Russian posts began to form on the territory of the Far East, railways were built, the area was studied.

Conclusion
What did the development of the Far East give Russia? By the end of the sixties of the nineteenth century, the Far East was already largely settled and mastered by immigrants from Siberia and European Russia. Significant success was achieved in the Amur region, where the vast majority of migrants rushed and where the fertile lands of the Amur-Zeya Plain were successfully developed. Already by 1869, the Amur Region had become the granary of the entire Far Eastern Territory and not only fully provided itself with bread and vegetables, but also had large surpluses. On the territory of Primorye, the proportion and size of the peasant population at the end of the nineteenth century were smaller than in the Amur region, but even here the scope of the settlers inspired respect and recognition of the masculinity of the pioneers. The number of local residents in spite of, and perhaps precisely because of this, has sharply decreased.

Stable trade relations with China were established, which in turn brought a constant income to the Russian treasury. Many Chinese, seeing that there are prosperous places nearby in Russia, began to move to the Russian land now. They were driven from their homeland by crop failures, lack of land and extortions from officials. Even the Koreans, despite the strict laws in their country, even providing for the death penalty for unauthorized resettlement, risked their lives to get to Russian territories.

In general, the exploration and development of the Far East, which reached its apogee in the middle of the nineteenth century, by its end acquired a rather calm and systematic character. And the study of the territories of the Far East for the presence of minerals brings success in our time. There are still a lot of secrets kept by the Far Eastern land.

Weekly tour, one-day hiking trips and excursions combined with comfort (trekking) in the mountain resort of Khadzhokh (Adygea, Krasnodar Territory). Tourists live at the camp site and visit numerous natural monuments. Rufabgo Waterfalls, Lago-Naki Plateau, Meshoko Gorge, Big Azish Cave, Belaya River Canyon, Guam Gorge.

Mixed oriental culture, amazing virgin nature and the special atmosphere of the "end of the world" - all this can be found by going on a Far Eastern expedition. Every corner of this part of the country is beautiful, but a few lifetimes are not enough to explore everything. We decided to make it easier for you to prepare and chose 10 places that you must visit.

This mesmerizing canyon is visited by thousands of tourists every year, despite its inaccessibility. The Valley of Geysers is the only place in all of Eurasia where you can see fountains of boiling water and steam. The most powerful geyser in the valley releases a jet of steam 300 meters high. In addition, there are a huge number of waterfalls, lakes, hot springs and other beauties of nature. An ecological trail has been laid for tourists, from which beautiful views open up, and if you're lucky, you can also see bears in their natural habitat. The valley is open for visits only with excursion groups.

The Far East of Russia is good not only for its amazing nature, but also for interesting cities. The port city of Vladivostok boasts the world's largest cable-stayed bridge, impressive views of the Pacific Ocean, and the country's famous crabs. The longest railway in Russia, the Trans-Siberian Railway, also ends in this city. But we certainly recommend taking the plane. It is better to go to Vladivostok in August, this month the most pleasant weather is set there. When exploring the city, don't forget to look at the monument to the Amur tiger, walk at sunset to the Star Lighthouse and take a walk along the local embankment. If it seems that Vladivostok is too far away, and there is no route for the May holidays, then there are options.

Renowned as one of the most beautiful harbors in the world, this harbor can be visited all year round thanks to its peculiarity – it does not freeze even in winter. In addition, it is so large that it can accommodate a vessel of any size. At the entrance to the Avacha Bay are the so-called "three brothers" - three rocks with an interesting history. They say that once a terrible endless storm broke out here, destroying the entire coast, and three brave brothers stood up to protect their people. The bad weather receded, and the brothers turned into stones and still guard the harbor. Local rivers are famous for excellent fishing, and in the area you can meet many marine animals, such as seals.

If you want to explore the whole Kamchatka Territory (so beautiful and so cheap!), but there is no such opportunity, you can look at all its beauties in miniature. All types of Kamchatka landscapes, forests and mountain ranges are found in Bystrinsky Park. Due to the uniqueness of nature, this park is included in the UNESCO Natural Heritage List. Tourists can explore this place as part of numerous excursions available all year round, or on their own. Here you can raft along the rivers, ride a dog sled, climb a volcano, go hiking in alpine meadows and deciduous forests.

This park is unique in that there is a training ground on its territory, where the daily processes of mountain formation, volcanoes and the development of animal and fish populations are recorded. There are many active volcanoes and they are also on the UNESCO list. The local nature is especially carefully protected from human encroachment, so getting into the park is not easy - you need a special permit, as well as mandatory adherence to all the rules of the reserve. A little more about.

The most anomalous place in the Far East - Death Valley - got its name not for the sake of a red word; it is really dangerous to be here because of the huge amount of poisonous gases. However, this deadly place is located very close to the famous Valley of Geysers, and for a long time no one even suspected that such a danger was literally at hand. Everything was discovered by chance, when local hunters missed several dogs, and then found them dead and felt bad themselves. Fortunately, a few hours after a person leaves this area, the weakness passes, but the valley is still closed to the public. However, there is a unique opportunity to look at it from above by ordering a helicopter tour.

This volcano appeared more than forty thousand years ago, and as a result of the last eruption formed a caldera - a bowl that turned out after the collapse of the walls of the volcano's crater. Now there are many rivers and streams, thermal springs and lakes with sulphurous water, the temperature of which reaches 40 degrees. The most ancient microorganisms and even oil were found here. In the center of the caldera there is a helipad from which tours of this amazing place begin. To get there, you need to get a special permit.

Nature sometimes creates unusual things, looking at which it is hard to believe that there was no human intervention here. One of these objects is the Steller Arch, located on Bering Island. Its height is 20.6 meters, and it is made of solid stone; for many centuries, all soft rocks have been washed away by water or destroyed by winds. The arch is named after a German scientist who devoted most of his life to studying the nature of the Far East. The best time to visit this place is, of course, summer, although in winter the snow-covered arch looks very bewitching.

On the huge plateau of the park there are 12 main volcanoes, among which there is the highest active volcano in Eurasia, Klyuchevskoy. It reaches 4750 meters in height. The tops of the volcanoes are covered with ice, and almost all the rivers of the natural park originate from them. The park is home to rare animals such as bighorn sheep and wolverines and very rich vegetation. Going on a trip along the local trails, you need to be careful and be sure to have a satellite phone and a GPS navigation device with you. Some routes are designed specifically for professional climbers only. The best time to visit Klyuchevskoy Park is from June to August.