Amur
Amur
Amur
ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ
Jiāng, "Black Dragon River", IPA: [xéɪ.lʊ̌ŋ tɕjáŋ]), [6]
ᡠᠯᠠ
is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border
between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China
(Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is 2,824 sahaliyan ula (in Manchu)
kilometres (1,755 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 黑龙江 Hēilóng Jiāng (in Chinese)
1,855,000 km2 (716,000 sq mi).[1][7] Including its Аму́р, Amur (in Russian)
source river Argun, it is 4,444 km (2,761 mi) long.[7][2]
The largest fish species in the Amur is the kaluga,
attaining a length as great as 5.6 metres (18 ft).[8] The
river basin is home to a variety of large predatory fish
such as northern snakehead, Amur pike, taimen, Amur
catfish, predatory carp and yellowcheek,[9] as well as
the northernmost populations of the Amur softshell
turtle[10] and Indian lotus.[11]
Name
The Russian name Amur comes the Tungusic term for The river Amur (Heilong Jiang)
“river”. Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group
formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or
Manchu–Tungus languages). They are native to Siberia
and Northeast Asia.
During years with heavy precipitation, the Amur river (Period of data: 1934-
system is connected with the Kherlen river. The 2012)10,929 m3/s
normally exit−less endorheic lake Hulun Lake, into (386,000 cu ft/s)
which Kherlen flows, will overflow at its northern shore
through the arroyo of Mutnaya Protoka, and the water 343 km3/a (10,900 m3/s) to
will meet the Argun River (Ergune) after about 30 364 km3/a (11,500 m3/s)[2]
kilometres (19 mi). The Amur Basin of the Kherlen • minimum 514 m3/s (18,200 cu ft/s)
• maximum 30,700 m3/s
(1,080,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, Russia
(Basin size: 1,730,000 km2
(670,000 sq mi)[4]
River−Argun/Ergune River−Amur River system has a • average (Period of data: 1896-
total length of 5,052 kilometres (3,139 mi) to its river 2004)10,100 m3/s
mouth on the Sea of Japan.[16] (360,000 cu ft/s)[3]
Discharge
• location Khabarovsk, Russia
Tributaries
• average (Period of data: 1896-
2004)8,360 m3/s
The largest tributaries of the Amur are, from source to
(295,000 cu ft/s)[3] (Period of
mouth:[7][17] data: 1940-2009)8,321 m3/s
(293,900 cu ft/s)[5]
Argun (right)
• minimum 4,360 m3/s (154,000 cu ft/s)[3]
Shilka (left)
• maximum 25,500 m3/s
Amazar (left)
(900,000 cu ft/s)[3]
Oldoy (left)
Basin features
Huma (right)
Zeya (left) River system Strait of Tartary
Bureya (left) Tributaries
Songhua (right) • left Shilka, Zeya, Bureya, Amgun
Bira (left) • right Argun, Huma, Songhua,
Ussuri
Ussuri (right)
Tunguska (left)
Amur
Anyuy (right)
Gur (right)
Gorin (left)
Amgun (left)
There are also numerous lakes in the floodplain of the Amur. Some
of the largest ones are Bolon, Khummi and Udyl.[18]
ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ
ᡠᠯᠠ
Manchu script
village of Tyr.[21]
The Amur region remained a relative backwater of the Qing Empire for the next century and a half, with
Aigun being practically the only major town on the river. Russians re-appeared on the river in the mid-19th
century, forcing the Manchus to yield all lands north of the river to the Russian Empire by the Treaty of
Aigun (1858). Lands east of the Ussuri and the lower Amur were acquired by Russia as well, by the
Convention of Peking (1860).[29]
Wildlife
It is believed there are at least 123 species of fish from 23 families inhabiting the Amur. The majority are of
the Gobioninae subfamily of Cypriniformes, followed in number by Salmonidae. Several of the species are
endemic. Pseudaspius and Mesocottus are monotypic genera found only in the Amur and some nearby
coastal rivers.[13]
Four species of the Acipenseridae family can be found: the kaluga, Amur sturgeon, Sakhalin sturgeon and
sterlet. The Kaluga and Amur sturgeon are endemic. The sterlet was introduced from the Ob in the
1950s.[30]
Direction
Flowing across northeast Asia for over 4,444 kilometres (2,761 mi) (including its two tributaries), from the
mountains of northeastern China to the Sea of Okhotsk (near Nikolayevsk-na-Amure), it drains a
remarkable watershed that includes diverse landscapes of desert, steppe, tundra, and taiga, eventually
emptying into the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Tartary, where the mouth of the river faces the
northern end of the island of Sakhalin.
The Amur has always been closely associated with the island of Sakhalin at its mouth, and most names for
the island, even in the languages of the indigenous peoples of the region, are derived from the name of the
river: "Sakhalin" derives from a Tungusic dialectal form cognate with Manchu sahaliyan ("black", as in
sahaliyan ula, "Black River"), while Ainu and Japanese
"Karaputo" or "Karafuto" is derived from the Ainu name of the
Amur or its mouth. Anton Chekhov vividly described the Amur in
writings about his journey to Sakhalin Island in 1890.
The average annual discharge varies from 6,000 cubic metres per
second (210,000 cu ft/s) (1980) to 12,000 cubic metres per second
(420,000 cu ft/s) (1957), leading to an average 9,819 cubic metres
per second (346,800 cu ft/s) or 310 cubic kilometres (74 cu mi) per
On the Amur in Khabarovsk
year. The maximum runoff measured occurred in Oct 1951 with
30,700 cubic metres per second (1,080,000 cu ft/s) whereas the
minimum discharge was recorded in March 1946 with a mere 514
cubic metres per second (18,200 cu ft/s).[31]
Later, a combined road and rail bridge over the Amur at Komsomolsk-on-Amur (1975; 1400 m) and the
road and rail Khabarovsk Bridge (1999; 3890 m) were constructed.
See also
Amuri, Tampere, a Tampere district named after battles at river Amur during the Russo-
Japanese war
Amur cork tree
Amur maple
Amur falcon
Amur leopard
Amur tiger
Amur honeysuckle
Geography of China
Geography of Russia
Sino-Soviet border conflict
Jilin chemical plant explosions 2005
Home of the Kaluga (Acipenseriformes)
List of longest undammed rivers
Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilong Jiang
Amur Military Flotilla
References
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ritannica.com/place/Amur-River). Encyclopædia Britannica (online ed.). Archived (https://we
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2. Eugene A., Simonov; Thomas D., Dahmer. Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader (https://wwfeu.
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3. "DRAINAGE BASINS OF THE SEA OF OKHOTSK AND SEA OF JAPAN" (https://unece.or
g/fileadmin/DAM/env/water/blanks/assessment/okhotsk_japan.pdf) (PDF). pp. 60–67.
4. "Variations of the Present-Day Annual and Seasonal Runoff in the Far East and Siberia with
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5. Haruyama, Shigeko; Shiraiwa, Takayuki (2 December 2014). Environmental Change and
the Social Response in the Amur River Basin (https://books.google.com/books?id=VMuoBQ
AAQBAJ&dq=Amur+m3%2Fs&pg=PA107). ISBN 9784431552451.
6. Liaoning province's archive, Manchu Veritable Record Upper Vol 《滿洲實錄上函 /manju-i
yargiyan kooli dergi dobton》
7. Амур (река в Азии) (http://bse.sci-lib.com/article049012.html), Great Soviet Encyclopedia
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Amur_River?topic=78166) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20121130135928/http://ww
w.eoearth.org/article/Amur_River?topic=78166) November 30, 2012, at the Wayback
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9. FishBase: Species in Amur. (https://www.fishbase.se/trophiceco/FishEcoList.php?ve_code=
22) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20190218021146/https://www.fishbase.se/trophic
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10. Farkas, B., T. Ziegler, C.T. Pham, A.V. Ong and U. Fritz (2019). A new species of Pelodiscus
from northeastern Indochina (Testudines, Trionychidae). ZooKeys 824: 71-86.
doi:10.3897/zookeys.824.31376 (https://doi.org/10.3897%2Fzookeys.824.31376)
11. Yi Zhang; Xu Lu; Shaoxiao Zeng; Xuhui Huang; Zebin Guo; Yafeng Zheng; Yuting Tian;
Baodong Zheng (2015). "Nutritional composition, physiological functions and processing of
lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) seeds: a review". Phytochem Rev. 14 (3): 321–334.
doi:10.1007/s11101-015-9401-9 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11101-015-9401-9)
12. Scheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. United
States of America: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. p. 43. ISBN 0-89577-087-3.
13. The fishes of the Amur River:updated check-list and zoogeography (https://pfeil-verlag.de/wp
-content/uploads/2015/05/ief19_4_03.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/202002040
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14. Source elevation derived from Google Earth
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&q=20030300112118100000012). verum.wiki (in Russian).
18. "Water of Russia - Khabarovsk Krai" (https://water-rf.ru/%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%
B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8B_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B
8/2584/%D0%A5%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D
0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9).
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Migration. John Wiley & Sons. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-118-97059-1.
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mia.edu/37070620). International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic
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21. Головачев В. Ц. (V. Ts. Golovachev), «Тырские стелы и храм „Юн Нин“ в свете китайско-
чжурчжэньских отношений XIV—XV вв.» (http://www.ethnonet.ru/ru/pub/14-11-08.html)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090223115421/http://www.ethnonet.ru/ru/pub/14-11
-08.html) 2009-02-23 at the Wayback Machine (The Tyr Stelae and the Yongning Temple
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Volume I (A-L). Columbia University Press, 1976. ISBN 0-231-03801-1
23. Shih-Shan Henry Tsai, "Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle". Published by
University of Washington Press, 2002. ISBN 0-295-98124-5 Partial text (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=aU5hBMxNgWQC) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2017011002005
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Machine on Google Books. pp. 158-159.
24. Du Halde, Jean-Baptiste (1735). Description géographique, historique, chronologique,
politique et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise (http://web2.bium.uni
v-paris5.fr/livanc/?cote=00992x04&do=chapitre). Vol. IV. Paris: P.G. Lemercier. pp. 15–16.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090702234744/http://web2.bium.univ-paris5.fr/livan
c/?cote=00992x04&do=chapitre) from the original on 2009-07-02. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
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81909/https://books.google.com/books?id=1pcsAAAAYAAJ) 2017-01-10 at the Wayback
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25. Forsyth 1994 (https://books.google.com/books?id=nzhq85nPrdsC&pg=PA214) Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20160514222051/https://books.google.com/books?id=nzhq85nPrd
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26. Du Halde (1735), pp. 15-16
27. Foust, Muscovite and Mandarin p. 245-250
28. Kim 2012/2013 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/centasiaj.56.2013.0169) Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20161012195320/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/centasiaj.5
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29. "The Convention of Peking of 1860 is concluded" (https://www.prlib.ru/en/history/619718).
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30. Endemic sturgeons of the Amur River: kaluga, Huso dauricus, and Amur sturgeon, Acipenser
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3) 2020-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
31. "Amur at Komsomolsk" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120812063401/http://webworld.unes
co.org/water/ihp/db/shiklomanov/part'4/FORMER%20USSR/RUSSIA/Amur%20at%20Koms
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shiklomanov/part'4/FORMER%20USSR/RUSSIA/Amur%20at%20Komsomolsk.html) on
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32. Proposed bridge to boost bilateral trade (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200706/19/eng20
070619_385591.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20130528054321/http://englis
h.peopledaily.com.cn/200706/19/eng20070619_385591.html) 2013-05-28 at the Wayback
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33. Andrew Higgins (July 16, 2016). "An Unfinished Bridge, and Partnership, Between Russia
and China" (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/world/asia/unfinished-bridge-russia-china-
amur-river.html). The New York Times. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201607161624
28/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/world/asia/unfinished-bridge-russia-china-amur-river.
html) from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
34. "Russia Completes Construction of First-Ever Rail Bridge to China" (https://www.themoscow
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0), The Moscow Times, March 21, 2019, retrieved November 16, 2020
35. Россия и Китай соединили железнодорожный мост через Амур (https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfr
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Further reading
Bisher, Jamie (2006). White Terror: Cossack Warlords of the Trans-Siberian (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=Mg6RAgAAQBAJ). Routledge. ISBN 1135765952. Retrieved 24 April
2014. also ISBN 1135765960
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Amur (River)" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%
C3%A6dia_Britannica/Amur_(River)). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.).
Cambridge University Press. p. 899.
Forsyth, James (1994). A History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony
1581-1990 (https://books.google.com/books?id=nzhq85nPrdsC) (illustrated, reprint,
revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521477719. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
Kang, Hyeokhweon. Shiau, Jeffrey (ed.). "Big Heads and Buddhist Demons: The Korean
Military Revolution and Northern Expeditions of 1654 and 1658" (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20140115010819/http://history.emory.edu/home/assets/documents/endeavors/volume4/Ka
ng.pdf) (PDF). Emory Endeavors in World History (2013 ed.). 4: Transnational Encounters in
Asia: 1–22. Archived from the original (http://history.emory.edu/home/assets/documents/ende
avors/volume4/Kang.pdf) (PDF) on 2014-01-15. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
金
Kim , Loretta E. 由美 (2012–2013). "Saints for Shamans? Culture, Religion and
Borderland Politics in Amuria from the Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries". Central Asiatic
Journal. Harrassowitz Verlag. 56: 169–202. JSTOR 10.13173/centasiaj.56.2013.0169 (http
s://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/centasiaj.56.2013.0169).
McAleavy, Henry. "China and the Amur Provinces" History Today (June 1964) 14#6 pp 381–
390.
Stephan, John J. (1996). The Russian Far East: A History (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=Jce4rBWjG5wC) (illustrated, reprint ed.). Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804727015.
Thubron, Colin (2021). The Amur River: Between Russia and China. London: Chatto &
Windus.
Ziegler, Dominic (2015). Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between
Russia and China.
External links
Amur-Heilong River Basin Information Center (https://web.archive.org/web/2009121605582
8/http://amur-heilong.net/) - maps, GIS data, environmental data
Information and a map of the Amur’s watershed (https://web.archive.org/web/200410272218
38/http://www.earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/maps_detail_static.cfm?map_select=344&th
eme=2)