Nerchinsk
Нерчинск
Town[1]
Flag of Nerchinsk
Flag
Coat of arms of Nerchinsk
Coat of arms
Location of Nerchinsk
Map
Nerchinsk is located in Russia
Nerchinsk
Nerchinsk
Location of Nerchinsk
Nerchinsk is located in Zabaykalsky Krai
Nerchinsk
Nerchinsk
Nerchinsk (Zabaykalsky Krai)
Coordinates: 51°59′40″N 116°33′20″E / 51.99444°N 116.55556°E / 51.99444; 116.55556
CountryRussia
Federal subjectZabaykalsky Krai[1]
Administrative districtNerchinsky District[1]
Founded1653Edit this on Wikidata
Elevation
490 m (1,610 ft)
Population
 (2010 Census)[2]
 • Total14,959
 • Estimate 
(2018)[3]
14,919 (−0.3%)
 • Capital ofNerchinsky District[1]
 • Municipal districtNerchinsky Municipal District[4]
 • Urban settlementNerchinskoye Urban Settlement[4]
 • Capital ofNerchinsky Municipal District,[5] Nerchinskoye Urban Settlement[6]
Time zoneUTC+9 (MSK+6 Edit this on Wikidata[7])
Postal code(s)[8]
673400, 673402, 673403, 673429, 673840
OKTMO ID76628101001
Websiteгпнерчинское.нерчинск.забайкальскийкрай.рф

Nerchinsk (Russian: Не́рчинск; Buryat: Нэршүү, Nershüü; Mongolian: Нэрчүү, Nerchüü; Manchu: ᠨᡳᠪᠴᡠ, Möllendorff: Nibcu, Abkai: Nibqu) is a town and the administrative center of Nerchinsky District in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the left bank of the Nercha River, 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) above its confluence with the Shilka River, 644 kilometers (400 mi) east of Lake Baikal, about 225 kilometers (140 mi) west of the Chinese border, and 305 kilometers (190 mi) east of Chita, the administrative center of the krai. Population: 14,959 (2010 Census);[2] 15,748 (2002 Census);[9] 16,961 (1989 Census);[10] 6,713 (1897).

Town name in other languages

Two important treaties between the Russian Empire and Manchu China mention Nerchinsk: the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk and the 1727 Treaty of Kyakhta. Non-Russian comments on these treaties or on the history of the town may mention other names:

History

View of Nerchinsk, from Eberhard Isbrand Ides (1710), Driejaarige reize naar China (Dutch edition)
A 1900 postcard showing the Butin Palace in Nerchinsk

The fort of Nerchinsk dates from 1654. Afanasy Pashkov [ru] founded the town four years later; in that year he opened direct communication between the Russian settlements in Transbaikalia and those on the Amur River which had been founded by Cossacks and fur-traders from the Yakutsk region.[11] In 1689 Russia and China signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk, which stopped the farther advance of the Russians into the basin of the Amur for two centuries (see Sino-Russian border conflicts).

After that, Nerchinsk became the chief center for Russian trade with China. The opening of the western route through Mongolia, via Urga, and the establishment of a custom-house at Kyakhta in 1728 diverted this trade into a new channel. But Nerchinsk acquired fresh importance from the influx of immigrants, mostly exiles, into eastern Dauria, from the discovery of rich mines and from the arrival of great numbers of convicts to the Nerchinsk katorga. Ultimately Nerchinsk became the chief town of Transbaikalia.

The famous English adventurer and engineer Samuel Bentham visited Nerchinsk in 1782. Bentham had seen a potential for Nerchinsk as a base for access to the Sea of Okhotsk, provided the Chinese would authorize navigation on the Amur River. Such a venture would have opened up the possibility of fur trade with the Pacific Ocean, as far as the Chinese port of Canton.

In 1812, Nerchinsk was transferred from the banks of the Shilka to its present site, on account of floods. The town relinquished its supremacy to Chita in the late 19th century, when the Trans-Siberian Railway bypassed it.

According to George Kennan, "a few of the Decembrist conspirators of 1825" and "thousands of Polish insurgents" from their unsuccessful insurrection of 1863" were transported to the Nerchinsk silver-mining district.[12]

20th century

In the early 20th century, Nerchinsk was built of wood, and its lower areas frequently suffered from inundations. The inhabitants supported themselves mainly by agriculture, tobacco-growing and cattle-breeding; a few merchants traded in furs and cattle, in brick-tea from China, and in manufactured wares from Russia. Gold-mines in the vicinity were owned and developed by the Butin family of merchants, whose Neo-Moorish palace now accessible for visitors.

Nerchinsk today

As of 2016 Nerchinsk is home to some small electromechanical and food-processing industries. It has a small museum, established in 1884. Among its sights are the Resurrection Cathedral, built in the Neoclassical style in 1825 to commemorate the city's relocation, its belltower destroyed by the Communists. The site of old Nerchinsk is marked by the Assumption Monastery, the oldest in Dauria, founded in 1664. Its cathedral, consecrated in 1712, is the easternmost building in the Muscovite Baroque style.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Nerchinsk serves as the administrative center of Nerchinsky District, to which it is directly subordinated.[1] As a municipal division, the town of Nerchinsk, together with one rural locality (the selo of Makeyevka), is incorporated within Nerchinsky Municipal District as Nerchinskoye Urban Settlement.[4]

Transportation

Nerchinsk
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OperatorRussian Air Force
LocationNerchinsk
Elevation AMSL1,575 ft / 480 m
Coordinates52°0′0″N 116°32′0″E / 52.00000°N 116.53333°E / 52.00000; 116.53333
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
5,577 1,700 Concrete

The Nerchinsk Airport is a former air-base located 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) northwest of the town. It was abandoned in the 1990s.[13] The substandard runway length suggests a 1950s design.

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and the Inhabited Localities of Zabaykalsky Krai
  2. ^ a b Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
  3. ^ "26. Численность постоянного населения Российской Федерации по муниципальным образованиям на 1 января 2018 года". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Law #317-ZZK
  5. ^ Law #316-ZZK
  6. ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики. Федеральное агентство по технологическому регулированию и метрологии. №ОК 033-2013 1 января 2014 г. «Общероссийский классификатор территорий муниципальных образований. Код 76 628 101». (Federal State Statistics Service. Federal Agency on Technological Regulation and Metrology. #OK 033-2013 January 1, 2014 Russian Classification of Territories of Municipal Formations. Code 76 628 101. ).
  7. ^ "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
  9. ^ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian).
  10. ^ Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. 1989 – via Demoscope Weekly.
  11. ^ Lee, Rensselaer W.; Lukin, Artyom (2016). Russia's Far East: new dynamics in Asia Pacific and beyond. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. p. 29. ISBN 9781626373891. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  12. ^ Kennan, George (1891). Siberia and the Exile System. London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co. p. 280.
  13. ^ Энциклопедия Забайкалья. Нерчинск.

Sources

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