Nerchinsk

Not to be confused with Nerchinsky Zavod.
Nerchinsk (English)
Нерчинск (Russian)
-  Town[1]  -

Location of Zabaykalsky Krai in Russia
Nerchinsk
Location of Nerchinsk in Zabaykalsky Krai
Coordinates: 51°59′40″N 116°33′20″E / 51.99444°N 116.55556°E / 51.99444; 116.55556Coordinates: 51°59′40″N 116°33′20″E / 51.99444°N 116.55556°E / 51.99444; 116.55556
Coat of arms
Flag
Administrative status (as of January 2014)
Country Russia
Federal subject Zabaykalsky Krai[1]
Administrative district Nerchinsky District[1]
Administrative center of Nerchinsky District[1]
Municipal status (as of December 2012)
Municipal district Nerchinsky Municipal District[2]
Urban settlement Nerchinskoye Urban Settlement[2]
Administrative center of Nerchinsky Municipal District,[3] Nerchinskoye Urban Settlement[4]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census) 14,959 inhabitants[5]
Population (January 2014 est.) 14,775 inhabitants[1]
Time zone YAKT (UTC+09:00)[6]
Postal code(s)[7] 673400, 673402, 673403, 673429, 673840
Official website
Nerchinsk on Wikimedia Commons

Nerchinsk (Russian: Не́рчинск) 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);[5] 15,748(2002 Census);[8] 16,961(1989 Census);[9] 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 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. 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.[10]

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 stands in disrepair.

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.[2]

Transportation

Nerchinsk
IATA: noneICAO: none
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator Russian Air Force
Location Nerchinsk
Elevation AMSL 1,575 ft / 480 m
Coordinates 52°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 appears to be abandoned. The substandard runway length suggests a 1950s design.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and the Inhabited Localities of Zabaykalsky Krai
  2. 1 2 3 Law #317-ZZK
  3. Law #316-ZZK
  4. 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. ).
  5. 1 2 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. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  6. Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №271-ФЗ от 03 июля 2016 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #271-FZ of July 03, 2016 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  7. Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
  8. 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). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  9. Demoscope Weekly (1989). "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]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  10. Kennan, George (1891). Siberia and the Exile System. London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co. p. 280.

Sources

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