Khabarovsk Krai.

History

In 1649–1650 Yerofey Khabarov's expedition reached the banks of the Amur. After the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 set the border along the river, the military post of Khabarovka was founded at the Ussuri confluence and named after the explorer; it became Khabarovsk in 1893. In 1916 a railway bridge over the Amur joined the Trans-Siberian without ferries. In 1932 Komsomolsk-on-Amur was laid out on the site of Permskoye village, built not only by Komsomol volunteers but also by Gulag prisoners. The krai itself was split from the Far Eastern Krai on 20 October 1938.

Culture & traditions

The Nanai have long lived by fishing on the Amur and Ussuri and once made clothes from fish skin, which earned them the old name "Fish-skin Tartars". Their beliefs honoured the bear and the tiger, and shamans addressed the spirits of sun, mountains and water; the Nanai language is still taught in local schools. Khabarovsk's regional museum holds collections on the indigenous peoples, while Komsomolsk-on-Amur has a Stalin-era centre built in the 1940s and 1950s. The city is also known for its aircraft plant, which builds Sukhoi planes.

Nature

The lower Amur crosses the south of the krai, and its eastern edge is the Sea of Okhotsk, home to the Shantar Islands. Mountains cover most of the land, where the Sikhote-Alin, Dzhugdzhur and Bureya ranges meet; the highest point is Mount Berill (2,933 m). At the Nanai village of Sikachi-Alyan, 75 km north of Khabarovsk, Neolithic petroglyphs of mask-like faces are carved into basalt boulders. Winters are harsh, while summers are monsoonal and humid.

Sport

Khabarovsk loves bandy: it is the home of the SKA-Neftyanik club, and the city hosted the Bandy World Championships in 1981, 2015 and 2018. It is also home to the Amur ice hockey club and the football club SKA-Khabarovsk.

Food & drink

Fish has always been the basis of Nanai cooking. In summer it was eaten fresh and dried for the winter, with sturgeon prized above all. Fish was even fed to livestock, so central was it to life on the Amur.

Practical information

The main gateway is Khabarovsk Novy Airport, with flights across Russia and to Asian countries. The Trans-Siberian Railway runs through Khabarovsk, and Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 356 km to the northeast, is an important junction on the Baikal–Amur Mainline. Local time is Moscow plus 7 hours (UTC+10). The climate is continental with monsoon features: frosty, dry winters and warm, rainy summers. Late spring, summer and early autumn are the best times to visit.

What to see

• Khabarovsk Bridge over the Amur — a railway crossing opened in 1916
• Sikachi-Alyan petroglyphs — ancient stone masks on the Amur shore
• Khabarovsk Regional Museum — history and culture of the indigenous peoples
• Central Komsomolsk-on-Amur — an ensemble of Stalin-era architecture
• Shantar Islands — a rugged archipelago in the Sea of Okhotsk

Cities on the map

• Khabarovsk 611,160
• Nikolayevsk-on-Amur 20,278
• Okhotsk 3,257