Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia. The steppe and wetland landscapes of Dauria are protected by the

Daurian Nature Reserve The Daurian Nature Reserve (Даурский заповедник ''Daurskiy zapavyednik'') is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) situated in the southern part of the Zabaykalsky Krai in Siberia, Russia, close to the border with Mongol ...

, which forms part of a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

named "The Landscapes of Dauria".

Etymology

The alternative name of the Transbaikal, ''Dauria'', derives from the ethnonym of the former inhabitants, the

Daur people The Daur people (Khalkha Mongolian: Дагуур, ''Daguur''; ) are a Mongolic people in Northeast China. The Daur form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised in the People's Republic of China. They numbered 131,992 according to the la ...

, whom Russian explorers first encountered in 1640.

Geography

Dauria stretches for almost 1,000 km from north to south from the

Patom Plateau The Patom Highlands ( rus, Патомское нагорье) are a mountainous area in Eastern Siberia, Russia. Administratively most of the territory of the uplands is part of Irkutsk Oblast, with a smaller section in northern Transbaikal Krai. ...

and North Baikal Plateau to the Russian state borders with

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and China. The Transbaikal region covers more than 1,000 km from west to east from Lake Baikal to the

meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

of the confluence of the Shilka and Argun Rivers. To the west and north lies the

Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and N ...

; to the north the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), to the east the

Amur Oblast Amur Oblast ( rus, Аму́рская о́бласть, r=Amurskaya oblast, p=ɐˈmurskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers in the Russian Far East. The administrat ...

History

Uspenskaya church Kalinino Nerchinsk 1712

The ancient proto-Mongol

Slab Grave Culture The Slab-Grave culture is an archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Mongols.Tumen D., "Anthropology of Archaeological Populations from Northeast Asipage 25,27 The ethnogenesis of modern Mongolian people is linked to the ...

occupied the area around Lake Baikal in the Transbaikal territory. In Imperial Russia, Dauria itself became an

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

- the Transbaikal Oblast ( ru , Забайкальская область), established in 1851, with its capital at

Nerchinsk Nerchinsk ( rus, Не́рчинск; bua, Нэршүү, ''Nershüü''; mn, Нэрчүү, ''Nerchüü''; mnc, m=, v=Nibcu, a=Nibqu; zh, t=涅尔琴斯克（尼布楚）, p=Niè'ěrqínsīkè (Níbùchǔ)) is a town and the administrative ce ...

, then at Chita. It became part of the short-lived Far Eastern Republic between 1920 and 1922. The administration of historic Transbaikalia includes Buryatia and the

Zabaykalsky Krai Zabaykalsky Krai ( rus, Забайкальский край, r=Zabaikal'skii krai, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲskʲɪj kraj, lit. " Transbaikal krai"; bua, Yбэр Байгалай хизаар, Uber Baigalai Xizaar) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai ...

; the area makes up nearly all of the territory of these two

federal subjects The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...

Fauna and flora

The region has given its name to various animal species including

Daurian hedgehog The Daurian hedgehog (''Mesechinus dauuricus'') is a solitary small hedgehog. It is listed in the Red book of Russian Federation as a protected species with an unclear status, generally considered to be endangered, although the IUCN lists it as ...

, and the following birds:

Asian brown flycatcher The Asian brown flycatcher (''Muscicapa dauurica'') is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The word ''Muscicapa'' comes from the Latin ''musca'', a fly and ''capere'', to catch. The specific ''dauurica'' refers to Dau ...

(''Muscicapa daurica''),

Daurian jackdaw The Daurian jackdaw (''Coloeus dauuricus'') is a bird in the crow family, Corvidae, native to eastern Asia. It is closely related to the western jackdaw. The name derives from the Dauria region of eastern Russia. Description At about in length, ...

Daurian partridge The Daurian partridge (''Perdix dauurica''), also known as steppe partridge, Asian grey partridge or bearded partridge, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds). Its name derives from the D ...

Daurian redstart The Daurian redstart (''Phoenicurus auroreus'') is a small passerine bird from temperate Asia. In Japan, it is known as ''jōbitaki'' (ジョウビタキ). The species was first described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1776. Description and systemati ...

Daurian starling The Daurian starling (''Agropsar sturninus''), or purple-backed starling, is a species of bird in the starling family found in the eastern Palearctic from eastern Mongolia and southeastern Russia to North Korea and central China. Taxonomy and s ...

, Daurian shrike and the

red-rumped swallow The red-rumped swallow (''Cecropis daurica'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in open hilly country of temperate southern Europe and Asia from Portugal and Spain to Japan, India, Sri Lanka and tropical Africa. The India ...

(''Hirundo daurica''). The

Mongolian wild ass The Mongolian wild ass (''Equus hemionus hemionus''), also known as Mongolian khulan, is the nominate subspecies of the onager. It is found in southern Mongolia and northern China. It was previously found in eastern Kazakhstan and southern Siberi ...

(''Equus hemionus hemionus'') is extinct in the region. The common name of the famous

Dahurian larch ''Larix gmelinii'', the Dahurian larch or Gmelin larch, is a species of larch native to eastern Siberia and adjacent northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China ( Heilongjiang), South Korea and North Korea. Description ''Larix gmelinii'' i ...

(''Larix gmelinii'') as well as that of the Dahurian buckthorn (''Rhamnus davurica'') are also derived from the same source.

Geography

Oktyabrsky (Октябрьский) village,

, near the Russia-China border is a large site of uranium mining and processing facilities.Shandala N, Filonova A, Titov A, Isaev D, Seregin V, Semenova V, and Metlyaev EG (2009)
Radiation situation nearby the uranium mining facility
Environmental section poster P.9, 54th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, 12–16 July 2009, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Part of the area is protected by the

Dauria Nature Reserve The Daurian Nature Reserve (Даурский заповедник ''Daurskiy zapavyednik'') is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) situated in the southern part of the Zabaykalsky Krai in Siberia, Russia, close to the border with Mongol ...

References

* *

External links

WWF Russia
{{Coord, 53, N, 115, E, source:fiwiki-gns-enwiki_region:RU_type:mountain, display=title Geography of Siberia Historical regions in Russia Geography of Northeast Asia History of Siberia

Etymology

Geography

History

Fauna and flora

Geography

See also

References

External links