Transbaikal Fortified Region
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Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykal'ye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-)
Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
at the south side of the
eastern Siberia Eastern Siberia is a part of Siberia that incorporates the territory located between the Yenisei River in the west and the Pacific Ocean divides in the east. Its area is equal to 7.2 million sq. km.Galina Samoylova (Г. С. Самойлова)В ...
and the south-western corner of the Far Eastern Russia. The steppe and wetland landscapes of Dauria are protected by the
Daursky Nature Reserve The Daurian Nature Reserve () is a Russian zapovednik (strict nature reserve) situated in the southern part of Zabaykalsky Krai in Siberia, Russia, close to the border with Mongolia. It is part of a World Heritage Site named "The Landscapes of ...
, which forms part of a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
named "
Landscapes of Dauria The Landscapes of Dauria is a World Heritage Site shared between Russia and Mongolia, part of the "Daurian forest steppe" ecoregion (the latter also stretches into the northeastern China). It includes the Torey Lakes. Component sites The site i ...
".


Geography

Dauria stretches for almost 1,000 km from north to south from the
Patom Plateau The Patom Highlands () 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 Zabaykalsky Krai.Google Earth There are large deposits o ...
and North Baikal Highlands to the Russian state borders with
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and China. The Transbaikal region covers more than 1,000 km from west to east from Lake Baikal to the meridian of the confluence of the Shilka and Argun Rivers. To the west and north lies the
Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara River, Angara, Lena River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is ...
; to the north the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), to the east the
Amur Oblast Amur Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers in the Russian Far East. The oblast borders Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the south. The administrati ...
. Oktyabrsky (Октябрьский) village,
Amur Oblast Amur Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers in the Russian Far East. The oblast borders Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the south. The administrati ...
, 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.


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. Taxonomy ''Mesechinus dauuricus'' was first described in 1842 by Carl Jakob Sundevall, as the first species of the genus '' Mesechinus''. Description The adult ...
, 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. The species was first described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1776. Description and systematics Its length is 14 to 15 cm and its weight is 11 to 20 ...
,
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 sy ...
,
Daurian shrike The isabelline shrike or Daurian shrike (''Lanius isabellinus'') is a member of the shrike family (Laniidae). It was previously considered conspecific with the red-backed shrike and red-tailed shrike. It is found in an extensive area between t ...
and the
red-rumped swallow The European red-rumped swallow (''Cecropis rufula'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It breeds in open hilly country of southern Europe and north Africa east to Iran, Pakistan and northwest India. During winter it m ...
(''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 Sibe ...
(''Equus hemionus hemionus'') is extinct in the region. The common name of the famous
Dahurian larch ''Larix gmelinii'', the Dahurian larch or East Siberian 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'' ...
(''Larix gmelinii'') as well as that of the Dahurian buckthorn (''Rhamnus davurica'') are also derived from the same source.


History

The ancient proto-Mongol slab-grave culture occupied the area around
Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
in the Transbaikal territory. History of Mongolia, Volume I, 2003. In 1667, Gantimur opened Transbaikalia and the country on the
Amur River The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...
to the influence of the
Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...
. In
Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...
, Dauria itself became an
oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...
- the Transbaikal Oblast (), established in 1851, with its capital at
Nerchinsk Nerchinsk (; , ''Nershüü''; , ''Nerchüü''; mnc, m=, v=Nibcu, a=Nibqu) is a town and the administrative center of Nerchinsky District in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the left bank of the Nercha River, above its confluence with th ...
, later at Chita. It became part of the short-lived
Far Eastern Republic The Far Eastern Republic ( rus, Дальневосточная Республика, Dal'nevostochnaya Respublika, p=dəlʲnʲɪvɐˈstotɕnəjə rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə, links=yes; ), sometimes called the Chita Republic (, ), was a nominally indep ...
between 1920 and 1922. , the administration of the historic Transbaikalia includes
Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia, is a republic of Russia located in the Russian Far East. Formerly part of the Siberian Federal District, it has been administered as part of the Far Eastern Federal District since 2018. To its nort ...
and the
Zabaykalsky Krai Zabaykalsky Krai is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the Russian Far East. Its administrative center is Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, Chita. As of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, the population was ...
; 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 () or simply as the subjects of the federation (), are the constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political divisions. According to the Cons ...
.


See also

* Transbaikal conifer forests *
Daurian forest steppe The Daurian forest steppe ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0804) is a band of grassland, shrub terrain, and mixed forests in northeast Mongolia and the region of Siberia, Russia that follows the course of the Onon River and Ulz River, and part of the northwes ...
*
Khentei-Daur Highlands The Khentei-Daur Highlands, also known as the Khentei-Chikoi Highlands, are a mountainous area in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia. Owing to a number of factors such as tectonic faults, Fracture (geology), rock fissuring, and density of river networks, ...
*
Po dikim stepyam Zabaikalya "Po dikim stepyam Zabaikalya" () is a Russian folk song, also known as "Brodyaga" (). It was published and recorded at the beginning of the 20th century and has since become part of the repertoire of various Russian and foreign artists. Histor ...


References

* * {{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 Regions of Russia