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 Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, I ...

Far Eastern Russia The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

. The steppe and wetland landscapes of Dauria are protected by the Daurian Nature Reserve, 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 ...

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 l ...

, whom Russian explorers first encountered in 1640.

Geography

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

North Baikal Plateau North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

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 millio ...

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 ...

; 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 administrativ ...

History

Uspenskaya church Kalinino Nerchinsk 1712

The ancient proto-Mongol Slab Grave Culture occupied the area around

in the Transbaikal territory. In

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

, 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 Kingdom ...

- 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 The Far Eastern Republic ( rus, Дальневосто́чная Респу́блика, ДВР, r=Dalnevostochnaya Respublika, DVR, p=dəlʲnʲɪvɐˈstotɕnəjə rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə), sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally indep ...

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.

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 Da ...

(''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 le ...

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 ...

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 systemat ...

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 ...

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 ...

and the red-rumped swallow (''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'') as well as that of the

Dahurian buckthorn ''Rhamnus davurica'' is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family known by the common name Dahurian buckthorn. It is native to China, Korea, Mongolia, eastern Siberia, and Japan. It is present in North America as an introduced species. ...

(''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. Daursky Nature Reserve banner

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