The Ussuri ( ; ) or Wusuli ( ) is a river that runs through

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

and

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the southeast region of

Northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

in the province of

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

. It rises in the

Sikhote-Alin The Sikhote-Alin (, , , ) is a mountain range in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, Russia, extending about to the northeast of the Russian Pacific seaport of Vladivostok. The highest summits are Tordoki Yani at above sea level, Ko Mountain () ...

mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the Sino-Russian border (which is based on the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking of 1860), until it joins the

Amur 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 Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

as a tributary to it near

. It is approximately long. The Ussuri drains the Ussuri basin, which covers . Its waters come from rain (60%), snow (30–35%), and subterranean springs. The average discharge is , and the average elevation is .

Names

The Ussuri has been known by many names. In

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

, it was called the Usuri Ula or Dobi Bira (River of Foxes) and in Mongolian the Üssüri Müren. ''Ussuri'' is Manchu for ''soot-black river''.

History

* The Ussuri has a reputation for catastrophic

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

s. It freezes up in November and stays under the ice until April. The river teems with different kinds of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

: grayling,

sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...

, humpback salmon (''gorbusha''),

chum salmon The chum salmon (''Oncorhynchus keta''), also known as dog salmon or keta salmon, is a species of anadromous salmonid fish from the genus ''Oncorhynchus'' (Pacific salmon) native to the coastal rivers of the North Pacific and the Beringian Arctic ...

(''keta''), and others. * During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the river marked one of the boundaries which Soviet forces crossed into Manchuria in Operation August Storm in 1945. * The

Sino-Soviet border conflict The Sino-Soviet border conflict, also known as the Sino-Soviet crisis, was a seven-month undeclared military conflict between the Soviet Union and China in 1969, following the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious border clash, which brought th ...

of 1969 took place at the Soviet

Damansky Island Zhenbao Island () or Damansky Island () is an island in Hulin, Jixi, Heilongjiang Province, China, with an area of only . It is on the Ussuri River on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia, and Heilongjiang, Heilongjiang Province, China. P ...

on the Ussuri River.

Tributaries

Major tributaries of the Ussuri are, from source to mouth: *

Arsenyevka The Arsenyevka (, formerly ''Daubi-He'' ) is a left tributary of the Ussuri in Anuchinsky and Yakovlevsky Districts of Primorsky Krai, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is t ...

(left) *

Sungacha The Sungacha or Songacha ( ''Sungacha'' or Сунгач ''Sungach'', ) is a river marking part of the border between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. It is a left tributary of the Ussuri, and the only outflow of Khanka ...

(left) * Muling (left) *

Bolshaya Ussurka The Bolshaya Ussurka (, literally: "Great Ussuri") is a river in the Russian Far East in Primorsky Krai. It is a right tributary of the Ussuri, which it meets near Dalnerechensk. The area of the Bolshaya Ussurka drainage basin A drainage bas ...

(right) * Bikin (right) * Naoli (left) * Khor (right)

References

Sources

External links

Article containing a detail map
dead link as of 18 March 2017] *http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80349e/80349E10.GIF {{Authority control Rivers of Khabarovsk Krai Rivers of Primorsky Krai Rivers of Heilongjiang Border rivers China–Russia border International rivers of Asia