Blagoveshchensk

For the town in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, see Blagoveshchensk, Republic of Bashkortostan.
Blagoveshchensk (English)
Благовещенск (Russian)
-  City[1]  -

Nighttime view of Blagoveshchensk, with the bright lights of Heihe glowing in the background.
Blagoveshchensk
Location of Blagoveshchensk in Amur Oblast
Coordinates: 50°15′N 127°32′E / 50.250°N 127.533°E / 50.250; 127.533Coordinates: 50°15′N 127°32′E / 50.250°N 127.533°E / 50.250; 127.533
Coat of arms
Flag
Anthem Anthem of Blagoveshchensk[2]
City Day June 2 (observed on the first Saturday of June)[3]
Administrative status (as of November 2013)
Country Russia
Federal subject Amur Oblast[1]
Administratively subordinated to Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug[1]
Administrative center of Amur Oblast,[1] Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug,[1] Blagoveshchensky District[1][4]
Municipal status (as of April 2013)
Urban okrug Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug[5]
Administrative center of Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug,[5] Blagoveshchensky Municipal District[4]
Head (Mayor)[6] Alexander Kozlov[7]
Representative body City Duma[6]
Statistics
Area (urban okrug) (2011) 320.97 km2 (123.93 sq mi)[8]
Population (2010 Census) 214,390 inhabitants[9]
- Rank in 2010 87th
Population (January 2014 est.) 225,453 inhabitants[10]
Density 668/km2 (1,730/sq mi)[11]
Time zone YAKT (UTC+09:00)[12]
Founded 1856[13]
Postal code(s)[14] 675000–675007, 675009–675011, 675014, 675016, 675018–675021, 671025, 671027–671030, 671700, 671801, 671890, 671960–671962, 671971, 671980–671983, 671985
Dialing code(s) +7 4162
Official website
Blagoveshchensk on Wikimedia Commons

Blagoveshchensk (Russian: Благовещенск; IPA: [bləgɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk], lit. the city of the Annunciation) is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Amur and Zeya Rivers, opposite to the Chinese city of Heihe. Population: 214,390 (2010 Census);[9] 219,221 (2002 Census);[15] 205,553 (1989 Census).[16]

The Amur has formed Russia's border with China since the 1858 Aigun Treaty and 1860 Treaty of Peking. The area north of the Amur belonged to the Manchu Qing dynasty until it was ceded to Russia in the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk.

History

Early history of the region

The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of today's Blagoveshchensk were the Daurs and Duchers. An early settlement in the area of today's Blagoveshchensk was the Ducher town whose name was reported by the Russian explorer Yerofey Khabarov as Aytyun in 1652; it has been identified with what is currently known to the archaeologists as the Grodekovo site, after the nearby village of Grodekovo (which is located on the left bank of the Amur at 50°07′N 127°35′E / 50.117°N 127.583°E / 50.117; 127.583, some 25–30 km (16–19 mi) south of Blagoveshchensk). The Grodekovo site is thought by archaeologists to have been populated since ca. 1000 CE.[17]

Aaihom ruin'd (i.e., Old Aigun), in the Province of Tcitcica on this 18th-century map corresponds to the Grodekovo site; Saghalien Ula Hoton, across the river, is Aigun. There is nothing much near the site of Blagoveshchensk itself (at the confluence of the Saghalien (Amur) River and the Tchikiri (Zeya) River)

As the Russians tried to assert their control over the region, the Ducher town was probably vacated when the Duchers were evacuated by the Qing to the Sungari or Hurka in the mid-1650s.[17] Since 1673, the Manchus re-used the site for their fort ("Old Aigun", in modern literature),[18] which served in 1683-1685 as a base for the Manchus' campaign against the Russian fort of Albazin further north.[19]

After the capture of Albazin in 1685 or 1686, the Manchus relocated their town, to a new site on the right (southwestern, i.e. presently Chinese) bank of the Amur, about 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream from the original site; it later became known as Aigun.[20][21]

The series of conflicts between Russians and Manchus ended with Russia's recognition of the Chinese sovereignty over both sides of the Amur by the Nerchinsk Treaty of 1689.

The Russian settlement

As the balance of power in the region has changed by the mid-19th century, the Russian Empire was able to take over the left (generally northern, but around Blagoveshchensk, eastern) shore of the Amur from China. Since the 1858 Aigun Treaty and the 1860 Treaty of Peking, the river has remained the border between the countries, although the Qing subjects were allowed to continue to live in the so-called Sixty-Four Villages east of the Amur and the Zeya (i.e., within today's Blagoveshchensk's eastern suburbs).

The triumphal arch erected in Blagoveshchensk to welcome Crown Prince Nicholas in 1891

Although Russian settlers had lived in the area as early as 1644 as "Hailanpao" (海蘭泡/海兰泡, the Chinese name for the city), the present-day city began in 1856[13] as the military outpost of Ust-Zeysky; its name means settlement at the mouth of the Zeya River in Russian. Tsar Alexander II gave approval for the founding of the city in 1858, to be named Blagoveshchensk, after the parish Church of the Annunciation and declared to be seat of government for the Amur region.

According to Blagoveshchensk authorities, by 1877 the city had some 8,000 residents, with merely 15 foreigners (presumably, Chinese) among them.[18]

The city was an important river port and trade center during the late 19th century, with growth further fueled by a gold rush early in the 20th century and by its position on the Chinese border, just hundreds of meters across from the city of Heihe.

Local historian note the preeminence of Blagoveshchensk in the economy of the late 19th century Russian Far East, which was reflected by a "small detail": When the heir to Russian throne, HIH Nicholas Alexandrovich (future Tsar Nicholas II) visited in 1891 during his grand tour of Asia, the locals presented him with bread and salt on a gold tray, rather than on a silver one, as it was done in other cities of the region.[22]

The Boxer Rebellion

In the course of the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing Imperial army (made out of Manchus and Chinese) and Boxer insurgents shelled the city in July 1900. Chinese Honghuzi forces joined the attack against Blagoveshchensk.[23] According to the Orthodox belief, the city was allegedly saved by a miraculous icon of Our Lady of Albazin, which was prayed to continuously during the shelling which lasted almost two weeks.

On July 3 (Old Style), a decision was made by the city's Police Chief Batarevich and the Military Governor Gribsky to deport the city's entire ethnic Chinese community (which, according to the official statistics, numbered 4,008 in 1898[18]), viewed as potential "fifth columnists". As the cross-river shipping was interrupted by the rebellion, a question arose how to get them from the Russian side of the Amur to the Chinese side. Batarevich suggested that the deportees could be first taken east of the Zeya, where they could try to obtain boats from the local Chinese villagers. The plan, however, was vetoed by the governor, and the decision was made instead to take the deportees to the stanitsa of Verkhneblagoveshchenskaya—the place where the Amur is at its narrowest—and made them leave the Russian shore. As the local ataman refused to provide the deportees with boats to take them across the river (despite the orders of his superior), few of them made it to the Chinese side. The rest drowned in the Amur, or were shot or axed by the police, Cossacks and local volunteers, when refusing to leave the dry land. According to Chinese sources, about 5,000 people reportedly died during these events of July 4–8, 1900.[24]

The expulsion of local Chinese caused some hardships for Blagoveshchensk consumers. Historians note that during the second half of 1900, it became almost impossible to buy any green vegetables in town; ten eggs would cost 30-50 kopecks (and in winter, as much as a ruble), while before it had been possible to buy ten eggs for 10-15 kopecks.[18]

The massacre angered the Chinese, and had ramifications for the future: the Chinese Honghuzi fought a guerilla war against Russian occupation and assisted the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese war against the Russians in revenge. Louis Livingston Seaman mentioned the massacre as being the reason for the Chinese Honghuzi hatred towards the Russians:

The Chinaman, be he Hung-hutze or peasant, in his relation to the Russians in this conflict with Japan has not forgotten the terrible treatment accorded him since the Muscovite occupation of Manchuria. He still remembers the massacre at Blagovestchensk when nearly 8,000 unarmed men, women, and children were driven at the point of the bayonet into the raging Amur, until—as one of the Russian officers who participated in that brutal murder told me at Chin-Wang-Tao in 1900— "the execution of my orders made me almost sick, for it seemed as though I could have walked across the river on the bodies of the floating dead." Not a Chinaman escaped, except forty who were employed by a leading foreign merchant who ransomed their lives at a thousand roubles each. These, and many even worse, atrocities are remembered and now is their moment for revenge. So it was easy for Japan to enlist the sympathy of these men, especially when emphasized by liberal pay, as is now the case. It is believed that more than 10,000 of these bandits, divided into companies of from 200 to 300 each and led by Japanese officers, are now in the pay of Japan.[25]

Civil war and the Soviet era

A Japanese poster depicting the Japanese occupation of Blagoveshchensk in 1919-1922

The city was also the site of conflict during the Russian Civil War, with Japanese troops occupying the city in support of the White Army. From 1920 until 1922, the city was declared part of the Far Eastern Republic, an area which was nominally independent, but in reality a buffer zone under control of the Russian SFSR.

The city became the administrative center of Amur Oblast in 1932.

During the Cultural Revolution the city was subject to Maoist propaganda blasted from loudspeakers across the river 24 hours a day.

Modern era

On August 1, 2011 Blagoveshchensk was hit by an F2 tornado. The tornado claimed one life and injured twenty-eight people. Damage costs are estimated at 80 million rubles.

Administrative and municipal status

Blagoveshchensk is the administrative center of the oblast[1] and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Blagoveshchensky District,[4] even though it is not a part of it.[1] As an administrative division, it is, together with six rural localities, incorporated separately as Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[1] As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban okrug status.[5]

Politics

In July 2013, a public hearing was held at which citizens declared themselves to be in favor of a return to the direct election of the mayor. A meeting of deputies voted for rejection of the "two-headed" management. On September 2013, City Council voted for a return to the mayoral election of the mayor.[26]

Climate

Blagoveschensk experiences a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa/Dwb) with very cold, dry winters and warm, humid, and wet summers. On 1 August 2011, it became the first city in the Russian Far East to be hit by a tornado.[27]

Climate data for Blagoveshchensk
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 0.2
(32.4)		 7.0
(44.6)		 20.3
(68.5)		 31.4
(88.5)		 34.7
(94.5)		 39.4
(102.9)		 37.7
(99.9)		 36.9
(98.4)		 33.5
(92.3)		 28.0
(82.4)		 13.4
(56.1)		 3.6
(38.5)		 39.4
(102.9)
Average high °C (°F) −15.6
(3.9)		 −9.5
(14.9)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 11.0
(51.8)		 19.5
(67.1)		 25.5
(77.9)		 27.3
(81.1)		 25.1
(77.2)		 18.9
(66)		 9.1
(48.4)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 −14.7
(5.5)		 7.6
(45.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) −21.5
(−6.7)		 −16.3
(2.7)		 −6.8
(19.8)		 4.7
(40.5)		 12.8
(55)		 19.3
(66.7)		 21.8
(71.2)		 19.6
(67.3)		 12.7
(54.9)		 3.2
(37.8)		 −10
(14)		 −19.8
(−3.6)		 1.6
(34.9)
Average low °C (°F) −26.2
(−15.2)		 −21.9
(−7.4)		 −12.6
(9.3)		 −1.2
(29.8)		 6.6
(43.9)		 13.6
(56.5)		 17.1
(62.8)		 15.1
(59.2)		 7.6
(45.7)		 −1.5
(29.3)		 −14.1
(6.6)		 −24.1
(−11.4)		 −3.5
(25.7)
Record low °C (°F) −44.5
(−48.1)		 −45.4
(−49.7)		 −35.7
(−32.3)		 −17.7
(0.1)		 −7.5
(18.5)		 0.1
(32.2)		 8.2
(46.8)		 4.4
(39.9)		 −4.3
(24.3)		 −24.8
(−12.6)		 −32.9
(−27.2)		 −41.2
(−42.2)		 −45.4
(−49.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 6
(0.24)		 5
(0.2)		 10
(0.39)		 31
(1.22)		 42
(1.65)		 91
(3.58)		 131
(5.16)		 125
(4.92)		 73
(2.87)		 26
(1.02)		 14
(0.55)		 9
(0.35)		 563
(22.15)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 12
(4.7)		 10
(3.9)		 3
(1.2)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 1
(0.4)		 4
(1.6)		 8
(3.1)		 38
(14.9)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm) 0.09 0.03 0.5 8 13 15 15 16 14 7 0.3 0 89
Average snowy days 12 7 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 11 14 57
Average relative humidity (%) 73 68 62 55 55 69 76 78 72 61 67 74 67.5
Mean monthly sunshine hours 139.5 194.9 226.3 222.0 251.1 255.0 226.3 226.3 168.0 189.1 156.0 124.0 2,378.5
Source #1: Погода и Климат[28]
Source #2: Hong Kong Observatory (sunshine only)[29]

Economy

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the city's economic focus has turned to border trade with China. The town is now home to a large Chinese expatriate community. Blagoveshchensk is part of a free trade zone which includes the Chinese city of Heihe, located on the other side of the Amur River.[30]

Main industries in the town include metal and timber processing, as well as paper production.

Transportation

The Amur River in Blagoveshchensk

The city is served by a branch highway and railway connecting it to Belogorsk on the Trans-Siberian Railway and Trans-Siberian Highway. It is also served by a river port. On the other side of the Amur River is Heihe, Heilongjiang Province, China, which is the starting point of China National Highway 202 that goes south to Harbin and Dalian. Ignatyevo Airport, located 20 kilometers (12 mi) northwest of the city center, serves domestic destinations.

Education

Universities

Sister city

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Law #127-OZ
  2. ↑ Decision #14/60
  3. ↑ Charter of Blagoveshchensk, Article 1
  4. 1 2 3 Law #51-OZ
  5. 1 2 3 Law #447-OZ
  6. 1 2 Charter of Blagoveshchensk, Article 17
  7. ↑ Official website of Blagoveshchensk. City Leaders (Russian)
  8. ↑ Federal State Statistics Service. Показатели, характеризующие состояние экономики и социальной сферы муниципального образования. Город Благовещенск (Russian)
  9. 1 2 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  10. ↑ Amur Oblast Territorial Branch of the Federal State Statistics Service. Оценка численности населения по городским округам, муниципальным районам, городским и сельским поселениям Амурской области на 1 января 2014 года (Russian)
  11. ↑ The value of density was calculated automatically by dividing the 2010 Census population by the area specified in the infobox. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox does not necessarily correspond to the area of the entity proper or is reported for the same year as the population.
  12. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №271-ФЗ от 03 июля 2016 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #271-FZ of July 03, 2016 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  13. 1 2 Энциклопедия Города России. Moscow: Большая Российская Энциклопедия. 2003. pp. 47–48. ISBN 5-7107-7399-9.
  14. ↑ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
  15. ↑ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  16. ↑ Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  17. 1 2 Амурская область: История. Народы Амурской земли Archived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. (Amur Oblast - the History. The peoples of the Amur Land) (Russian)
  18. 1 2 3 4 Олег Анатольевич Тимофеев (Oleg Anatolyevich Timofeyev). "Российско-китайские отношения в Приамурье (сер. XIX – нач. XX вв.)" (Russian-Chinese relations in the Amur region, mid-19th - early 20th centuries). Part 1. Blagoveshchensk, 2003.
  19. ↑ Bruce Mancall, Russia and China:Their Diplomatic Relations to 1728. 1971, pages 115-127
  20. ↑ E. G. Ravenstein, The Russians on the Amur. London, 1861. P. 48.
  21. ↑ Note that the distance between modern Grodekovo and the historic Aigun on the Chinese side of the river is about 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) on modern maps, rather than 3 miles (4.8 km), as Ravenstein states. However, the location of the Grodekovo archaeological site (i.e., the "Old Aigun") may be quite a distance from the eponymous village; and Ravenstein may be somewhat imprecise in the number.
  22. ↑ Валентина Кобзарь (Valentina Kobzar). Сколько «Царских ворот» на Дальнем Востоке? Память о путешествии Николая II (How many "Royal Gates" are there in the Far East?)
  23. ↑ Joana Breidenbach (2005). Pál Nyíri, Joana Breidenbach, ed. China inside out: contemporary Chinese nationalism and transnationalism (illustrated ed.). Central European University Press. p. 90. ISBN 963-7326-14-6. Retrieved March 18, 2012. The political component of Chinese banditism emerged only in the year 1900. For the first time, Khunkhuzy attacked the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk. It ended in the drowning of about 3,000 Chinese near Blagoveshchensk (called Hailanbao in Chinese). When during the Boxer Uprising Boxers and khunkhuzy assaulted Russian positions nearby, Cossacks stationed there decided to drive the Chinese from the Russian bank of the river back onto the Chinese bank. People were simply pushed into the river, and many of them drowned. Even Vladimir Lenin personally criticized the Russian tsarist government for its brutality.
  24. ↑ Олег Анатольевич Тимофеев (Oleg Anatolyevich Timofeyev). "Российско-китайские отношения в Приамурье (сер. XIX – нач. XX вв.)" (Russian-Chinese relations in the Amur region, mid-19th - early 20th centuries). Part 2. Blagoveshchensk, 2003. Quote: "3 июля благовещенский полицмейстер Батаревич предложил военному губернатору Амурской области К.Н. Грибскому депортировать китайцев на правый берег... Сразу же возник вопрос о транспортных средствах для перевозки нескольких тысяч человек... Батаревич в конечном итоге принял решение о переправе всех китайцев в районе ст. Верхнеблаговещенской – месте, где Амур наиболее узок... По прибытии в ст. Верхнеблаговещенскую события приняли еще более драматический оборот. Местный атаман Писарев, несмотря на приказ председателя амурского войскового правления полковника Волковинского, наотрез отказался предоставить китайцам имевшиеся у него шаланду и лодки, опасаясь их захвата противником. Китайцам было предложено переправляться самим, хотя среди них имелись старики и дети. К этому времени к берегу подошли озлобленные продолжающимся обстрелом местные жители. Совершенно естественное нежелание депортируемых самим идти на смерть окружившими их русскими было воспринято почти как вооруженное восстание. Во время последующего следствия Шабанов и Писарев пытались обвинить друг друга в попустительстве началу расправы. Начальник конвоя указывал в рапорте, что стрелял один из местных казаков, неизвестно по чьему приказу. При опросе атамана и казаков станицы ими было заявлено, что переправа (то есть истребление – О.Т.) началась лишь после того, как помощник пристава «принял более строгие меры». На деле эти меры свелись к уничтожению безоружных китайцев как на берегу, так и уже в воде. Как гласят цинские источники, депортируемых связывали косами по пять-шесть человек и штыками загоняли в воду. Отказавшихся переправляться Шабанов приказал, по свидетельству очевидцев, зарубить топорами. По некоторым данным, огонь был открыт и с цинской стороны. Из всей партии до противоположного берега доплыли лишь 80-100 человек".
  25. ↑ Louis Livingston Seaman (1904). From Tokio through Manchuria with the Japanese. PRINTED AT THE APPLETON PRESS, NEW YORK, U.S.A.: S. Appleton. p. 170. Retrieved 18 March 2012. ant, in his relation to the Russians in this conflict with Japan has not forgotten the terrible treatment accorded him since the Muscovite occupation of Manchuria. He still remembers the massacre at Blagovestchensk when nearly 8,000 unarmed men, women, and children were driven at the point of the bayonet into the raging Amur, until—as one of the Russian officers who participated in that brutal murder told me at Chin-Wang-Tao in 1900—" the execution of my orders made me almost sick, for it seemed as though I could have walked across the river on the bodies of the floating dead." Not a Chinaman escaped, except forty who were employed by a leading foreign merchant who ransomed their lives at a thousand roubles each. These, and many even worse, atrocities are remembered and now is their moment for revenge. So it was easy for Japan to enlist the sympathy of these men, especially when emphasized by liberal pay, as is now the case. It is believed that more than 10,000 of these bandits, divided into companies of from 200 to 300 each and led by Japanese officers, are now in the pay of Japan.LONDON SIDNEY APPLETON COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Original from the University of California Digitized Nov 21, 2007
  26. ↑ Жители Благовещенска снова будут выбирать мэра уже со следующего года
  27. ↑ "Russia's Far East region declares emergency in the wake of deadly tornado". Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  28. ↑ "Климат Благовещенска". Погода и Климат. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  29. ↑ "Climatological Information for Blagovescensk, Russia". Hong Kong Observatory. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Blagoveshchensk: Russia's anchor on the Amur River". Russia Beyond the Headlines. 2011-05-16.
  31. ↑ Blagoveshchensk and Heihe partner cities

Sources

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