The Amur River (Russian: Амур; , or "Black Dragon River"; Mongolian: Хара-Мурэн, Khara-Muren or "Black River"; Manchu: Sahaliyan Ula, literal meaning "Black River") is one of the world’s ten longest rivers, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Manchuria in China.

The name

The name Black River was used by the Manchu and the Qing Dynasty who always regarded this river as sacred.

In many historical references these two geopolitical entities are known as Inner Manchuria; and Outer Manchuria (Russian Manchuria), respectively. The Chinese province of Heilongjiang on the south bank of the river is named after it, as is the Russian Amur Oblast on the north bank.

The Amur River is a very important symbol of — and an important geopolitical factor in — Chinese-Russian relations. The Amur was especially important in the period of time following the Sino-Soviet political split in the 1960s.

The economy of the Amur Basin includes manufacturing, metallurgy, iron mining, non-ferrous metals, gold, coal, hydroelectricity, wheat, millet, soybeans, fishing, timber and Chinese-Russian trade. The Daqing oilfield, which is the world's 4th-largest oilfield, is located near Daqing City in Heilongjiang, a few hundred kilometers from the river.

Flowing across northeast Asia for over 4400 km (2,700 mi), from the mountains of northeastern China to the Sea of Okhotsk (near Nikolayevsk-na-Amure), it drains a remarkable watershed that includes diverse landscapes of desert, steppe, tundra, and taiga, eventually emptying into the Pacific Ocean through the Tartar Strait.

The Amur proper is 2,874 km long after the junction of two rivers:

• Northern tributary: the Shilka, originating from the eastern slopes of Kente Mountain in Mongolia.
• Southern tributary: the Argun, originating on the western slopes of the Great Khingan Range (大興安嶺) in northeast China.

Major tributaries are:

• the Shilka,
• the Argun,
• the Zeya,
• the Bureya,
• the Songhua, and
• the Ussuri,
• the Amgun

The Amur is bordered by Heilongjiang province of China in the south, and Amur Oblast, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, and Khabarovsk Krai of Russia in the north. The final stretch of the Amur passes through Khabarovsk Krai. It passes by the following cities:

• Huma (China, south bank)
• Blagoveshchensk (Russia, north bank)
• Heihe (China, south bank)
• Jiayin (China, south bank)
• Tongjiang (China, south bank)
• Fuyuan (China, south bank)
• Khabarovsk (Russia, south bank)
• Komsomolsk-na-Amure (Russia, north bank)
• Amursk (Russia, north bank)
• Nikolayevsk-na-Amure (Russia, north bank)

A reference was made to this river in the 2003 film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

See also

• Amur cork tree
• Amur Leopard
• Geography of China
• Geography of Russia
• Sino-Soviet border conflict
• Jilin chemical plant explosions 2005
• Home of the Kaluga (Acipenseriformes)

External links

• Information and a map of the Amur’s watershed

Rivers of China | Manchurian rivers | Rivers of Mongolia | Rivers of Russia

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