Taiga andtundra in the north, swampy forest in the central depression, and deciduous forest in the south are the natural vegetation in the area. The main rivers are theAmur,Amgun,Uda, andTugur, among others. There are also lakes such asBokon,Bolon,Chukchagir,Evoron,Kizi,Khummi,Orel, andUdyl, among others.[8]
Khabarovsk Krai has a severelycontinental climate with its northern areas beingsubarctic with stronger maritime summer moderation in the north. In its southerly areas, especially inland, annual swings are extremely strong, with Khabarovsk itself having hot, wet, and humid summers which rapidly transform into severely cold and long winters, where temperatures hardly ever go above freezing. This is because of the influence of theEast Asian monsoon in summer and the bitterly coldSiberian High in winter. The second-largest city ofKomsomolsk-on-Amur has even more violent temperature swings than Khabarovsk, with winter average lows below −30 °C (−22 °F), but in spite of this, avoiding being subarctic because of the significant heat in summer.
The charts below detail climate averages from various locations in the krai. Khabarovsk is set near the Chinese border at a lower latitude far inland, while Komsomolsk-on-Amur being further downstream on the Amur river at a higher latitude. Sovetskaya Gavan and Okhotsk are coastal settlements in the deep south and far north, respectively.
Climate data forKhabarovsk (1991–2020, extremes 1878–2023)
According to various Chinese and Korean records, the southern part of Khabarovsk Krai was originally occupied by one of the five semi-nomadicShiwei, the Bo Shiwei tribes, and theBlack Water Mohe tribes living, respectively, on the west and the east of theBureya and theLesser Khingan ranges.
Although the Russians were thus deprived of the right to navigate the Amur River, the territorial claim over the lower courses of the river was not settled in the Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689. The area between theUda River and theGreater Khingan mountain range (i.e. most of Lower Amuria) was left undemarcated and the Sino-Russian border was allowed to fluctuate.[17][18]
Later in the nineteenth century,Nikolay Muravyov conducted an aggressive policy with China by claiming that the lower reaches of the Amur River belonged toRussia. In 1852, a Russian military expedition under Muravyov explored the Amur, and by 1857, a chain of Russian Cossacks and peasants had been settled along the whole course of the river. In 1858, in theTreaty of Aigun, China recognized the Amur River downstream as far as theUssuri River as the boundary between Russia and the Qing Empire, and granted Russia free access to the Pacific Ocean.[19] The Sino-Russian border was later further delineated in theTreaty of Peking of 1860 when theUssuri Territory (theMaritime Territory), which was previously a joint possession, became Russian.[20]
Khabarovsk Krai was established on 20 October 1938, when theFar Eastern Krai was split into the Khabarovsk andPrimorsky Krais.[1]Kamchatka Oblast, which was originally subordinated to the Far Eastern Krai, fell under the Jurisdiction of Khabarovsk Krai, along with its two National Okrugs,Chukotka andKoryak. In 1947, the northern part of Sakhalin was removed from the Krai to join the southern part and formSakhalin Oblast. In 1948, parts of its southwestern territories were removed from the Krai to formAmur Oblast. In 1953,Magadan Oblast was established from the northern parts of the Krai and was given jurisdiction over Chukotka National Okrug, which was originally under the jurisdiction of Kamchatka oblast. In 1956, Kamchatka Oblast became its own region and took Koryak National Okrug with it. The Krai took its modern form in 1991, just before theUSSR's collapse when theJewish Autonomous Oblast was separated from its jurisdiction and made into a direct federal subject of Russia. On 24 April 1996, Khabarovsk signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy.[21] This agreement would be abolished on 12 August 2002.[22]
During theSoviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Khabarovsk CPSU Committee (who, in reality, had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor, was appointed/elected alongside electedregional parliament.
The Charter of Khabarovsk Krai is the fundamental law of the krai. TheLegislative Duma of Khabarovsk Krai is theregional standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Duma exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Krai Government, which includes territorial executive bodies, such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Krai Administration supports the activities of theGovernor, who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the Charter in accordance with theConstitution of Russia.
Khabarovsk Krai is the most industrialized territory of the Far East of Russia, producing 30% of the total industrial products in the Far Eastern Economic Region.
The region'smineral resources are relatively underdeveloped. Khabarovsk Krai contains large gold mining operations (Highland Gold, Polus Gold), a major but low-grade copper deposit being explored byIG Integro GroupArchived December 20, 2016, at theWayback Machine, and a world-class tin district which was a major contributor to the Soviet industrial complex and is currently being revitalised by Far Eastern Tin (Festivalnoye mine) and bySable Tin Resources, which is developing theSable Tin Deposit (Sobolinoye), a large high-grade deposit, 25 km fromSolnechny town.
According to a 2012 survey,[33] 26.2% of the population of Khabarovsk Krai adheres to theRussian Orthodox Church, 4% areunaffiliated genericChristians, 1% adhere to otherOrthodox churches or are believers in Orthodox Christianity who do not belong to any church, while 1% are adherents ofIslam. In addition, 28% of the population declared to be "spiritual but not religious", 23% areatheist, and 16.8% follow other religions or did not give an answer to the question.[33]
Хабаровская краевая Дума. Постановление №150 от 30 ноября 1995 г. «Устав Хабаровского края», в ред. Закона №152 от 23 декабря 2015 г. «О внесении изменений в статьи 26 и 34 Устава Хабаровского края». Вступил в силу 16 января 1996 г. Опубликован: "Тихоокеанская звезда", №№7–8, 13 и 16 января 1996 г. (Khabarovsk Krai Duma. Resolution #150 of November 30, 1995Charter of Khabarovsk Krai, as amended by the Law #152 of December 23, 2015On Amending Articles 26 and 34 of the Charter of Khabarovsk Krai. Effective as of January 16, 1996.).
Президиум Верховного Совета СССР. Указ от 20 октября 1938 г. «О разделении Дальневосточного края на Приморский и Хабаровский края». (Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Decree of October 20, 1938On Splitting Far Eastern Krai into Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais. ).
Chaussonnet, Valerie (1995)Native Cultures of Alaska and Siberia. Arctic Studies Center. Washington, D.C. 112p.ISBN1-56098-661-1
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