Kyakhta Кяхта | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Buryat | Хяагта |
 View of the town | |
.png) Flag _(1861).png) Coat of arms | |
 Interactive map of Kyakhta | |
  Kyakhta Location of Kyakhta Show map of Russia.svg) Kyakhta Kyakhta (Republic of Buryatia) Show map of Republic of Buryatia | |
| Coordinates:50°21′00″N106°27′00″E / 50.35000°N 106.45000°E /50.35000; 106.45000 | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Buryatia[1] |
| Administrative district | Kyakhtinsky District[1] |
| TownSelsoviet | Kyakhta[1] |
| Founded | 1728[2] |
| Town status since | 1805 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Valery Tsyrempilov |
| Elevation | 760 m (2,490 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 20,024 |
| • Capital of | Kyakhtinsky District,[1] Town of Kyakhta[1] |
| • Municipal district | Kyakhtinsky Municipal District[4] |
| • Urban settlement | Kyakhta Urban Settlement[4] |
| • Capital of | Kyakhtinsky Municipal District,[4] Kyakhta Urban Settlement[4] |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (MSK+5  [5]) |
| Postal codes[6] | 671840, 671842, 671843 |
| Dialing code | +7 30142 |
| OKTMO ID | 81633101001 |
Kyakhta (Russian:Кя́хта,[ˈkʲæxtə];Buryat:Хяагта,romanized: Khiaagta,[ˈçæːχtə];Mongolian:Хиагт,romanized: Hiagt,[ˈçæχtʰ]) is atown and theadministrative center ofKyakhtinsky District in theRepublic of Buryatia,Russia, located on theKyakhta River near theMongolia–Russia border. The town stands directly opposite the Mongolian border town ofAltanbulag. Population:20,041 (2010 census);[3]18,391 (2002 census);[7]18,307 (1989 Soviet census).[8] From 1727 it was the border crossing for theKyakhta trade between Russia and China.[9]
TheBuryat name meansplace covered withcouch grass,[10] and is derived fromMongolian wordхиаг, meaningcouch grass.[11]
The region where Kyakhta stands is advantageous for Russo-Chinese trade. TheSiberian River Routes connect the fur-bearing lands of Siberia toLake Baikal. From there, theSelenga River valley is the natural route through theSelenga Highlands southeast of Lake Baikal out onto the plains of Mongolia.
Kyakhta was founded in 1727 soon after theTreaty of Kyakhta was negotiated nearSelenginsk north of Kyakhta. It was the starting point of the boundary markers that defined what is now the northern border of Mongolia. Kyakhta's founder, theSerbSava Vladislavich, established it as atrading point between Russia and the Qing Empire.[2] "He gave instructions to build the Troitskosavsky Fortress at the place of Barsukov winter camp. A church was erected inside the wooden fortress. The church gave the name both to the Troitskaya (Trinity) Fortress and to the future town of Troitskosavsk. This is what the town was called until 1734 when it was merged with the trading settlement of Kyakhta and renamed Troitskosavsk-Kyakhta. In 1934, the name was shortened to Kyakhta."[12] Other sources[9][13] have Troitskosavsk as a fort a short distance north, Troitskosavsk being the administrative and military center while Kyakhta was the trading post on the border. The Manchus builtMaimaicheng just south of Kyakhta on their side of the border. Before 1762, state caravans traveled from Kyakhta toPeking. After that date, trade was mostly by barter at Kyakhta-Maimaicheng, with merchants crossing the border to make their business.
Kyakhta and Maimaicheng were visited by the famous English adventurer and engineerSamuel Bentham in 1782. He related that he was entertained by the commander of the Chinese city "with the greatest politeness which a stranger can meet with in any country whatever". At that time, the Russians sold furs, textiles, clothing, hides, leather,[9] hardware, and cattle, while the Chinese soldsilk, cotton stuffs,teas,[9] fruits,porcelain, rice, candles,rhubarb,ginger, andmusk. Much of the tea is said to have come fromYangloudong [zh], a major center of tea production and trade near today'sChibi City,Hubei.[14]
Kyakhta was crowded, unclean, ill-planned, and never came to reflect the wealth that flowed through it,[15] although severalNeoclassical buildings were erected in the 19th century, including a teabourse (1842) and the Orthodox cathedral (1807–1817), both of which still stand. In 1996 the Voskreskenskaya church was being used as a stable.[16] It was from Kyakhta thatNikolay Przhevalsky,Grigory Potanin,Pyotr Kozlov, andVladimir Obruchev set off on their expeditions into the interior of Mongolia andXinjiang.
Town status was granted to Kyakhta in 1805.[17]
After the entire Russian-Chinese frontier was opened to trade in 1860 and theTrans-Siberian and theChinese Eastern Railways bypassed it, Kyakhta fell into decline. In the mid-20th century,a branch railway was built fromUlan-Ude (on the Trans-Siberian) to Mongolia'sUlan Bator, and, eventually, to China, paralleling the old Kyakhta trade route. However, this railway crosses the Russian-Mongolian border not in Kyakhta itself, but in nearbyNaushki.[18]
As the first market town on the border between the Russian and Chinese Empires, Kyakhta gave its name to the so-calledKyakhta Russian–Chinese Pidgin, acontact language that was used by Russian and Chinese traders to communicate.[19]
Within theframework of administrative divisions, Kyakhta serves as theadministrative center ofKyakhtinsky District.[1] As an administrative division, it is, together with onerural locality (the settlement ofSudzha), incorporated within Kyakhtinsky District as theTown of Kyakhta.[1] As amunicipal division, the Town of Kyakhta is incorporated within Kyakhtinsky Municipal District asKyakhta Urban Settlement.[4]
Kyakhta's economy today relies mainly on its status as an important center for trade between Russia, China, and Mongolia, located on the highway from the republic'scapital ofUlan-Ude to the Mongolian capital ofUlan Bator. It also has textile, lumber, and food-processing plants.
Kyakhta is home to theDamdin Sükhbaatar memorial museum.
Kyakhta has ahumid continental climate (Köppen climate classificationDwb) with dry, severely cold winters and warm, moist summers.
| Climate data for Kyakhta (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | −0.1 (31.8) | 8.6 (47.5) | 20.5 (68.9) | 30.6 (87.1) | 35.0 (95.0) | 39.3 (102.7) | 40.6 (105.1) | 37.1 (98.8) | 31.6 (88.9) | 26.6 (79.9) | 12.8 (55.0) | 5.4 (41.7) | 40.6 (105.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −15.0 (5.0) | −9.0 (15.8) | 1.1 (34.0) | 11.2 (52.2) | 18.6 (65.5) | 24.8 (76.6) | 26.4 (79.5) | 23.7 (74.7) | 16.9 (62.4) | 7.7 (45.9) | −3.9 (25.0) | −12.6 (9.3) | 7.5 (45.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −20.1 (−4.2) | −15.1 (4.8) | −5.6 (21.9) | 3.8 (38.8) | 10.9 (51.6) | 17.5 (63.5) | 19.9 (67.8) | 17.1 (62.8) | 10.0 (50.0) | 1.3 (34.3) | −9.2 (15.4) | −17.6 (0.3) | 1.1 (33.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −24.5 (−12.1) | −20.4 (−4.7) | −11.5 (11.3) | −2.6 (27.3) | 3.9 (39.0) | 10.9 (51.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 11.6 (52.9) | 4.5 (40.1) | −3.8 (25.2) | −13.9 (7.0) | −21.7 (−7.1) | −4.5 (24.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −55.2 (−67.4) | −49.1 (−56.4) | −39.7 (−39.5) | −24.8 (−12.6) | −12.1 (10.2) | −4.5 (23.9) | 1.4 (34.5) | −2.7 (27.1) | −9.7 (14.5) | −26.8 (−16.2) | −34.7 (−30.5) | −42.1 (−43.8) | −55.2 (−67.4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 4 (0.2) | 3 (0.1) | 4 (0.2) | 11 (0.4) | 35 (1.4) | 66 (2.6) | 89 (3.5) | 74 (2.9) | 39 (1.5) | 11 (0.4) | 7 (0.3) | 5 (0.2) | 348 (13.7) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 10.7 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 7.8 | 10.7 | 10.4 | 11.9 | 12.1 | 9.6 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 9.4 | 112.4 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 79.1 | 73.9 | 65.8 | 53.0 | 53.0 | 58.7 | 64.1 | 68.0 | 66.5 | 68.0 | 73.9 | 79.1 | 66.9 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 158.1 | 187.6 | 235.6 | 243.0 | 275.9 | 276.0 | 279.0 | 254.2 | 234.0 | 186.0 | 153.0 | 127.1 | 2,609.5 |
| Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net[20] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: climatebase.ru (precipitation days, humidity and sunshine hours)[21] | |||||||||||||
In Mongolian, Kyakhta was formerly known asАр Хиагт (Ar Khiagt, lit. "North Kyakhta");Altanbulag (then, Maimaicheng) across the border wasӨвөр Хиагт (Övör Khiagt, lit. "South Kyakhta"). When the town was known as Troitskosavsk, its name in Mongolian wasДээд Шивээ (Deed Šhivee).
Sremski Karlovci, Serbia (2025)[22]
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