Russia’s Amur Region: Gold, Fossil Dinosaurs and a Space Center

The Zeya River, one of the largest rivers in the Amur River basin, flows through the Amur Region. It covers 64 percent of the region’s territory and meets the Amur River near the city of Blagoveshchensk. The cities of Zeya, Svobodny and Blagoveshchensk are all located on the Zeya River. 

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© RIA Novosti . V. Kuznetsov

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The Zeya River, one of the largest rivers in the Amur River basin, flows through the Amur Region. It covers 64 percent of the region’s territory and meets the Amur River near the city of Blagoveshchensk. The cities of Zeya, Svobodny and Blagoveshchensk are all located on the Zeya River.

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© RIA Novosti . Aleksandr Liskin

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The Upper Priamurye area is one of Russia’s most important gold-producing regions.

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© RIA Novosti . Cheishvili

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Local rivers are swarming with fish.

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© RIA Novosti . Svetlana Majorova

Landmarks in Blagoveshchensk include the famous “dinosaur cemetery” – an area of about 10,000 square meters which is littered with dinosaur bones at depths of up to two meters.

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© RIA Novosti . Vitaliy Ankov

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The dinosaur “cemetery” in Blagoveshchensk is a federal landmark and is very popular with paleontologists in Russia and all over the world.

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© RIA Novosti . Vitaliy Ankov

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The leopard cat roams the Russian Far East.

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The Komsomolsk State Nature Reserve in the central part of the Khabarovsk Territory.

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© RIA Novosti . Vitaliy Ankov

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Cattle cool off in the Zeya River.

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The raccoon dog, or Ussuri raccoon, primarily inhabits forested areas in Northeastern Indochina, China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula. It has traditionally been found in Russia’s Ussuri Territory and southern parts of the Amur Region.

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© RIA Novosti . G. Koposov

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The Amur Region has a harsh climate. In January, temperatures drop to minus 40◦ Fahrenheit in its northern areas, but summers are quite warm.

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© RIA Novosti . Svetlana Majorova

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Russia is currently building the Vostochny (Eastern) Space Center in the Amur Region, near the town of Uglegorsk. The first space rocket should be launched here in late 2015 and the first manned space mission is slated to lift off in 2018.

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© RIA Novosti . Vitaly Ragulin

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This dam, at a hydropower plant on the Zeya River, plays an important role in preventing – or decreasing the impact of – flooding.

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© RIA Novosti . Svetlana Majorova

The Amur Region borders China, and Chinese businesses and tourists play a key role in the local economy.