- Blagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk ( _ru. Благове́щенск) is a city in
Russia , the administrative center ofAmur Oblast , located 7,985 km east ofMoscow . Population: ru-census2002|219221|; su-census1989|205553|. In theChinese language , the city is also known as 海兰泡 ("Hailanpao") and 布市 ("Bushi").The city lies 110 km off the
Trans-Siberian railroad on the left bank of theAmur River , which has formed Russia's border withChina since the 1858Aigun Treaty and 1860Treaty of Peking . The area north of the Amur had previously belonged to imperial China ("seeNerchinsk Treaty "). It is served byIgnatyevo Airport .History
The first inhabitants to the area were Russians, who formed a settlement in 1644. Later in 1856, the city was founded as a military outpost of Ust'-Zeya, Blagoveshchensk received its current name two years later after the parish church of Annunciation ("Blagoveshchenie" in Russian). The city's growth was fuelled by a
gold rush early in the 20th century and by its position on the Chinese border, just hundreds of metres across from the city ofHeihe .In the course of the
Boxer Rebellion , Chinese insurgents shelled the city in July 1900. According to theOrthodox tradition, the city was saved by a miraculousicon of Our Lady of Albazin, which was prayed to continuously during the shelling which lasted almost two weeks. In those days, the police aided by Cossacks, decided to drive the entire ethnic Chinese community, from the Russian bank of the Amur River over to the Chinese side. Civilians were driven into the river at gunpoint and many of them drowned. In total, about 3,000 people were reported to have died .During the
Cultural revolution the city was subject to theMaoist propaganda blasted from loudspeakers across the river 24 hours a day.Today Blagoveshchensk and Heihe form a free-trade zone. The city has one of the largest Chinese communities in Russia. It offers easy rules for Chinese for legalization in Russia and builds a lot of new buildings for Russian and Chinese customers. There is a new suburb in Blagoveshchensk—"Severny" which offers low-price new habitation for new citizens of city.It is home to
Blagoveschensk State Pedagogical University andAmur State University .References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
