Borders of Russia

Russia has international borders with 14 countries. With a land border of convert|20097|km|mi|0 in total it has, behind China, the second-longest land border of any country.

Table of countries with a land border with Russia listed anti-clockwise around Russia. [CIA: The World Factbook, Russia]

Border with China

The Sino-Russian border is the world's sixth-longest international border. However, it is split into two, one to the east of Mongolia and a much shorter one to the west.

The eastern border is over 3500 kilometres in length, with its true length only having been established in 1999 following a joint venture, and measured as convert|4195|km|mi|0.Sébastien Colin, "Le développement des relations frontalières entre la Chine et la Russie", études du CERI n°96, July 2003.] It starts at the eastern China - Mongolia - Russia tripoint (coord|49|51|N|116|41|E) and runs north-east, followed by south-east along the Argun and Amur rivers, and finally south-west along the Tumen River to the border with North Korea at (coord|42|25|N|130|36|E), only a few kilometres before the river flows into the Pacific Ocean.

History

The eastern part of the border was defined by two treaties: the Treaty of Aigoun in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking on 1860. When Sino-Russian dialogue recommenced in the 1980s resulted in the border being renegotiated and a new treaty was signed in 1991. The treaty was brought about by local Russian politicians who had hitherto refused to accept the concessions made to the Chinese. Nonetheless, the treaty failed to resolve the problems with the Chinese claiming sovereignty of islands of Bolshoi and Zabaïkalsk in the upper Argun River as well as the islands of Bolshoi Ussuriski and Tebarov at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers.

Heavily militarised following the Sino-Soviet split of the 1950s and 60s, culminating in the Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969, the border slowly opened after 1982 allowing the first exchange of goods between the two countries. Between 1988 and 1992 the cross-border commerce between Russia and the Heilongjiang province increased threefold, with the number of legal Chinese workers in Russia increasing from 1286 to 18905.. In the years after that commercial exchange decreased following Russian complaints about the quality of Chinese goods, also increasing taxes on Chinese imports and restricting the ability for Chinese immigrants to work in the far-eastern Russian region.

On July 16 2001 China and Russia signed a treaty promoting mutual friendship and cooperation. [Elizabeth Wishnick. "Sino-Russian Relations in a Changed International Landscape". China Perspectives, 43, September/October 2002, p.4] The partnership was born in part out of the two countries' opposition to the international policies of the United States, as well as a desire by the Chinese government to secure the energy needs of the neighbouring provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, and to stabilise Russia's role as an important arms provider to China.

The relaxation of border controls has resulted in a noticeable smuggling problem that is worth around three million dollars each year. Traditional health products such as ginseng, Siberian tiger, sea cucumber, and reindeer antlers are smuggled along with weaponry and drugs. Illegal fishing is also common.

ee also

*Border Security Zone of Russia
*Customs Code of Russia
*Territorial disputes of the Russian Federation
*Sino-Soviet border conflict

References