Blagoveshchensk

Blagoveshchensk (Russian: Благовещенск; IPA: [bləgɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk], lit. the city of good news) is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Amur and Zeya Rivers, opposite to the Chinese city of Heihe. Population: 214,390 (2010 Census); 219,221 (2002 Census); 205,553 (1989 Census).

The Amur has formed Russia's border with China since the 1858 Aigun Treaty and 1860 Treaty of Peking. The area north of the Amur belonged to the Manchu Qing dynasty until it was ceded to Russia in the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk.

History

Early history of the region

The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of today's Blagoveshchensk were the Daurs and Duchers. An early settlement in the area of today's Blagoveshchensk was the Ducher town whose name was reported by the Russian explorer Yerofey Khabarov as Aytyun in 1652; it has been identified with what is currently known to the archaeologists as the Grodekovo site, after the nearby village of Grodekovo (which is located on the left bank of the Amur at 50°07′N 127°35′E / 50.117°N 127.583°E / 50.117; 127.583, some 25–30 km (16–19 mi) south of Blagoveshchensk). The Grodekovo site is thought by archaeologists to have been populated since ca. 1000 CE.

Blagoveshchensk (inhabited locality)

Blagoveshchensk is the name of several urban localities in Russia:

See also