China–Russia border

The eastern border section is over in length. According to a joint estimate published in 1999, it measured at . It starts at the eastern China–Mongolia–Russia tripoint (), marked by the border monument called Tarbagan-Dakh (Ta'erbagan Dahu, Tarvagan Dakh). From the tripoint, the border line runs north-east, until it reaches the Argun River. The border follows that river to the Amur River, and to the confluence of the latter with the Ussuri River. It divides the Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island at the confluence of the two rivers, and then runs south along the Ussuri. The border crosses Lake Khanka, and finally runs to the south-west. The China–Russia border ends when it reaches the Tumen River, which is the northern border of North Korea. The end point of the China–Russia border, and the China–North Korea–Russia tripoint, at (), is located only a few kilometers before the river flows into the Pacific Ocean, the other end of the North Korea–Russia border. The much shorter (about ) western border section is between Russia's Altai Republic and China's Xinjiang. It runs in the mostly snow-covered high elevation area of the Altai Mountains. Its western end point is the China–Kazakhstan–Russia tripoint, whose location is defined by the trilateral agreement as , elevation, 3327 m. Its eastern end is the western China–Mongolia–Russia tripoint, at the top of the peak Tavan Bogd Uul (Mt Kuitun), at the coordinates , elevation 4374 m. ==History==

Tsarist era (pre-1917) Today's Sino-Russian border line is mostly inherited by Russia (with minor adjustments) from the Soviet Union, while the Sino-Soviet border line was essentially the same as the border between the Russian and Qing Empires, settled by a number of treaties from the 17th through to the 19th centuries. Border issues first became an issue following Russia's rapid expansion into Siberia in the 17th century, with intermittent skirmishes occurring between them and Qing China. Below is a list of important border treaties, along with the indication as to which section of today's Sino-Russian border were largely set by them: • Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) - this covered the far eastern section of the border, creating a line along the Argun River and Shilka River, then proceeding overland via the Stanovoy Mountains, and then along the Uda river, terminating at the Tugur peninsula by the Sea of Okhotsk. The border was modified via later treaties such as the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881), though the modern Russian section remained at the same place. Heavily militarised following the war, the border slowly opened after 1982, allowing the first exchange of goods between the two countries, though the territorial disputes remained unresolved. Between 1988 and 1992 the cross-border commerce between Russia and Heilongjiang province increased threefold, with the number of legal Chinese workers in Russia increasing from 1,286 to 18,905. To this day one can find numerous abandoned military facilities in Russia's border districts. Even though the Sino-Soviet border trade resumed as early as 1983–85, it accelerated in 1990–91; the rate of cross-border trade continued to increase as the USSR's former republics became separate states. To accommodate increasing volume of travel and private trade, a number of border crossings were re-opened. Pursuant to that agreement, Russia transferred to China a part of Abagaitu Islet, the entire Yinlong (Tarabarov) Island, about half of Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, and some adjacent river islets. The transfer was ratified by both the Chinese National People's Congress and the Russian State Duma in 2005, thus ending the decades-long border dispute. The official transfer ceremony was held on-site on October 14, 2008. ==Border management==

from Zabaykalsk in Russia to Manzhouli in China. The banner reads "Rossiya", Russia in the Russian language (coordinates: ) As with many other international borders, a bilateral treaty exists concerning the physical modalities of managing the China–Russia border. The currently valid agreement was signed in Beijing in 2006. The treaty requires the two states to clear trees in a -wide strip along the border (i.e. within from the border line on each side of it) (Article 6). Civil navigation is allowed on the border rivers and lakes, provided the vessels of each country stay on the appropriate side of the dividing line (Article 9); similar rules apply to fishing in these waters (Article 10). Each country's authorities will carry out appropriate measures to prevent grazing livestock from crossing into the other country and will endeavor to apprehend and return any livestock that wanders onto their territory from across the border (Article 17). Hunting using firearms is prohibited within from the borderline; hunters are prohibited from crossing the border in pursuit of a wounded animal (Article 19). Detained illegal border crossers are supposed to be normally returned to their country of origin within 7 days from their apprehension (Article 34). ==Border crossings==

Eastern section A list of ports-of-entry on the eastern section is provided by China Association of Port-of-entry: Western section According to Russian topographic maps, the lowest mountain passes on the western section of the border are the Betsu-Kanas Pass (перевал Бетсу-Канас), elevation No roads suitable for wheeled vehicles exist over these two passes, although a difficult dirt road approaches from the Russian side to within from the Kanas Pass. Until the Soviet authorities closed the border in 1936, Kazakh nomads would occasionally use these passes. Proposals exist for the construction of a cross-border highway and the Altai gas pipeline from China to Russia, which would cross the western section of the Sino-Russian border. ==Historical maps==

Historical maps of the border from west to east in the International Map of the World, mid-20th century: File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nm-45-3rd-ed.jpg|western section File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nm-50-3rd-ed.jpg| File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nm-51-4th-ed.jpg| File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nn-51-2nd-ed.jpg| File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nn-52-4th-ed.jpg| File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nm-52-4th-ed.jpg| File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nl-52-4th-ed.jpg| File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nm-53-4th-ed.jpg| File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nl-53-2nd-ed.jpg| File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nk-52-4th-ed.jpg| ==See also==