Russian Far East - History

History

Russia reached the Pacific coast in 1647 with the establishment of Okhotsk, and consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century. Primorskaya Oblast was established as a separate administrative division of the Russian Empire in 1856, with its administrative center at Khabarovsk.

Several entities with the name "Far East" had existed in the first half of the 20th century, all with rather different boundaries:

• 1920–1922: the Far Eastern Republic, which included Transbakal, Amur, Primorskaya, and Kamchatka Oblasts and northern Sakhalin;
• 1922–1926: Far-Eastern Oblast, which included Amur, Transbaikal, Kamchatka, and
• 1926–1938: Far-Eastern Krai, which included modern Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais).

Until 2000, the Russian Far East lacked officially defined boundaries. A single term "Siberia and the Far East" (Сибирь и Дальний Восток) was often used to refer to Russia's regions east of the Urals without drawing a clear distinction between "Siberia" and "the Far East."

In 2000, Russia's federal subjects were grouped into larger federal districts, and the Far Eastern Federal District was created, comprising Amur Oblast, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Kamchatka Oblast with Koryak Autonomous Okrug, Khabarovsk Krai, Magadan Oblast, Primorsky Krai, the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, and Sakhalin Oblast. Since 2000, the term "Far East" has been increasingly used in Russia to refer to the federal district, though it is often also used more loosely.

Defined by the boundaries of the federal district, the Far East has an area of 6.2 million square kilometers—over one-third of the Russia's total area.