View source for Amur

{{Short description|Major river in the Russian Far East and Northeast China}}
{{About|the river|other uses|Amur (disambiguation)|the Chinese province|Heilongjiang}}
{{hatnote|'Saghalien Oula' redirects here. For the former settlement by that name, see [[Aigun]].}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = Amur
| name_other         = Heilong
| name_etymology     = From [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]: {{transliteration|mn|amar}} ("rest")
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image              = Amur River.JPG
| image_size         = 260px
| image_caption      = 
| map                = Amurrivermap.png
| map_size           = 260px 
| map_caption        = Map of the Amur watershed
| pushpin_map        = 
| pushpin_map_size   = 
| pushpin_map_caption= 
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Countries
| subdivision_name1  = {{hlist|[[Russia]]|[[China]]}}
| subdivision_type2  = 
| subdivision_name2  = 
| subdivision_type3  = 
| subdivision_name3  = 
| subdivision_type4  = 
| subdivision_name4  = 
| subdivision_type5  = Cities
| subdivision_name5  = {{hlist|[[Blagoveshchensk]]|[[Heihe]]|[[Tongjiang, Heilongjiang|Tongjiang]]|[[Khabarovsk]]|[[Amursk]]|[[Komsomolsk-on-Amur]]|[[Nikolayevsk-on-Amur]]}}
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length             = {{convert|2,824|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Aleksandr Pavlovich |last1=Muranov |first2=Charles E. |last2=Greer |first3=Lewis |last3=Owen |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Amur-River |title=Amur River |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |edition=online |access-date=2016-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521234231/https://www.britannica.com/place/Amur-River |archive-date=2016-05-21 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader">{{cite book|url=https://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/ahrbr.pdf|title=Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader|last1=Eugene A.|first1=Simonov|last2=Thomas D.|first2=Dahmer|date=2008 |publisher=Ecosystems |isbn=9789881722713}}</ref>
([[Amur]]-[[Argun (Amur)|Argun]]-Hailar: 4,444 km)<ref name="Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader">{{cite book|url=https://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/ahrbr.pdf|title=Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader|last1=Eugene A.|first1=Simonov|last2=Thomas D.|first2=Dahmer|date=2008 |publisher=Ecosystems |isbn=9789881722713}}</ref> 
| width_min          = 
| width_avg          = 
| width_max          = {{convert|5,000|m|abbr=on}}
| depth_min          = 
| depth_avg          = 
| depth_max          = {{convert|57|m|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_location=[[Amur Liman|Near mouth]]
| discharge1_avg     =(Period: 2002–2020){{cvt|12,360|m3/s|km3/year|abbr=on}}<ref name="Intra-Seasonal Variability of Sea Level on the Southwestern Bering Sea Shelf and Its Impact on the East Kamchatka and East Sakhalin Currents">{{cite journal|journal=Remote Sensing|title=Intra-Seasonal Variability of Sea Level on the Southwestern Bering Sea Shelf and Its Impact on the East Kamchatka and East Sakhalin Currents|doi=10.3390/rs15204984|volume=15|issue=20|last1=Andrey|first1=Andreev|year=2023|page=4984 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023RemS...15.4984A }}</ref>
(Period: 1896–2004){{convert|11,330|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/water/blanks/assessment/okhotsk_japan.pdf|title=DRAINAGE BASINS OF THE SEA OF OKHOTSK AND SEA OF JAPAN|pages=60–67}}</ref><br><ref name="Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader">{{cite book|url=https://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/ahrbr.pdf|title=Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader|last1=Eugene A.|first1=Simonov|last2=Thomas D.|first2=Dahmer|date=2008 |publisher=Ecosystems |isbn=9789881722713}}</ref>
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1            = [[Onon (river)|Onon]]-[[Shilka (river)|Shilka]]
| source1_location   = [[Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area]], [[Khentii Province]], [[Mongolia]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|48|48|59|N|108|46|13|E|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation  = {{convert|2,045|m|abbr=on}}
| source2            = [[Argun (Amur)|Argun]] 
| source2_location   = [[Greater Khingan]], [[Hulunbuir]], [[China]]
| source2_coordinates= {{coord|49.937|122.465|display=inline}}
| source2_elevation  = 
| source_confluence            = 
| source_confluence_location   = Near Pokrovka, [[Russia]]
| source_confluence_coordinates= {{coord|53|19|58|N|121|28|37|E|display=inline}}
| source_confluence_elevation  = {{convert|303|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth              = [[Strait of Tartary]]
| mouth_location     = Near [[Nikolayevsk-on-Amur]], [[Khabarovsk Krai]], [[Russia]]
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|52|56|50|N|141|05|02|E|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation    = {{convert|0|m|abbr=on}}
| progression        =[[Strait of Tartary]] ([[Sea of Okhotsk]])
| river_system       = [[Amur|Amur River]]
| basin_size         = {{convert|1,855,000|km2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Britannica" />
{{cvt|2,129,700|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}(with undrained areas)<ref name="Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader">{{cite book|url=https://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/ahrbr.pdf|title=Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader|last1=Eugene A.|first1=Simonov|last2=Thomas D.|first2=Dahmer|date=2008 |publisher=Ecosystems |isbn=9789881722713}}</ref>
| tributaries_left   = [[Shilka (river)|Shilka]], [[Zeya (river)|Zeya]], [[Bureya (river)|Bureya]], [[Amgun]]
| tributaries_right  = [[Argun (Amur)|Argun]], [[Huma River (Heilongjiang)|Huma]], [[Songhua River|Songhua]], [[Ussuri]]
| custom_label       = 
| custom_data        = 
|discharge2_location=[[Bogorodskoye, Khabarovsk Krai|Bogorodskoye]]
|discharge2_avg=(Period: 2008–2019){{cvt|11,459|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="A hydraulic model of the Amur River informed by ICESat-2 elevation">{{cite journal|journal=Hydrological|title=A hydraulic model of the Amur River informed by ICESat-2 elevation|volume=68|issue=14|last1=Peter|first1=Bauer-Gottwein|last2=Elena|first2=Zakharova|last3=Monica|first3=Coppo Frías|last4=Heidi|first4=Ranndal|last5=Karina|first5=Nielsen|last6=Linda|first6=Christoffersen|page=2027-2041|year=2023|doi=10.1080/02626667.2023.2245811 |bibcode=2023HydSJ..68.2027B |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2023.2245811}}</ref>
(Period: 1896–2004){{convert|10,100|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="auto1"/><br><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iwp.ru/upload/medialibrary/6a1/6a16cca9b59251ad80a7945d9acb5ef6.pdf|title=Variations of the Present-Day Annual and Seasonal Runoff in the Far East and Siberia with the Use of Regional Hydrological and Global Climate Models}}</ref>
|discharge3_location=[[Komsomolsk-on-Amur]]
|discharge3_avg     =(Period: 2012–2019){{cvt|10,259|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="A hydraulic model of the Amur River informed by ICESat-2 elevation">{{cite journal|journal=Hydrological|title=A hydraulic model of the Amur River informed by ICESat-2 elevation|volume=68|issue=14|last1=Peter|first1=Bauer-Gottwein|last2=Elena|first2=Zakharova|last3=Monica|first3=Coppo Frías|last4=Heidi|first4=Ranndal|last5=Karina|first5=Nielsen|last6=Linda|first6=Christoffersen|page=2027-2041|year=2023|doi=10.1080/02626667.2023.2245811 |bibcode=2023HydSJ..68.2027B |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2023.2245811}}</ref>
|discharge4_location=[[Khabarovsk]]
|discharge4_avg=(Period: 2008–2018){{cvt|8,384|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="A hydraulic model of the Amur River informed by ICESat-2 elevation">{{cite journal|journal=Hydrological|title=A hydraulic model of the Amur River informed by ICESat-2 elevation|volume=68|issue=14|last1=Peter|first1=Bauer-Gottwein|last2=Elena|first2=Zakharova|last3=Monica|first3=Coppo Frías|last4=Heidi|first4=Ranndal|last5=Karina|first5=Nielsen|last6=Linda|first6=Christoffersen|page=2027-2041|year=2023|doi=10.1080/02626667.2023.2245811 |bibcode=2023HydSJ..68.2027B |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2023.2245811}}</ref>
(Period: 1896–2004){{convert|8,360|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="auto1"/><br>
|discharge5_location=[[Blagoveshchensk]]
|discharge5_avg     =(Period: 1971–2000){{cvt|2,859.1|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Heilong Jiang-Amur">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/V1/index.php/component/content/?view=article&id=53&catid=213&Itemid=179|title=Heilong Jiang-Amur}}</ref>
| extra             = {{Infobox mapframe |wikidata=yes |zoom=4 |height=250 | stroke-width=1.5 |coord {{WikidataCoord|display=i}}}}
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| ibox-order = ru, zh, mnc
| order = st
| s = 黑龙江
| t = 黑龍江
| p = Hēilóng Jiāng
| gr = Heilong Jiang
| psp = Heilung Kiang
| l = "Black Dragon River"
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|h|ei|1|.|l|ong|2|.|j|iang|1}}
| w = {{tone superscript|Hei1-lung2 Chiang1}}
| wuu = Ha<sup>平</sup> lon<sup>上</sup> kaon<sup>平</sup>
| j = {{tone superscript|Haak1-lung4 Gong1}}
| y = Hāak-lùhng Gōng
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|h|aak|1|.|l|ung|4|.|g|ong|1}}
| tl = Hik-lîng Kang
| mnc = ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ<br />ᡠᠯᠠ
| mnc_rom = Sahaliyan ula
| rus = река Амур
}}

The '''Amur River''' ({{langx|ru|река Амур}}) or '''Heilong River''' ({{zh|s=黑龙江}})<ref>Liaoning province's archive, ''Manchu Veritable Record Upper Vol''《滿洲實錄上函/manju-i yargiyan kooli dergi dobton》</ref> is a [[perennial river]] in [[Northeast Asia]], forming the [[natural border]] between the [[Russian Far East]] and [[Northeast China]] (historically the [[Outer Manchuria|Outer]] and [[Inner Manchuria]]). The Amur ''proper'' is {{cvt|2824|km}} long, and has a [[drainage basin]] of {{cvt|1,855,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Britannica" /><ref name="bse">[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article049012.html Амур (река в Азии)], [[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]</ref> If including its [[main stem]] [[tributary]], the [[Argun (Amur)|Argun]], the Amur is {{cvt|4,444|km|mi|abbr=on}} long,<ref name="bse" /><ref name="Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader">{{cite book|url=https://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/ahrbr.pdf|title=Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader|last1=Eugene A.|first1=Simonov|last2=Thomas D.|first2=Dahmer|date=2008 |publisher=Ecosystems |isbn=9789881722713}}</ref> making it the [[list of longest rivers|world's tenth longest river]].

The Amur is an important river for the [[aquatic animal|aquatic]] [[fauna]] of Northeast Asia. The river basin is home to a variety of large [[predatory fish]] such as [[northern snakehead]], [[Amur pike]], [[taimen]], [[Amur catfish]], [[predatory carp]] and [[Elopichthys bambusa|yellowcheek]],<ref>[[FishBase]]: [https://www.fishbase.se/trophiceco/FishEcoList.php?ve_code=22 Species in Amur.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218021146/https://www.fishbase.se/trophiceco/FishEcoList.php?ve_code=22 |date=2019-02-18 }} Retrieved 17 February 2019.</ref> as well as several species of [[trout]] and [[anadromous]] [[salmonid]]s. The largest fish species in the Amur is the [[kaluga (fish)|kaluga]], a [[sturgeon]] that is one of the largest [[freshwater fish]] in the world, attaining a length as great as {{cvt|5.6|m|ft}}.<ref>C. Michael Hogan. 2012. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Amur_River?topic=78166 ''Amur River''. Encyclopedia of Earth.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130135928/http://www.eoearth.org/article/Amur_River?topic=78166 |date=November 30, 2012 }} Topic ed. Peter Saundry</ref> It is also home to the northernmost populations of the [[Amur softshell turtle]]<ref>Farkas, B., T. Ziegler, C.T. Pham, A.V. Ong and U. Fritz (2019). A new species of Pelodiscus from northeastern Indochina (Testudines, Trionychidae). ZooKeys 824: 71-86. {{doi|10.3897/zookeys.824.31376}}</ref> and [[Indian lotus]].<ref>Yi Zhang; Xu Lu; Shaoxiao Zeng; Xuhui Huang; Zebin Guo; Yafeng Zheng; Yuting Tian; Baodong Zheng (2015). "Nutritional composition, physiological functions and processing of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) seeds: a review". Phytochem Rev. 14 (3): 321–334. {{doi|10.1007/s11101-015-9401-9}}</ref>

== Name ==
The Russian name Amur may come from the [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]] term for “river”.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of [[Tungusic languages]] (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are [[Indigenous peoples of Siberia|native to Siberia]] and [[Northeast Asia]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jia |first1=Mingming |last2=Mao |first2=Dehua |last3=Wang |first3=Zongming |last4=Ren |first4=Chunying |last5=Zhu |first5=Qiande |last6=Li |first6=Xuechun |last7=Zhang |first7=Yuanzhi |title=Tracking long-term floodplain wetland changes: A case study in the China side of the Amur River Basin |journal=International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation |date=1 October 2020 |volume=92 |pages=102185 |doi=10.1016/j.jag.2020.102185 |bibcode=2020IJAEO..9202185J |s2cid=221044242 |issn=1569-8432|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The etymology of the name Amur is unknown. One theory dictates that it comes to Russian through either the [[Evenki language|Evenki]] word ''amur'' or the [[Even language|Even]] word ''amar'', both meaning "river" in their respective [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]] languages. However, it is unclear whether Russian borrowed the name Amur from either Tungusic language rather than the other way around. An alternative theory suggests that Amur comes from the [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]] language [[Dagur language|Dagur's]], word for "big river," ''mur''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Piispanen |first1=Peter |title=Languages in Contact: Solon and Dagur |year=2019 |url=
https://www.academia.edu/40426256}}</ref>

Its ancient Chinese names were ''Yushui'', ''Wanshui'' and ''Heishui'',<ref name="auto">''[https://pfeil-verlag.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ief19_4_03.pdf The fishes of the Amur River:updated check-list and zoogeography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204052645/https://pfeil-verlag.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ief19_4_03.pdf |date=2020-02-04 }}''</ref> with the latter name, meaning "black water", being the basis of the modern Chinese name ''Heilongjiang'' or "[[Cardinal_directions#Cultural_variations|Black]] Dragon River", while the [[Manchurian language|Manchurian]] name ''Sahaliyan Ula'', the Mongolian names "Amar mörön" (Cyrillic: Амар мөрөн) originates from the name "Amar" meaning to rest and ''Khar mörön'' (Cyrillic: Хар мөрөн) mean [[Cardinal_directions#Cultural_variations|Black]] River.<ref name="Britannica" />

==Course==
The river rises in the hills in the western part of [[Northeast China]] at the confluence of its two major affluents, the [[Shilka (river)|Shilka]] and the [[Argun (Amur)|Argun (or Ergune)]], at an elevation of {{convert|303|m|ft}}.<ref>Source elevation derived from [[Google Earth]]</ref> It flows east forming the border between China and Russia, and slowly makes a great arc to the southeast for about {{convert|400|km|mi}}, receiving many tributaries and passing many small towns. At Huma, it is joined by a major tributary, the [[Huma River (Heilongjiang)|Huma He]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lasserre |first1=Frédéric |title=The Amur River border. Once a symbol of conflict, could it turn into a water resource stake? |journal=Cybergeo |date=27 June 2003 |doi=10.4000/cybergeo.4141 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/cybergeo/4141?lang=es |access-date=29 November 2023|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11794/790 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Afterwards it continues to flow south until, between the cities of [[Blagoveshchensk]] in Russia and [[Heihe]] in China, it widens significantly as it is joined by one of its most important tributaries the [[Zeya (river)|Zeya]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mao |first1=Dehua |last2=Tian |first2=Yanlin |last3=Wang |first3=Zongming |last4=Jia |first4=Mingming |last5=Du |first5=Jia |last6=Song |first6=Changchun |title=Wetland changes in the Amur River Basin: Differing trends and proximate causes on the Chinese and Russian sides |journal=Journal of Environmental Management |date=15 February 2021 |volume=280 |pages=111670 |doi=10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111670 |pmid=33218828 |bibcode=2021JEnvM.28011670M |s2cid=227100672 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301479720315954 |access-date=29 November 2023 |issn=0301-4797}}</ref>

The Amur arcs to the east and turns southeast again at the confluence with the [[Bureya (river)|Bureya]], then does not receive another significant tributary for nearly {{convert|250|km|mi}} before its confluence with its largest tributary, the [[Songhua River|Songhua]], at [[Tongjiang, Heilongjiang|Tongjiang]]. At the confluence with the Songhua the river turns northeast, now flowing towards [[Khabarovsk]], where it joins the [[Ussuri]] and ceases to define the Russia–China border. Now the river spreads out dramatically into a [[Braided stream|braided]] character, flowing north-northeast through a wide valley in eastern Russia, passing [[Amursk]] and [[Komsomolsk-on-Amur]]. The valley narrows after about {{convert|200|km|mi}} and the river again flows north onto plains at the confluence with the [[Amgun]]. Shortly after, the Amur turns sharply east and into an [[estuary]] at [[Nikolayevsk-on-Amur]], about {{convert|20|km|mi}} downstream of which it flows into the [[Strait of Tartary]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Amur (River) |display=Amur |volume=1 |page=899}}</ref>

During years with heavy precipitation, the Amur river system is connected with the [[Kherlen]] river. The normally exit−less [[endorheic lake]] [[Hulun Lake]], into which [[Kherlen]] flows, will overflow at its northern shore through the [[Arroyo (watercourse)|arroyo]] of Mutnaya Protoka, and the water will meet the Argun River (Ergune) after about {{convert|30|km|mi|0}}. The Amur Basin of the [[Kherlen River|Kherlen]]−[[Argun (Amur)|Argun]]−Amur River system has a total length of {{cvt|5,052|km|mi|abbr=on}} to its river mouth on the [[Sea of Okhotsk]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://amur-heilong.net/http/01_climate_waters/0114westernheadwaters.html|title = Untitled Document}}</ref>

===Tributaries===
The largest tributaries of the Amur are, from source to mouth:<ref name=bse/><ref name=gvr>{{GVR|20030300112118100000012|Река Амур}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Argun (Amur)|Argun]] (right)
* [[Shilka (river)|Shilka]] (left)
* [[Amazar (river)|Amazar]] (left)
* [[Oldoy (river)|Oldoy]] (left)
* [[Huma River (Heilongjiang)|Huma]] (right)
* [[Zeya (river)|Zeya]] (left)
* [[Bureya (river)|Bureya]] (left)
* [[Songhua River|Songhua]] (right)
* [[Bira (river)|Bira]] (left)
* [[Ussuri]] (right)
* [[Tunguska (Amur)|Tunguska]] (left)
* [[Anyuy (Amur)|Anyuy]] (right)
* [[Gur (river)|Gur]] (right)
* [[Gorin (river)|Gorin]] (left)
* [[Amgun]] (left)
{{div col end}}
There are also numerous lakes in the floodplain of the Amur. Some of the largest ones are [[Lake Bolon|Bolon]], [[Khummi]] and [[Lake Udyl|Udyl]].<ref name=WR>{{Cite web|url=https://water-rf.ru/%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8B_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8/2584/%D0%A5%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9|title=Water of Russia - Khabarovsk Krai}}</ref>

==History and context==
Many historical references distinguish two geopolitical entities in the area of the Amur: [[Manchuria]] ([[Northeast China]]) and [[Outer Manchuria]]. The Chinese province of [[Heilongjiang]] on the south bank of the river takes its name from the river, as does the Russian [[Amur Oblast]] on the north bank. The native [[Manchu people]] and their [[Qing Empire]] of China, who regarded this river as sacred,{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} use the name ''Sahaliyan Ula'' (Black River).

The Amur is an important symbol of, and geopolitical factor in, [[History of Sino-Russian relations|Chinese–Russian relations]]. The Amur became especially prominent in the period of the [[Sino-Soviet split|Sino–Soviet political split]] of 1956–1966.

For many{{quantify|date=June 2019}} centuries, inhabitants of the Amur Valley comprised the [[Tungusic peoples|Tungusic]] ([[Evenks|Evenki]], [[Evenki language|Solon]], [[Duchers|Ducher]], [[Jurchen people|Jurchen]], [[Nani people|Nanai]], [[Ulchs|Ulch]]), [[Mongols|Mongol]] ([[Daur people|Daur]]) people, some [[Ainu people|Ainu]] and, near its mouth, the [[Nivkh people|Nivkhs]].<ref>Peter Bellwood; Immanuel Ness (10 November 2014). ''The Global Prehistory of Human Migration''. John Wiley & Sons. p. 227. {{ISBN|978-1-118-97059-1}}.</ref> For many of these groups, fishing in the Amur and its tributaries was the main source of their livelihood. Until the 17th century these peoples were not known to Europeans, and little known to the [[Han Chinese]], who sometimes collectively described them as the [[Wild Jurchens]]. The Chinese-language term ''Yúpí Dázi'' 魚皮韃子 ("Fish-skin Tatars") came to apply to the Nanais and related groups as well, owing to their traditional clothes made of fish skins.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hölzl|first=Andreas|date=2018|title=Udi, Udihe, and the language(s) of the Kyakala|url=https://www.academia.edu/37070620|journal=International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction|volume=15|pages=111–146}}</ref>
[[File:Ravenstein-Tyr-monument-196.png|thumb|left|A remnant of [[Yishiha]]'s monuments at [[Tyr, Russia|Tyr]] {{circa | 1860}}]]

The Mongols, ruling the region as the [[Yuan dynasty]], established a tenuous military presence on the lower Amur in the 13th and 14th centuries; ruins of a Yuan-era temple have been excavated near the village of [[Tyr, Russia|Tyr]].<ref name=golovachev>Головачев В. Ц. (V. Ts. Golovachev), [http://www.ethnonet.ru/ru/pub/14-11-08.html «Тырские стелы и храм „Юн Нин“ в свете китайско-чжурчжэньских отношений XIV—XV вв.»] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090223115421/http://www.ethnonet.ru/ru/pub/14-11-08.html |date= 2009-02-23 }} (The Tyr Stelae and the Yongning Temple viewed in the context of Sino-Jurchen relations of the 14-15th centuries) ''Этно-Журнал'', 2008-11-14. {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

During the reigns of the [[Yongle Emperor|Yongle]] and [[Xuande Emperor]]s (early-15th century), the [[Ming dynasty]] reached the Amur in their drive to establish control over the lands adjacent to the Ming Empire to the northeast, which would later become known as Manchuria. Expeditions headed by the [[eunuch]] [[Yishiha]] reached Tyr several times between 1411 and the early 1430s, re-building (twice) the Yongning Temple and obtaining at least the nominal allegiance of the lower Amur's tribes to the Ming government.<ref name=bio>L. Carrington Godrich, Chaoying Fang (editors), "Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368–1644". Volume I (A-L). Columbia University Press, 1976. {{ISBN| 0-231-03801-1}}</ref><ref name=tsai>Shih-Shan Henry Tsai, "Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle". Published by University of Washington Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-295-98124-5}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=aU5hBMxNgWQC Partial text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110020055/https://books.google.com/books?id=aU5hBMxNgWQC |date=2017-01-10 }} on Google Books. pp. 158-159.</ref> Some sources report also a Chinese presence during the same period on the middle Amur&nbsp;– a fort existed at Aigun for about 20 years during the Yongle era on the left (northwestern) shore of the Amur downstream from the mouth of the Zeya River. This Ming Dynasty Aigun was located on the opposite bank to the later Aigun that was later relocated during the [[Qing dynasty|Qing Dynasty]].<ref name=halde15>{{cite book |last= Du Halde |first= Jean-Baptiste |title= Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise |volume= IV |publisher= P.G. Lemercier |location= Paris |year= 1735 |url= http://web2.bium.univ-paris5.fr/livanc/?cote=00992x04&do=chapitre |pages= 15–16 |author-link= Jean-Baptiste Du Halde |access-date= 2009-04-01 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090702234744/http://web2.bium.univ-paris5.fr/livanc/?cote=00992x04&do=chapitre |archive-date= 2009-07-02 |url-status= live }} Numerous later editions are available as well, including one [https://books.google.com/books?id=1pcsAAAAYAAJ on Google Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110081909/https://books.google.com/books?id=1pcsAAAAYAAJ |date=2017-01-10 }}. Du Halde refers to the Yongle-era fort, the predecessor of [[Aigun]], as ''Aykom''. There seem to be few, if any, mentions of this project in other available literature.</ref> In any event, the Ming presence on the Amur was as short-lived as it was tenuous; soon after the end of the Yongle era, the Ming dynasty's frontiers retreated to southern Manchuria. {{citation needed|date= March 2014}}

Chinese cultural and religious influence such as Chinese New Year, the "Chinese god", Chinese motifs like the dragon, spirals, scrolls, and material goods like agriculture, husbandry, heating, iron cooking-pots, silk, and cotton spread among Amur natives such as the Udeghes, Ulchis, and Nanais.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nzhq85nPrdsC&pg=PA214 Forsyth 1994] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514222051/https://books.google.com/books?id=nzhq85nPrdsC&pg=PA214 |date=2016-05-14 }}, p. 214.</ref>

Russian [[Cossack]] expeditions led by [[Vassili Poyarkov]] and [[Yerofey Khabarov]] explored the Amur and its tributaries in 1643&ndash;44 and 1649&ndash;51, respectively. The Cossacks established the fort of [[Albazin]] on the upper Amur, at the site of the former capital of the [[Evenks|Solons]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[File:CEM-44-La-Chine-la-Tartarie-Chinoise-et-le-Thibet-1734-Amur-2572.jpg|thumb|right|The Amur (under its Manchu name, ''Saghalien Oula'') and its tributaries on a 1734 map by [[Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville]], based upon maps of [[Jesuit China missions|Jesuits in China]]. [[Albazin]] is shown as ''Jaxa'', the old (Ming) site of [[Aigun]] as ''Aihom'' and the later, Qing Aigun, as ''Saghalien Oula''.]]
At the time, the Manchus were busy with [[Qing conquest of the Ming|conquering China]]; but a few decades later, during the [[Kangxi Emperor|Kangxi era]] of 1661–1722, they turned their attention to their north-Manchurian backyard. Aigun was re-established near the supposed Ming site in about 1683&ndash;84, and a military expeditions went upstream to dislodge the Russians, whose Albazin establishment deprived the Manchu rulers of the tribute of [[sable]] pelts that the Solons and Daurs of the area would supply otherwise.<ref>Du Halde (1735), pp. 15-16</ref> Albazin fell during a short military campaign in 1685. The [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]], concluded in 1689, marked the end of the hostilities: it left the entire Amur valley, from the convergence of the [[Shilka River|Shilka]] and the [[Argun River (Asia)|Ergune]] downstream, in Chinese hands.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[Fedor Ivanovich Soimonov|Fedor Soimonov]] was sent to map the then little explored area of the Amur in 1757. He mapped the Shilka, which was partly in Chinese territory, but was turned back when he reached its confluence with the [[Argun River (Asia)|Argun]].<ref>Foust, ''Muscovite and Mandarin'' p. 245-250</ref> The Russian proselytization of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] to the indigenous peoples along the Amur was viewed as a threat by the Qing.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/centasiaj.56.2013.0169 |pages=169–202 [169]|jstor=10.13173/centasiaj.56.2013.0169 |last1=Kim 金由美 |first1=Loretta E. |title=Saints for Shamans? Culture, Religion and Borderland Politics in Amuria from the |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |date=2013 |volume=56 }}</ref>[[File:Goldi village along the Amur River, north of Khabarovsk LCCN2004708126.jpg|thumb|left|220x220px|[[Nanai people|Nanai]] village along the Amur, north of Khabarovsk, 1895]]The Amur region remained a relative backwater of the Qing Empire for the next century and a half, with Aigun being practically the only major town on the river. Russians re-appeared on the river in the mid-19th century, forcing the Manchus to yield all lands north of the river to the [[Russian Empire]] by the [[Treaty of Aigun]] (1858). Lands east of the [[Ussuri]] and the lower Amur were acquired by Russia as well, by the [[Convention of Peking]] (1860).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Convention of Peking of 1860 is concluded |url=https://www.prlib.ru/en/history/619718 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Presidential Library |language=en}}</ref>

==Bridges and tunnels==
{{Chinese
| rus = Амур
| rusr = Amur
| s = 黑龙江
| t = 黑龍江
| p = Hēilóng Jiāng
| s2 = 阿穆尔河
| t2 = 阿穆爾河
| p2 = Āmù'ěr Hé
| l = "Black [[Chinese dragon|Dragon]] River"
| mon = Хар Мөрөн / Амар Мөрөн
| monr = ''Khar Mörön'' ("black river") or ''Amar Mörön'' ("rest")
| mnc = ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ<br />ᡠᠯᠠ
| mnc_rom = Sahaliyan Ula
| pic = Amurbridge2.jpg
| piccap = [[Khabarovsk Bridge]] across the Amur used to be the [[List of longest bridges in the world|longest]] in [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]] and [[Eurasia]].
}}The first permanent bridge across the Amur, the [[Khabarovsk Bridge]] with an overall length of {{convert|2590|m|ft}}, was completed in 1916, allowing the trains on the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]] to cross the river year-round without using ferries or rail tracks on top of the river ice. In 1941 a [[Amur River Tunnel|railway tunnel]] was added as well.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Later, a combined road and rail [[Komsomolsk-on-Amur road-rail bridge|bridge over the Amur]] at [[Komsomolsk-on-Amur]] (1975; 1400 m) and the road and rail Khabarovsk Bridge (1999; 3890 m) were constructed.

The [[Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge]] was proposed in 2007 by [[Valery Solomonovich Gurevich]], the vice-chairman of the [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]] in [[Russia]]. The railway bridge over the Amur will connect Tongjiang with [[Nizhneleninskoye]], a village in the [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]].<ref>[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200706/19/eng20070619_385591.html Proposed bridge to boost bilateral trade] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528054321/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200706/19/eng20070619_385591.html|date=2013-05-28}}, China Daily, June 19, 2007.</ref> The Chinese portion of the bridge was finished in July 2016.<ref name="NYT71616">{{cite news |author1=Andrew Higgins |date=July 16, 2016 |title=An Unfinished Bridge, and Partnership, Between Russia and China |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/world/asia/unfinished-bridge-russia-china-amur-river.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716162428/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/world/asia/unfinished-bridge-russia-china-amur-river.html |archive-date=July 16, 2016}}</ref> In December 2016, work began on the Russian portion of the bridge. Completion of structural link between the two sides of  the bridge was completed in March 2019.<ref>{{citation |title=Russia Completes Construction of First-Ever Rail Bridge to China |date=March 21, 2019 |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/03/21/russia-completes-construction-on-first-ever-rail-bridge-to-china-a64900 |newspaper=[[The Moscow Times]] |access-date=November 16, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Россия и Китай соединили железнодорожный мост через Амур |date=March 21, 2019 |url=https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5c9321df9a79475e283c5f69 |trans-title=Russia and China connected a railway bridge across the Amur |access-date=November 16, 2020 |publisher=[[RBK Group]] |language=ru}}</ref> Opening to rail traffic has been repeatedly delayed, with the December 2019 estimate being "the end of 2020",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Railway bridge over Amur river to China will be built by end of 2020, envoy says |url=https://tass.com/economy/1099607 |access-date=November 16, 2020 |website=TASS}}</ref> and then 3rd quarter of 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Новости Хабаровска |url=https://www.dvnovosti.ru/eao/2020/02/17/110702/}}</ref>

==Wildlife==
[[File:Goldi men with dog sled on Amur River LCCN2004708050.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nanai people|Nanai]] men with dog sled on the Amur, 1895]]
It is believed there are at least 123 species of fish from 23 families inhabiting the Amur. The majority are of the ''[[Gobioninae]]'' subfamily of ''[[Cypriniformes]]'', followed in number by [[Salmonidae]]. Several of the species are [[endemic]]. ''[[Pseudaspius]]'' and ''[[Mesocottus]]'' are [[Monotypic taxon|monotypic]] genera found only in the Amur and some nearby coastal rivers.<ref name="auto" /> Other animals inhabiting this region include the [[Amur falcon]], [[Amur leopard]] and [[Siberian tiger|Amur tiger]]; while some notable local flora include [[Amur cork tree]], [[Amur maple]] and the [[Lonicera maackii|Amur honeysuckle]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sokolova |first1=Galina V. |last2=Verkhoturov |first2=Andrei L. |last3=Korolev |first3=Sergei P. |title=Impact of Deforestation on Streamflow in the Amur River Basin |journal=Geosciences |date=June 2019 |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=262 |doi=10.3390/geosciences9060262 |bibcode=2019Geosc...9..262S |language=en |issn=2076-3263 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Four species of the [[Acipenseridae]] family can be found: the [[kaluga (fish)|kaluga]], [[Amur sturgeon]], [[Sakhalin sturgeon]] and [[sterlet]]. The Kaluga and Amur sturgeon are endemic. The sterlet was introduced from the [[Ob (river)|Ob]] in the 1950s.<ref>''[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1007358027263 Endemic sturgeons of the Amur River: kaluga, Huso dauricus, and Amur sturgeon, Acipenser schrencki] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204055848/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1007358027263 |date=2020-02-04 }}''</ref> This region is home to the [[Kaluga (fish)|Kaluga]] fish ([[Acipenseriformes]]).

==Direction==
Flowing across northeast [[Asia]] for over {{convert|4444|km|mi}} (including its two tributaries), from the [[mountain]]s of northeastern China to the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] (near [[Nikolayevsk-na-Amure]]), it drains a remarkable watershed that includes diverse landscapes of [[desert]], [[steppe]], [[tundra]], and [[taiga]], eventually emptying into the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Tartary, where the mouth of the river faces the northern end of the island of [[Sakhalin]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}[[File:Amur River.jpg|thumb|220x220px|[[Ice drift]] on the Amur|left]]

The Amur has always been closely associated with the island of Sakhalin at its mouth, and most names for the island, even in the languages of the indigenous peoples of the region, are derived from the name of the river: "Sakhalin" derives from a [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]] dialectal form cognate with Manchu ''sahaliyan'' ("black", as in ''sahaliyan ula'', "Black River")<!--INTERPOLATED KOREAN BELONGS ELSEWHERE and Korean " (s)kahaman" -->, while Ainu and Japanese "Karaputo" or "[[Karafuto]]" is derived from the [[Ainu language|Ainu]] name of the Amur or its mouth. [[Anton Chekhov]] vividly described the Amur in writings about his journey to Sakhalin Island in 1890.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The average annual discharge varies from {{convert|6000|m3/s|cuft/s}} (1980) to {{convert|12000|m3/s|cuft/s}} (1957), leading to an average {{convert|9819|m3/s|cuft/s}} or {{convert|310|km3|mi3}} per year. The maximum runoff measured occurred in Oct 1951 with {{convert|30700|m3/s|cuft/s}} whereas the minimum discharge was recorded in March 1946 with a mere {{convert|514|m3/s|cuft/s}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://webworld.unesco.org/water/ihp/db/shiklomanov/part'4/FORMER%20USSR/RUSSIA/Amur%20at%20Komsomolsk.html |title=Amur at Komsomolsk |access-date=2008-08-14 |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812063401/http://webworld.unesco.org/water/ihp/db/shiklomanov/part'4/FORMER%20USSR/RUSSIA/Amur%20at%20Komsomolsk.html |archive-date=2012-08-12 }}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Geography of China]]
* [[Geography of Russia]]
* [[Sino-Soviet border conflict]]
* [[List of longest undammed rivers]]
* [[Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilong Jiang]]
* [[Amur Military Flotilla]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|title= White Terror: Cossack Warlords of the Trans-Siberian |first= Jamie |last=Bisher|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mg6RAgAAQBAJ|isbn=1135765952|access-date=24 April 2014}} also {{ISBN|1135765960}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Amur (River) |volume= 1 | page = 899 }}
*{{cite book|title= A History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony 1581-1990 |first= James|last=Forsyth|edition=illustrated, reprint, revised |year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzhq85nPrdsC|isbn=0521477719|access-date=24 April 2014}}
*{{cite journal |last= Kang |first= Hyeokhweon |editor-last= Shiau |editor-first= Jeffrey |title= Big Heads and Buddhist Demons: The Korean Military Revolution and Northern Expeditions of 1654 and 1658 |url= http://history.emory.edu/home/assets/documents/endeavors/volume4/Kang.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140115010819/http://history.emory.edu/home/assets/documents/endeavors/volume4/Kang.pdf |archive-date= 2014-01-15 |journal= Emory Endeavors in World History |volume= 4: Transnational Encounters in Asia |edition= 2013 |pages= 1–22 |access-date= 10 March 2014 |url-status= dead }}
*{{cite journal|jstor=10.13173/centasiaj.56.2013.0169|title=Saints for Shamans? Culture, Religion and Borderland Politics in Amuria from the Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries|last=Kim 金|first=Loretta E. 由美|date=2012–2013|volume= 56|journal=Central Asiatic Journal|pages=169–202|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag}}
* McAleavy, Henry. "China and the Amur Provinces" ''History Today'' (June 1964) 14#6 pp 381–390.
*{{cite book|title= The Russian Far East: A History |first= John J. |last=Stephan|edition=illustrated, reprint|year=1996|publisher=Stanford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jce4rBWjG5wC|isbn=0804727015}}
* {{cite book | last = [[Colin Thubron|Thubron]] | first = Colin | title = The Amur River: Between Russia and China | year =2021 | publisher = Chatto & Windus | location = London | isbn =  }}
* {{cite book | last = [[Dominic Ziegler|Ziegler]] | first = Dominic | title = Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China | year = 2015 | publisher =  | location = | isbn =  }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Amur River}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091216055828/http://amur-heilong.net/ Amur-Heilong River Basin Information Center] - maps, GIS data, environmental data
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041027221838/http://www.earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/maps_detail_static.cfm?map_select=344&theme=2 Information and a map of the Amur’s watershed]

{{China Rivers}}
{{Rivers of Russia}}
{{Heilongjiang topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Amur basin|River]]
[[Category:Rivers of China]]
[[Category:Rivers of the Russian Far East|Amu]]
[[Category:Border rivers]]
[[Category:China–Russia border]]
[[Category:International rivers of Asia]]
[[Category:Geography of Northeast Asia]]
[[Category:Geography of Northeast China]]
[[Category:Rivers of Inner Mongolia]]
[[Category:Rivers of Khabarovsk Krai]]
[[Category:Rivers of Heilongjiang]]
[[Category:Rivers of Amur Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Zabaykalsky Krai]]
[[Category:Rivers of Jewish Autonomous Oblast]]
[[Category:Amur River| ]]