Borders of Russia
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Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 has international borders with 14 sovereign states as well as South Ossettia and Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...

, which are both recognized as sovereign states by Russia and a small number of other countries. With a land border of 20241 kilometres (12,577 mi) in total it has, behind China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, the second-longest land border of any country.

Table of countries with a land border with Russia listed anti-clockwise around Russia.
Country Length (km)
 Norway 196
 Finland 1313
 Estonia 290
 Latvia 292
 Lithuania (Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...

)
227
 Poland (Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...

)
432
 Belarus 959
 Ukraine 1576
 Georgia (country) 723
 Azerbaijan 284
 Kazakhstan 6846
 Mainland China (S) 40
 Mongolia 3441
 Mainland China (SE) 3605
 North Korea 17,5


If Abkhazia and South Ossettia are counted as sovereign states:
Country Length (km)
 Abkhazia 255.4
 South Ossetia 70
remaining border with  Georgia (country) 365

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
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

 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 4195 kilometres (2,607 mi). It starts at the eastern China - Mongolia - Russia tripoint
Tripoint
A tripoint, or trijunction , is a geographical point at which the borders of three countries or subnational entities meet....

 (49°51′N 116°41′E) and runs north-east, followed by south-east along the Argun
Argun River (Asia)
Ergune or Argun is the river which is a part of the Russia–China border. Its upper reaches are known as Hailar River in China. Its length is 1,007 mi...

 and Amur rivers, and finally south-west along the Tumen River
Tumen River
The Tumen River is a 521 km-long river that serves as part of the boundary between China, North Korea, and Russia, rising in Mount Baekdu and flowing into the Sea of Japan....

 to the border with North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

 at (42°25′N 130°36′E), only a few kilometres before the river flows into the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

.

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, it 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 all of the problems, with the Chinese claiming sovereignty of islands of Bolshoi and Zabaïkalsk in the upper Argun River
Argun River (Asia)
Ergune or Argun is the river which is a part of the Russia–China border. Its upper reaches are known as Hailar River in China. Its length is 1,007 mi...

 as well as the islands of Bolshoi Ussuriski and Tebarov at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri
Ussuri River
The Usuri ula is a river in the south of the Outer Manchuria and east of Inner Manchuria . It rises in the Sikhote-Alin range, flowing north, forming part of the Sino-Russian border based on the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking in 1860, until it joins the Amur River at Khabarovsk . It is...

 rivers.

Heavily militarised following the Sino-Soviet split
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...

 of the 1950s and 60s, culminating in the Sino-Soviet border conflict
Sino-Soviet border conflict
The Sino–Soviet border conflict was a seven-month military conflict between the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Sino–Soviet split in 1969. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River, also known as Damanskii...

 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
Heilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...

 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. The partnership was born in part out of the two countries' opposition to the international policies of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, as well as a desire by the Chinese government to secure the energy needs of the neighbouring provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...

, and to stabilise Russia's role as an important arms provider to China.

The relaxation of border controls has resulted in a noticeable smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...

 problem that is worth around three million dollars each year. Traditional health products such as ginseng
Ginseng
Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....

, Siberian tiger, sea cucumber
Sea cucumber (food)
Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea used in fresh or dried form in various cuisines.The creature and the food product is commonly known as bêche-de-mer in French, trepang in Indonesian, namako in Japanese and in the Philippines it is called balatan...

, and reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

 antlers are smuggled along with weaponry and drugs. Illegal fishing is also common.

See also

  • Border Security Zone of Russia
    Border Security Zone of Russia
    The Border Security Zone in Russia is the designation of a strip of land where economic activity and access are restricted without permission of the FSB. In order to visit the zone, a permit issued by the local FSB department is required. The restricted access zone The Border Security Zone in...

  • Customs Code of Russia
  • Territorial disputes of the Russian Federation
  • Sino-Soviet border conflict
    Sino-Soviet border conflict
    The Sino–Soviet border conflict was a seven-month military conflict between the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Sino–Soviet split in 1969. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River, also known as Damanskii...

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