Khilok
Encyclopedia
Khilok is a town and the administrative center of Khiloksky District
Khiloksky District
Khiloksky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the 31 in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Khilok...

 of Zabaykalsky Krai, 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...

, located on the Khilok River
Khilok River
The Khilok River is a river in Eastern Siberia and part of the Selenge River. The length of the river is and its watershed is 38,500 km². There are a few settlements on its banks: Khilok, Bada etc....

, a right-hand tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Selenga, 261 kilometres (162.2 mi) west of Chita. Population:

The town is a station on the Trans-Siberian railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...

.

History

Cossack expeditions had explored the region since the middle of the 17th century; however, the large populations of Buryats
Buryats
The Buryats or Buriyads , numbering approximately 436,000, are the largest ethnic minority group in Siberia and are mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia...

 and Evenks
Evenks
The Evenks are a Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks are recognized as one of the Indigenous peoples of the Russian North, with a population of 35,527...

 deterred the Cossacks from founding a permanent settlement. Peter the Great granted wide autonomy to the local princes, and the region was not colonized by Russians until the end of the 19th century when the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...

 began.

The modern settlement of Khilok was founded in 1895 as a works base around the newly-constructed railway station at the Khilok River, the river's name deriving from an Evenk word meaning whetstone. The local section of the Trans-Siberian railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...

opened in 1900. Khilok was granted town status in 1951.
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