Kyakhta

Kyakhta (English) Кяхта (Russian) Хяагта (Buryat)
—  Inhabited locality  —
Location of the Buryat Republic on the map of Russia
Location of Kyakhta on the map of the Buryat Republic
Coordinates: 50°21′N 106°27′E / 50.35°N 106.45°E / 50.35; 106.45Coordinates: 50°21′N 106°27′E / 50.35°N 106.45°E / 50.35; 106.45
Coat of arms
Administrative status
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Buryatia
In administrative jurisdiction of	Kyakhta District[citation needed]
Administrative center of	Kyakhta District[citation needed]
Municipal status
Municipal Status	Urban okrug
Mayor[citation needed]	Valeri Tsyrempilov[citation needed]
Statistics
Population (2002 Census)	18,391 inhabitants[1]
Time zone	IRKT/IRKST (UTC+8/+9)
Founded	1728[citation needed]
Dialing code(s)	+7 30142[citation needed]

Kyakhta or Kiakhta (Russian: Кя́хта, Buryat: Хяагта Khyaagta) is a town in the Buryat Republic, Russia. It is located on the Kyakhta River near the Russian-Mongolian border. Besides the lower town or Kyakhta proper, the town also includes Troitskosavsk, about three kilometres to the north, and Ust-Kyakhta, sixteen kilometres further. The lower town stands directly opposite the Mongolian border town of Altanbulag. Population: 18,391 (2002 Census).

History

Kyakhta was founded by Savva Raguzinsky as a trading point between Russia and the Qing Empire in 1728. The eastern terminal of the Great Siberian Route from Moscow, Kyakhta prospered from cross-border trade with Altanbulag which was then a Chinese trading center called Maimachin (Mǎimàichéng ‘trading town’). Trade was essentially based on barter, with merchants crossing the border to make their business.

The foundation of the city was paralleled by a treaty, one of the first between China and a Western nation, named the Treaty of Kyakhta, which established trade agreements and defined the border between Siberia and the Qing Empire territories of Mongolia and Manchuria. As a result of this agreement, Kyakhta was an exclusive trading point on the frontier.

Kyakhta and its Chinese counterpart, Maimaicheng, were visited by the famous English adventurer and engineer Samuel Bentham in 1782. He related that he was entertained by the commander of the Chinese city "with the greatest politeness which a stranger can meet with in any country whatever". At that time, the Russians sold furs, textiles, clothing, hides, leather, hardware and cattle, while the Chinese sold silk, cotton stuffs, teas, fruits, porcelain, rice, candles, rhubarb, ginger and musk.

The town was crowded, unclean, ill-planned and never came to reflect the wealth that flowed through it,^[2] although an outcrop of Neoclassical buildings were erected in the 19th century, including a tea bourse (1842) and the Orthodox cathedral (1807-17) which still stand. It was from Kyakhta that Nikolai Przhevalsky, Grigory Potanin, Pyotr Kozlov, and Vladimir Obruchev set off on their expeditions into the interior of Mongolia and Xinjiang.

After the entire Russian-Chinese frontier was opened to trade in 1860 and the Chinese Eastern Railway bypassed it, Kyakhta fell into decline. The whole city assumed the name Troitskosavsk during the first part of the 20th century, but reverted to Kyakhta in 1935.

Kyakhta Pidgin

As the first market town on the border between the Russian and Chinese Empires, Kyakhta gave its name to the so-called Kyakhta Russian-Chinese Pidgin, a contact language that was used by Russian and Chinese traders to communicate. ^[3]

Economy and infrastructure

Kyakhta's economy today relies mainly on its status as an important center for trade between Russia, China and Mongolia, located on the highway from the Buryatian capital of Ulan-Ude to the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. It also has textile, lumber, and food-processing plants, as well as the Damdin Sükhbaatar memorial museum.

Town name in other languages

• Mongolian: Хиагт (Khiagt)
• Manchu: Kiyaktu.
• Chinese: 恰克图 / 恰克圖 (Qiàkètú) or 恰克土 (Qiàkètǔ)
• Buryat: Хяагта (Khyaagta).

In Mongolian, Kyakhta was formerly known as Ар Хиагт (Ar Khiagt, lit. "North Kyakhta"); Altanbulag (then, Maimaicheng) across the border was Өвөр Хиагт (Övör Khiagt, lit. "South Kyakhta"). Troitskosavsk is known as Дээд Шивээ (Deed Šhivee) in Mongolian.

References

• "The Benthams in Russia 1780-1791", Ian R.Christie, Berg Publishers Limited, Oxford, ISBN 0-85496-816-4
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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