Kyakhta

{{Short description|Town in the Republic of Buryatia, Russia}} {{for|the place in Turkey|Kâhta}} {{Infobox Russian inhabited locality |en_name=Kyakhta |ru_name=Кяхта |loc_name1=Хяагта |loc_lang1=Buryat |image_skyline=Kyahta.s gory.JPG |image_caption=View of the town |coordinates={{coord|50|21|00|N|106|27|00|E|display=inline,title}} |map_label_position=right |image_coa=Coat of Arms of Kyakhta (Buryatia) (1861).png |coa_caption= |image_flag=Flag of Kyakhta (Buryatia).png |flag_caption= |anthem= |anthem_ref= |holiday= |holiday_ref= |federal_subject=Republic of Buryatia |federal_subject_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_admlist" /> |adm_district_jur=Kyakhtinsky District |adm_district_jur_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_admlist" /> |adm_selsoviet_jur=Kyakhta |adm_selsoviet_type=Town |adm_selsoviet_jur_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_admlist" /> |adm_ctr_of1=Kyakhtinsky District |adm_ctr_of1_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_admlist" /> |adm_ctr_of2=Town of Kyakhta |adm_ctr_of2_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_admlist" /> |inhabloc_cat=Town |inhabloc_cat_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_admlist" /> |mun_district_jur=Kyakhtinsky Municipal District |mun_district_jur_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_mun" /> |urban_settlement_jur=Kyakhta Urban Settlement |urban_settlement_jur_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_mun" /> |mun_admctr_of1=Kyakhtinsky Municipal District |mun_admctr_of1_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_mun" /> |mun_admctr_of2=Kyakhta Urban Settlement |mun_admctr_of2_ref=<ref name="RBuryatia_mun" /> |leader_title=Mayor |leader_title_ref= |leader_name=Valery Tsyrempilov |leader_name_ref= |representative_body= |representative_body_ref= |area_km2= |area_km2_ref= |pop_2010census=20024 |pop_2010census_ref=<ref name="2010Census">{{ru-pop-ref|2010Census}}</ref> |pop_density= |pop_density_as_of= |pop_density_ref= |pop_latest= |pop_latest_date= |pop_latest_ref= |established_date=1728 |established_title= |established_date_ref=<ref name="Founded" /> |current_cat_date=1805 |current_cat_date_ref= |postal_codes=671840, 671842, 671843 |dialing_codes=30142 |dialing_codes_ref= |website= }} '''Kyakhta''' ({{langx|ru|Кя́хта}}, {{IPA|ru|ˈkʲæxtə|}}; {{langx|bua|Хяагта|Khiaagta}}, {{IPA|bua|ˈçæːχtə|}}; {{langx|mn|Хиагт|Hiagt}}, {{IPA|mn|ˈçæχtʰ|}}) is a town and the administrative center of Kyakhtinsky District in the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located on the Kyakhta River near the Mongolia–Russia border. The town stands directly opposite the Mongolian border town of Altanbulag. Population: {{ru-census|p2010=20,041|p2002=18,391|p1989=18,307}} From 1727 it was the border crossing for the Kyakhta trade between Russia and China.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Kiakhta |volume=15 |page=782}}</ref>

==Etymology== The Buryat name means ''place covered with couch grass,''<ref>Pospelov, p.&nbsp;234</ref> and is derived from Mongolian word {{lang|mn|хиаг}}, meaning ''couch grass''.<ref>Ирина Ф. Попова. "[https://www.academia.edu/7433694/%D0%A2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BB%D1%8F_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%B8_%D0%9A%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7_%D0%9A%D1%8F%D1%85%D1%82%D1%83_%D0%B8_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD_Monlolica-XI._%D0%A1%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA_%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%83%D1%87%D0%BD%D1%8B%D1%85_%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%BF%D0%BE_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8E_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%B2%D1%8F%D1%89%D0%B0%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D1%8F_130-%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%8E_%D1%81%D0%BE_%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%8F_%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%90.%D0%92._%D0%91%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0._%D0%A1%D0%9F%D0%B1_2013_%D1%81._28-36 Торговля России и Китая через Кяхту и Маймайчен]", in ''Mongolica-XI'' (SPb., 2013), p. 28, fn. 1.</ref>

==Geography== The region where Kyakhta stands is advantageous for Russo-Chinese trade. The Siberian River Routes connect the fur-bearing lands of Siberia to Lake Baikal. From there, the Selenga River valley is the natural route through the Selenga Highlands southeast of Lake Baikal out onto the plains of Mongolia.

==History== Kyakhta was founded in 1727 soon after the Treaty of Kyakhta was negotiated near Selenginsk north of Kyakhta. It was the starting point of the boundary markers that defined what is now the northern border of Mongolia. Kyakhta's founder, the Serb Sava Vladislavich, established it as a trading point between Russia and the Qing Empire.<ref name="Founded">{{cite book|author=Mark Mancall|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1971|title=Russia and China: their diplomatic relations to 1728, (Volume 61 of Harvard East Asian series, Center for East Asian Studies, Harvard University).|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEduAAAAMAAJ|pages=263|isbn=9780674781153 }}</ref> "He gave instructions to build the Troitskosavsky Fortress at the place of Barsukov winter camp. A church was erected inside the wooden fortress. The church gave the name both to the Troitskaya (Trinity) Fortress and to the future town of Troitskosavsk. This is what the town was called until 1734 when it was merged with the trading settlement of Kyakhta and renamed Troitskosavsk-Kyakhta. In 1934, the name was shortened to Kyakhta."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Photo of Bolshaya Street in Troitskosavsk - Nikolay Charushin. Подробное описание экспоната, аудиогид, интересные факты. Официальный сайт Artefact |url=https://ar.culture.ru/en/subject/foto-goroda-troickosavsk-ulica-bolshaya |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=ar.culture.ru |language=en}}</ref> Other sources<ref name=EB1911 /><ref>Clifford M Foust, 'Muscovite and Mandarin', 1969, index</ref> have Troitskosavsk as a fort a short distance north, Troitskosavsk being the administrative and military center while Kyakhta was the trading post on the border. The Manchus built Maimaicheng just south of Kyakhta on their side of the border. Before 1762, state caravans traveled from Kyakhta to Peking. After that date, trade was mostly by barter at Kyakhta-Maimaicheng, with merchants crossing the border to make their business. [[File:John-Tallis-1851-Tibet-Mongolia-and-Manchuria-NE.jpg|thumb|left|The twin towns of Kyakhta and Maimaicheng can be seen on this 1851 map, on the shortest route from Irkutsk to Peking]]

Kyakhta and 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,<ref name=EB1911/> hardware, and cattle, while the Chinese sold silk, cotton stuffs, teas,<ref name=EB1911/> fruits, porcelain, rice, candles, rhubarb, ginger, and musk. Much of the tea is said to have come from {{ill|Yangloudong|zh|羊楼洞}}, a major center of tea production and trade near today's Chibi City, Hubei.<ref>{{citation|author1=Li Baihao|author2=Zhu Jianhua|author3=Huang Li|author4=Guo Jian|url=http://www.international.icomos.org/xian2005/papers/4-25.pdf|contribution=One cultural route span the Millenary: Chinese Tea Road|title=Proceedings of the Scientific Symposium "Monuments and sites in their setting - conserving cultural heritage in changing townscapes and landscapes"|place=Xi'an|year=2005|page=4|access-date=August 29, 2010|archive-date=January 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118190232/http://www.international.icomos.org/xian2005/papers/4-25.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Kyakhta was crowded, unclean, ill-planned, and never came to reflect the wealth that flowed through it,<ref>W. Bruce Lincoln. ''The Conquest of a Continent: Siberia and the Russians''. Cornell University Press, 2007. Page 145.</ref> although several Neoclassical buildings were erected in the 19th century, including a tea bourse (1842) and the Orthodox cathedral (1807–1817), both of which still stand. In 1996 the Voskreskenskaya church was being used as a stable.<ref>Martha Avery, The Tea Road, 2003, page 135 and photograph</ref> It was from Kyakhta that Nikolay Przhevalsky, Grigory Potanin, Pyotr Kozlov, and Vladimir Obruchev set off on their expeditions into the interior of Mongolia and Xinjiang.

Town status was granted to Kyakhta in 1805.<ref>[https://www.rbth.com/articles/2011/10/14/kyakhta_the_russian_source_for_all_the_tea_in_china_13582.html ''rbth.com'']</ref>

After the entire Russian-Chinese frontier was opened to trade in 1860 and the Trans-Siberian and the Chinese Eastern Railways bypassed it, Kyakhta fell into decline. In the mid-20th century, a branch railway was built from Ulan-Ude (on the Trans-Siberian) to Mongolia's Ulan Bator, and, eventually, to China, paralleling the old Kyakhta trade route. However, this railway crosses the Russian-Mongolian border not in Kyakhta itself, but in nearby Naushki.<ref>Rolf Potts, [http://www.salon.com/travel/diary/pott/1999/11/10/siberia2/index2.html Stranded in Siberia: At an obscure border town, our correspondent discovers the biggest obstacle in negotiating the next 4,000 miles: The train has left without him] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427033716/http://www.salon.com/travel/diary/pott/1999/11/10/siberia2/index2.html |date=April 27, 2009 }}. (''Salon'' Magazine, 1999-11-10)</ref>

===Kyakhta Pidgin=== thumb|Kyakhta, 1885As 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.<ref name="lee">{{cite book|author=International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=1996|isbn=3-11-013417-9|title=Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Volume 2, Part 1. (Volume 13 of Trends in Linguistics, Documentation Series).|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glU0vte5gSkC|pages=911–912}}</ref>

==Administrative and municipal status== Within the framework of administrative divisions, Kyakhta serves as the administrative center of Kyakhtinsky District.<ref name="RBuryatia_admlist">Resolution #43</ref> As an administrative division, it is, together with one rural locality (the settlement of Sudzha), incorporated within Kyakhtinsky District as the '''Town of Kyakhta'''.<ref name="RBuryatia_admlist" /> As a municipal division, the Town of Kyakhta is incorporated within Kyakhtinsky Municipal District as '''Kyakhta Urban Settlement'''.<ref name="RBuryatia_mun">Law #985-III</ref>

==Economy== 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 republic's capital of Ulan-Ude to the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. It also has textile, lumber, and food-processing plants.

==Culture== Kyakhta is home to the Damdin Sükhbaatar memorial museum.

==Climate== Kyakhta has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Dwb'') with dry, severely cold winters and warm, moist summers. {{Weather box |width=auto |location=Kyakhta (1991–2020 normals) |metric first=yes |single line=yes |Jan record high C=-0.1 |Feb record high C=8.6 |Mar record high C=20.5 |Apr record high C=30.6 |May record high C=35.0 |Jun record high C=39.3 |Jul record high C=40.6 |Aug record high C=37.1 |Sep record high C=31.6 |Oct record high C = 26.6 |Nov record high C = 12.8 |Dec record high C = 5.4 |Jan high C = -15.0 |Feb high C = -9.0 |Mar high C = 1.1 |Apr high C = 11.2 |May high C = 18.6 |Jun high C = 24.8 |Jul high C = 26.4 |Aug high C = 23.7 |Sep high C = 16.9 |Oct high C = 7.7 |Nov high C = -3.9 |Dec high C = -12.6 |Jan mean C = -20.1 |Feb mean C = -15.1 |Mar mean C = -5.6 |Apr mean C = 3.8 |May mean C = 10.9 |Jun mean C = 17.5 |Jul mean C = 19.9 |Aug mean C = 17.1 |Sep mean C = 10.0 |Oct mean C = 1.3 |Nov mean C = -9.2 |Dec mean C = -17.6 |Jan low C = -24.5 |Feb low C = -20.4 |Mar low C = -11.5 |Apr low C = -2.6 |May low C = 3.9 |Jun low C = 10.9 |Jul low C = 14.0 |Aug low C = 11.6 |Sep low C = 4.5 |Oct low C = -3.8 |Nov low C = -13.9 |Dec low C = -21.7 |Jan record low C = -55.2 |Feb record low C = -49.1 |Mar record low C = -39.7 |Apr record low C = -24.8 |May record low C = -12.1 |Jun record low C = -4.5 |Jul record low C = 1.4 |Aug record low C = -2.7 |Sep record low C = -9.7 |Oct record low C = -26.8 |Nov record low C = -34.7 |Dec record low C = -42.1 |precipitation colour=green |Jan precipitation mm = 4 |Feb precipitation mm = 3 |Mar precipitation mm = 4 |Apr precipitation mm = 11 |May precipitation mm = 35 |Jun precipitation mm = 66 |Jul precipitation mm = 89 |Aug precipitation mm = 74 |Sep precipitation mm = 39 |Oct precipitation mm = 11 |Nov precipitation mm = 7 |Dec precipitation mm = 5 |unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm |Jan precipitation days = 10.7 |Feb precipitation days = 6.3 |Mar precipitation days = 7.2 |Apr precipitation days = 7.8 |May precipitation days = 10.7 |Jun precipitation days = 10.4 |Jul precipitation days = 11.9 |Aug precipitation days = 12.1 |Sep precipitation days = 9.6 |Oct precipitation days = 8.0 |Nov precipitation days = 8.3 |Dec precipitation days = 9.4 |Jan humidity = 79.1 |Feb humidity = 73.9 |Mar humidity = 65.8 |Apr humidity = 53.0 |May humidity = 53.0 |Jun humidity = 58.7 |Jul humidity = 64.1 |Aug humidity = 68.0 |Sep humidity = 66.5 |Oct humidity = 68.0 |Nov humidity = 73.9 |Dec humidity = 79.1 |Jan sun = 158.1 |Feb sun = 187.6 |Mar sun = 235.6 |Apr sun = 243.0 |May sun = 275.9 |Jun sun = 276.0 |Jul sun = 279.0 |Aug sun = 254.2 |Sep sun = 234.0 |Oct sun = 186.0 |Nov sun = 153.0 |Dec sun = 127.1 |source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net<ref name="climatebox">{{cite web|url=http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/30925.htm |title=Погода и Климат - Климат КЯХТЫ |publisher=Pogodaiklimat.ru |access-date=2017-02-16}}</ref> |source 2 = climatebase.ru (precipitation days, humidity and sunshine hours)<ref name="climate2">{{cite web|url=http://climatebase.ru/station/30925/?lang=en|title=Kyakhta climate 1895–2012 |publisher=climatebase.ru | access-date = February 17, 2015}}</ref> }}

==Town name in other languages== *thumb|The Assumption Church in Kyakhta{{Langx|mn|Хиагт}} (''Khiagt'') *Manchu: Kiyaktu *Chinese: 恰克图 / 恰克圖 (''Qiàkètú'') or 恰克土 (''Qiàkètǔ'') *{{Langx|bxr|Хяагта}} (''Khyaagta'')

In Mongolian, Kyakhta was formerly known as {{lang|mn|Ар Хиагт}} (''Ar Khiagt'', lit. "North Kyakhta"); Altanbulag (then, Maimaicheng) across the border was {{lang|mn|Өвөр Хиагт}} (''Övör Khiagt'', lit. "South Kyakhta"). When the town was known as Troitskosavsk, its name in Mongolian was {{lang|mn|Дээд Шивээ}} (''Deed Šhivee'').

== International relations ==

=== Twin towns - sister cities ===

* {{flagicon|SRB}} Sremski Karlovci, Serbia (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Сремски Карловци се побратимили са руским Кјахтом – два града веже иста историјска личност |url=https://www.rts.rs/vesti/drustvo/5809463/sremski-karlovci-kjahta-rusija-bratimljenje-gradovi-sava-raguzinski.html |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=РТС |language=sr}}</ref>

==References== ===Notes=== {{Reflist}}

===Sources=== *{{RussiaAdmMunRef|bu|adm|list}} *{{RussiaAdmMunRef|bu|mun|list}} *Е. М. Поспелов (Ye. M. Pospelov). "Географические названия мира" (''Geographic Names of the World''). Moscow, 1998. *Christie, Ian R. (1993). ''The Benthams in Russia 1780–1791''. Oxford, UK; Providence, RI: Berg Publishers Limited. {{ISBN|0-85496-816-4}}. {{oclc|25833658}}.

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Kyakhta}}

{{Republic of Buryatia}} {{Authority control}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}

Category:Kyakhta Category:Populated places in Kyakhtinsky District Category:Mongolia–Russia border crossings Category:Populated places established in 1727 Category:1727 establishments in the Russian Empire Category:Transbaikal Oblast