Amur Oblast - Geography

Geography

The Stanovoy Range forms the dividing line between the Sakha Republic and Amur Oblast and spreads across the oblast's entire northern border. Dwarf Siberian pine and alpine tundra grow at higher elevations on these mountains and larch forests with small stands of flat-leaved birch and pine forests grow alongside the river plains. The Zeya River begins in these mountains in the northeast. The middle reaches of this great river were dammed to create the huge Zeysky Reservoir, which sprawls over 2,500 square kilometres (970 sq mi) between the Stanovoy Range and a southern parallel range running across the center of the oblast. The low lands between these two mountain ranges make up the Upper Zeysky Plain, which is primarily marshland with larch and pine forests. South of the second ridge is the vast Amur River plain which covers up to 40% of the oblast.

Along the eastern border of Amur Oblast is another series of mountains separating the Amur from Khabarovsk Krai. These larch and fir-spruce forests form the watershed of the Selemdzha River, which flows south into the Zeya, continues to the city of Blagoveschchensk, and then into the Amur River. Southeast of the Selemdzha are the Bureya and the Arkhara Rivers, which have the richest remaining forests in the oblast with Korean pine, Schisandra chinensis, Mongolian Oak, and other Manchurian flora. The Zeya, Amur, and Bureya Rivers form a cradle for the highest biodiversity in Amur Oblast—the Zeysko-Burenskaya Plain. Much of this plain has been burned for agriculture, but large patches still remain. Japanese Daurian and Far Eastern western cranes nest here, as well as a host of other rare birds.