Why does Outer Mongolia have the word "wai" in its name? This still has a certain historical origin. When we say Outer Mongolia, we generally refer to the current State of Mongolia. When the elderly mention Mongolia, they will immediately say, "What Mongolia, is not the original Outer Mongolia?" "In fact, the original Outer Mongolia is larger than the current Mongolia, if you add the Tangnu Uliang Sea area, the area is 1.8 million square kilometers." Later, Mongolia was founded and became what is now Outer Mongolia.
The Concept of the Outer Northeast did not exist 150 years ago, because at that time the entire Heilongjiang River Basin was all ours and belonged to the northeast region of China, and the official name was Manchuria. Because this was the land of the Manchus, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty thought that their numbers were too small, they did not have the confidence to rule the country for a long time, and they felt that they would have to go back to their hometown sooner or later. Therefore, a wicker edge was set up in the northeast, and it was strictly forbidden for Han Chinese from the interior to cross the border into the northeast.
But this has had a very serious consequence, hundreds of years of ban, so that the northeast region has no chicken chirping. Although the Qing Dynasty set up three general jurisdictions here, Shengjing, Jilin and Heilongjiang, the place was too big to be managed by the limited troops, which gave outsiders an opportunity to take advantage of it. After 1860, several unequal treaties divided the Great Northeast in two. North of the Heilongjiang River, east of the Ussuri River and Sakhalin Island, this became the Outer Northeast.
It can be seen that Outer Mongolia and Outer Northeast are both historical and geographical terms. Now, if we combine these two places and compare them, we can see who is stronger?
01 Geostrategic position
The Outer Northeast has a very important geostrategic position. We all know that since russia got rid of the Mongols, it is very eager to go out of the interior, and its desire for the sea is very exciting. To this end, it continued to wage war in order to gain access to the sea, and its expansion to the east was smooth, advancing from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean in just over half a century.
In 1639, the Russian Cossacks came to the Sea of Okhotsk. But the Sea of Okhotsk has a harsh climate and is known as the "Pacific Ice Cave", where cossacks have not found an ice-free port. As they advanced south, they encountered the Qing Dynasty in its heyday, and after hitting a wall, they had to turn to the northeast corner of Siberia and discover the Kamchatka Peninsula. There they found Petropavlovsk, where conditions were not too good, but better than elsewhere, and it became the seat of the Russian Pacific Fleet Command.
The Crimean War broke out in 1853, and the Russian Pacific Fleet was attacked by Anglo-French forces. Later, they quietly withdrew from Petropavlovsk under the cover of heavy fog, went to the mouth of the Heilongjiang River to take shelter, and escaped the disaster. But the operation also gave Russia a deeper understanding of the northeast.
Muravyov, the Russian governor of Eastern Siberia, later seized the opportunity to seize the opportunity to seize the Outer Northeast, and his fleet headed south, finding Vladivostok at the southernmost tip of the Outer Northeast. The climate is pleasant and the harbor is excellent, which is very suitable for building a large naval base. Therefore, Russia moved the Pacific Fleet Petropavlovsk to Vladivostok and renamed it Vladivostok, which means "rule the East".
vladivostok
There is no doubt that the outer northeast, with its 12,000 km coastline, is blessed with unique geopolitical conditions and is close to China, Japan and South Korea, and is the most important strategic fulcrum for Russia in the Far East. For Japan, the Outer Northeast is like Mount Tai pressing on the top, pressing it breathlessly.
From the map, the outer northeast almost surrounds the inner northeast on three sides. On August 9, 1945, the Soviet army launched the "August Storm", and 1.74 million Soviet troops broke into the northeast from Transbaikal, north of the Heilongjiang River, and east of the Ussuri River, dealing a devastating blow to the Japanese Kwantung Army and liberating the entire northeast in one fell swoop. In addition to this time, during the Eight-Power Alliance's war of aggression against China in 1900, the Russian army also took these routes to enter the northeast, which can be said to be tried and tested.
Although the strategic position of the Outer Northeast is very important, it is still a piece of cake compared with Outer Mongolia. The Outer Northeast has only become important since modern times, but in the thousands of years of Chinese civilization history, the most important geopolitical plate influencing China is mongolia. Every time the fast-moving machete nomadic peoples violently attacked the Central Plains peoples like lightning and stone fire, it greatly affected the course of Chinese history.
First of all, the Terrain of the Mongolian Plateau is very flat, with an average altitude of 1580 meters, and from the direction of Mongolia, it crosses the Great Wall, which is the low-lying North China Plain. The nomads with cavalry superiority charged down from high places, and this battle could not be fought. After entering modern society, the previously invincible cavalry gave way to raging torrents of steel, and armored clusters were even more intimidating in terms of mobility, firepower, and the ability to fight continuously. China's Gyeonggi heavy land is only 568 kilometers away from the border, and it is all a plateau of pingchuan, and the armored group can raid to the foot of the Yanshan Mountains in a few days.
Because the previous Central Plains Dynasty did not control the Mongolian plateau, it could not completely solve the problem of nomadic peoples in the north from beginning to end. After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, the entire Mongolian plateau was included in the imperial territory, so that the empire had enough depth in the Mongolian plateau, and some natural dangers from south to north were controlled by the Qing. The southernmost Yin Mountains and Yan Mountains, the Hangai And Kent Mountains in the middle, and the Sayan Ridge in the far north together form a complete barrier to the Mongolian Plateau.
Conversely, the Mongolian Plateau is bordered by Siberia to the north, the broadly flat West Siberian Plain to the west, and the High Flat Central Siberian Plateau to the middle. In fact, the elevation of the Central Siberian Plateau is not high, at least much lower than the Mongolian Plateau, equivalent to a high plain. The north from the Sayan Ridge is also condescending and has a strategic advantage. The Great Trans-Siberian Railway built by Russia is located on the northern edge of the Mongolian plateau, so in order to protect this great railway, the northern tycoon once said:
"To tell you the truth, the reason why I want Outer Mongolia is entirely from a military strategic point of view and I want this place," "If a military force attacks the Soviet Union from Outer Mongolia, as soon as the Trans-Siberian Railway is cut off, Russia will be finished." ”
It was because of Outer Mongolia's unparalleled strategic position that it became a buffer state after World War II. In this sense, Outer Mongolia is much more geostrategically important than The Outer Northeast, and the two are not of equal magnitude.
02 Resources
Let's first look at the Outer Northeast, which covers an area of more than one million square kilometers, and in addition to the land area south of the Waixing'an Mountains, it also includes the original largest island, Sakhalin Island, the largest archipelago, the Chantal Islands, bordering the North Sea (Sea of Okhotsk) and the Sea of Whales (Sea of Japan). The biggest advantage of the Outer Northeast is that it is bordered by the sea and has a long coastline, which is unmatched by Outer Mongolia.
Another advantage of the Outer Northeast is its abundant water resources. The basin area of the Heilongjiang River is 1.86 million square kilometers, which is slightly larger than the Yangtze River; the length is 5498 kilometers (with the west source of the Krulun River as the source), which is slightly longer than the Yellow River; the average annual water volume is 346.5 billion cubic meters, which is slightly more than the Pearl River, which is 7 times that of the Yellow River. Heilongjiang and its many tributaries, the river is wide and deep, the water flow is stable, easy to transport, with good conditions for river-sea intermodal transport. More importantly, the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River are entirely in the outer northeast, that is to say, the steamship can start from the Upper Shileka River in Nebuchu (Nelchensk), down the river, and finally from the Temple Tun at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River.
The outer northeast has a vast plain, where the land is fertile and widely covered with black soil, with an area of about 200,000 square kilometers: The Xingkai Lake and Ussuri River valleys, about 30,000-50,000 square kilometers; the lower plain of the Jingqili River (Jieya River) has 80,000-90,000 square kilometers; and the lower Heilongjiang Plain is 60,000-70,000 square kilometers. This area is not small, you must know that our Henan Province is only 160,000 square kilometers.
Since Russia has not developed the land along the coast on a large scale, the ecology of this area is still very good. The forest cover here is extremely high, with a forest area of 700,000 square kilometers. It is rich in mineral resources, including oil, coal, gold and so on. If it can be effectively developed, it will certainly become a new food base and economic center.
In addition, there are excellent port conditions, closer to Japan and South Korea, which is convenient for trade. Because the scenery is pristine and spectacular, there are a large number of lakes and wetlands, which is a paradise for tourism development.
Let's look at Outer Mongolia again. Most people mention Outer Mongolia with disdain, thinking that it is a barren land, except for the sandstorms that bring us in winter and spring, what else can there be? This is a big mistake! Outer Mongolia covers an area of 1.56 million square kilometers, half the size of the Outer Northeast, and certainly has many more resources than the Outer Northeast.
There are more than 2 billion tons of copper reserves (the first in Asia), 300 billion tons of coal reserves, 8 billion barrels of oil reserves, 2 billion tons of iron ore reserves, 3400 tons of gold reserves, 7000 tons of silver ore reserves, etc. What is this concept? Mongolia's total mineral resources rank seventh in the world. Mongolia's resources are not only large reserves, but also have the characteristics of shallow burial, easy to mine and high grade. Can you say that Outer Mongolia is a barren land?
The aquatic and weed conditions in Outer Mongolia are not bad either. It is only the Gobi region bordering Inner Mongolia in the south, with an area of 400,000 square kilometers, and the rest of the region is grassland, and the further north it is, the better the conditions of aquatic grass. By the time we reach the Selenge River Valley, it has become a forest and grassland landscape. Outer Mongolia is also rich in water resources, with a single Kusugul Lake holding 380 billion cubic meters of water, more than all of China's freshwater lakes combined.
Therefore, from the perspective of resource conditions, the Outer Northeast and Outer Mongolia have their own advantages, the comprehensive conditions of the Outer Northeast are better, and the underground resources of Outer Mongolia crush the Outer Northeast.
03Climatic conditions
Climatic conditions are important, especially in the mid- and high-latitudes. For example, the economy of northeast China is not very prosperous now, the population is decreasing, there are many reasons, one of the important reasons is that it is too cold there, people prefer to go to the warm south to live. So whose climatic conditions will be better in the Outer Northeast compared to Outer Mongolia?
The climate of Outer Mongolia has strong continental characteristics, with long winters and often heavy winds and snowstorms; short summers with large temperature differences between day and night; and short spring and autumn seasons. Covering more than half of the year with high pressure on the mainland, it is the most powerful Mongolian high pressure center in the world and one of the sources of the "cold wave" in Winter in Asia, which is a typical feature of winter here. Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world, surpassing the capitals of Canada, Russia and Northern Europe, with january minimum temperatures often falling as low as -36 to -40 degrees.
But Ulaanbaatar is not the coldest place in Outer Mongolia, and the Great Lakes Basin in northwestern Outer Mongolia will be colder, as low as minus 50 degrees. Overall, Outer Mongolia has one of the harshest climates in the world, with "white winds" in winter and sandstorms in spring being daunting.
In contrast, much of the Outer Northeast has a temperate monsoon climate with slightly better conditions. Although the Outer Northeast does not have a vast territory of Outer Mongolia, the latitude spanning from north to south is large, from Vladivostok at 43 degrees north latitude to the Waixing'an Mountains at 56 degrees north latitude, and the climate varies greatly. North of the Heilongjiang River, north of the Sikhote Mountains and northern Sakhalin Island, winter temperatures are extremely low, similar to those of Heilongjiang Province and Outer Mongolia. In the southern part of the current Coastal Province and the southern part of Sakhalin Island, the winter temperature is also relatively southern because of the influence of the sea, which is generally milder than the inner northeast and milder than Outer Mongolia.
For example, Shenyang is located at 42 degrees north latitude, the average temperature in January is -11 °C, Changchun is located at 43 degrees north latitude, the average temperature in January is minus 15 degrees, Vladivostok is also located at 43 degrees north latitude, the average temperature in January is -11 °C; Ulaanbaatar is 48 degrees north latitude, the average temperature in January is -15 degrees to minus 22 degrees, Harbin is 46 degrees north latitude, the average temperature in January is -18 degrees Celsius, and the largest city on Kukhalin Island is also 46 degrees north latitude, and the average temperature in January is -12 degrees Celsius.
In the summer, the outer northeast coastal area is relatively cool, Vladivostok's hottest month in August average temperature of 20 ° C, foggy, less sunshine, suitable for summer escape. Overall, the climate in the Outer Northeast is stronger than in Outer Mongolia.
Vladivostok Golden Horn
04 Concluding Remarks
There are only 5 million people in the Outer Northeast, and with the decline of the Russian economy, the population of the Outer Northeast is further decreasing. However, it is undeniable that the Outer Northeast has all the necessary conditions for economic development. If the international situation eases, Russia refocuses on the Far East; if the Arctic shipping lanes are opened with global warming, it will become a hub for northern shipping. Then the outer northeast relies on rich resources and location advantages internally, and relies on the China-Japan-South Korea economic circle externally, and the economy will immediately jump up and have great potential for development.
Outer Mongolia has a smaller population, only more than 3 million, and its per capita resource share ranks among the best in the world, and it can rely on its rich resources to go to prosperity. But it is a landlocked country with inconvenient transportation, so it is more difficult in economic development. In the future, it will inevitably rely on the help of big countries to achieve economic take-off.
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