AMUR (known also as the

See also:

• SAKHALIN, or SAGHALIEN

Sakhalin-ula)  , a river of eastern Asia, formed by the confluence of the Argun and the Shilka, at Ust-Stryelka, in 530 19' N. lat. and 120° 30' E. long . Both these rivers come from the south-west: the Argun, or Kerulen as it is called above Lake Kulun (Dalai-nor), through which it flows about half way between its source and Ust-Stryelka, rises in 49° N. lat. and 109° E. long.; the Shilka is formed by the union of the Onon and the Ingoda, both of which have their sources a little farther north-east than the Kerulen (Argun) . The Amur proper flows at first in a south-easterly direction for about 800 m., as far as long . 132' E., separating Manchuria from the Amur government; it then turns to the north-east, cuts its way through the Little Khingan mountains in a gorge 2000 ft. wide and 140 M. long, and after a total course of over 1700 M. discharges into the Sea of Okhotsk, opposite to the island of Sakhalin . It is estimated to drain an area of 772,000 sq. m. its principal tributaries from the south are the Sungari, which the Chinese consider to be the true head-river of the Amur, and the Usuri; from the north it receives the Oldoi, Zeya, Bureya, Kur, Gorin and Amgun . As the mouth is choked with sandbanks, goods are disembarked at Mariinsk and carried by train (9 m.) to Alexandrovsk at the head of the Gulf of Tartary . Navigation on the river is open from April to early in November . See T . W . Atkinson, Travels in the Region of the Amoor (186o); Collins, Exploration of the Amoor (ed . 1864) and Voyage down the Amoor (1866) ; Andree, Des Amurgebiet (ed . 1876) ; and Grum-Grshimaylo, Account of the Amur (Russian, 1894) .