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{{Short description|City in Amur Oblast, Russia}}
{{For|the town in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia|Blagoveshchensk, Republic of Bashkortostan}}
{{Infobox Russian inhabited locality
|en_name                 = Blagoveshchensk
|ru_name                 = Благовещенск
|image_skyline           = Благовещенск-2011 (041).JPG
|image_caption           = The seat of the government of [[Amur Oblast]] in Blagoveshchensk.
|coordinates             = {{coord|50|15|N|127|32|E|display=inline,title}}
|map_label_position      = left
|image_coa               = Coat of Arms of Blagoveshchensk 1878.svg
|coa_caption             =
|image_flag              = Flag of Blagoveshchensk.svg
|flag_caption            =
|anthem                  = [[Anthem of Blagoveshchensk]]
|anthem_ref              = <ref name  = "Anthem">Decision #14/60</ref>
|holiday                 = June&nbsp;2 (observed on the first Saturday of June)
|holiday_ref             = <ref name = "Holiday">Charter of Blagoveshchensk, Article&nbsp;1</ref>
|federal_subject         = [[Amur Oblast]]
|federal_subject_ref     = <ref name="Ref7" />
|adm_city_jur            = Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug
|adm_city_jur_ref        = <ref name="Ref7" />
|adm_ctr_of1             = Amur Oblast
|adm_ctr_of1_ref         = <ref name="Ref7" />
|adm_ctr_of2             = Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug
|adm_ctr_of2_ref         = <ref name="Ref7" />
|inhabloc_cat            = City
|inhabloc_cat_ref        = <ref name = "Ref7" />
|inhabloc_type           =
|inhabloc_type_ref       =
|urban_okrug_jur         = Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug
|urban_okrug_jur_ref     = <ref name="Ref599" />
|mun_admctr_of1          = Blagoveshchensk Urban Okrug
|mun_admctr_of1_ref      = <ref name="Ref599" />
|mun_admctr_of2          = Blagoveshchensky Municipal District
|mun_admctr_of2_ref      = <ref name = "Ref347" />
|leader_title            = Mayor
|leader_title_ref        = <ref name = "HeadLegis">Charter of Blagoveshchensk, Article&nbsp;17</ref>
|leader_name             = {{ill|Oleg Imameyev|ru|Имамеев, Олег Гатауллович}}
|leader_name_ref         = <ref name="HeadNm">Official website of Blagoveshchensk. [https://www.admblag.ru/administration/rukovodstvo/ City Leadership Administration] {{webarchive|url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231020205348/https://www.admblag.ru/administration/rukovodstvo/ }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
|representative_body_ref = <ref name="HeadLegis" />
|area_km2                = 320.97
|area_km2_ref            = <ref name="Area">[[Federal State Statistics Service]]. Показатели, характеризующие состояние экономики и социальной сферы муниципального образования. [http://www.gks.ru/scripts/db_inet2/passport/table.aspx?opt=10701000200620072008200920102011 Город Благовещенск] {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
|pop_2010census          = 214390
|pop_2010census_rank     = 87th
|pop_2010census_ref      = <ref name = "2010Census">{{ru-pop-ref|2010Census}}</ref>
|pop_density             =
|pop_density_as_of       =
|pop_density_ref         =
|pop_latest              = 225453
|pop_latest_date         = January 2014
|pop_latest_ref          = <ref name="2014Est">Amur Oblast Territorial Branch of the [[Russian Federal State Statistics Service|Federal State Statistics Service]]. [http://amurstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/amurstat/resources/d600c10043769f3eb9effbdd898fc419/07_1_4.htm Оценка численности населения по городским округам, муниципальным районам, городским и сельским поселениям Амурской области на 1 января 2014 года] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814075142/http://amurstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/amurstat/resources/d600c10043769f3eb9effbdd898fc419/07_1_4.htm }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
|established_date        = 1856
|established_title       =
|established_date_ref    = <ref name="gr" />
|current_cat_date        =
|current_cat_date_ref    =
|prev_name1              =
|prev_name1_date         =
|prev_name1_ref          =
|postal_codes            = 675000–675007, 675009–675011, 675014, 675016, 675018–675021, 671025, 671027–671030, 671700, 671801, 671890, 671960–671962, 671971, 671980–671983, 671985
|dialing_codes           = 4162
|dialing_codes_ref       =
|website                 = http://www.admblag.ru
}}
'''Blagoveshchensk''' ({{lang-rus|Благовещенск|p=bləɡɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk}}, {{literally|City of [[the Annunciation]]}}) is a [[types of inhabited localities in Russia|city]] and the [[administrative center]] of [[Amur Oblast]], [[Russia]]. It is located at the [[confluence]] of the [[Amur River|Amur]] and the [[Zeya River]]s, opposite to the Chinese city of [[Heihe]]. Population: {{ru-census|p2021=241,437|p2010=214,390|p2002=219,221|p1989=205,553}}{{Historical populations|1897|32834|1926|61205|1939|58790|1959|94746|1970|127757|1979|171997|1989|205553|2002|219221|2010|214390|2021|241437|type=|footnote=Source: Census data}}The Amur has formed [[China–Russia border|Russia's border with China]] since the 1858 [[Aigun Treaty]] and the 1860 [[Treaty of Peking]]. The area north of the Amur belonged to the Manchu [[Qing dynasty]] by the [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]] of 1689 until it was ceded to Russia by the Aigun Treaty in 1858.

==History==
{{more citations needed|date=October 2022|section}}

===Early history of the region===
The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of today's Blagoveshchensk were the [[Daur people|Daurs]] and [[Ducher]]s. An early settlement in the area of today's Blagoveshchensk was the Ducher town whose name was reported by the Russian explorer [[Yerofey Khabarov]] as Aytyun in 1652, as Aigun from 1683 to 1685, and as Aigun Old Town from 1685 until [[1900 Amur anti-Chinese pogroms|the massacre in 1900]],<ref>{{citation |chapter=How the Sino-Russian Boundary Conflict Was Finally Settled: From Nerchinsk 1689 to Vladivostok 2005 via Zhenbao Island 1969 |chapter-url = http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/coe21/publish/no16_2_ses/02_maxwell.pdf |last = Maxwell |first = Neville |page = 56 |date=June 2007 |editor-last = Iwashita |editor-first=Akihiro |title = Eager Eyes Fixed on Eurasia |series = 21st Century COE Program Slavic Eurasian Studies |publisher = Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University |location = Sapporo |access-date = 24 February 2009}}</ref> which is known to Russian archaeologists as the Grodekovo site, after the nearby village of [[Grodekovo, Amur Oblast|Grodekovo]] about {{convert|25|-|30|km|abbr=on|lk=out}} southeast of Blagoveshchensk. The Grodekovo site is thought by archaeologists to have been populated since ca.&nbsp;AD 1000.<ref name="amu">[http://www.amurobl.ru/index.php?m=24596&r=4&c=2697&p=3997 Амурская область: История. Народы Амурской земли] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718030231/http://www.amurobl.ru/index.php?m=24596&r=4&c=2697&p=3997 |date=18 July 2011 }} (Amur Oblast - the History. The peoples of the Amur Land) {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
[[File:Kitchen-22-Asia-Amur-Basin-2854.jpg|thumb|left|''Aaihom ruin'd'' (i.e., Old Aigun), in the ''Province of [[Qiqiha'er|Tcitcica]]'' on this 18th-century map corresponds to the Grodekovo site; ''Saghalien Ula Hoton'', across the river, is [[Aigun]]. There is nothing much near the site of Blagoveshchensk itself (at the confluence of the ''Saghalien'' (Amur) River and the ''Tchikiri'' (Zeya) River)]]

As the Russians tried to assert their control over the region, the Ducher town was probably vacated when the Duchers were evacuated by the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] to the [[Sungari]] or [[Mudanjiang River|Hurka]] in the mid-1650s.<ref name="amu"/> Since 1673, the Chinese reused the site for their fort ("Old Aigun", in modern literature),<ref name="tim1">Олег Анатольевич Тимофеев (Oleg Anatolyevich Timofeyev). [http://www.igpi.ru/center/lib/hist_tradit/east/china/timofeev1.html "Российско-китайские отношения в Приамурье (сер. XIX – нач. XX вв.)"] (''Russian-Chinese relations in the Amur region, mid-19th - early 20th centuries''). Part 1. Blagoveshchensk, 2003.</ref> which served in 1683-1685 as a base for the Manchus's campaign against the Russian fort of [[Albazin]] further north.<ref>Bruce Mancall, ''Russia and China:Their Diplomatic Relations to 1728'' (1971), pp. 115-127.</ref>

After the capture of Albazin in 1685 or 1686, the Chinese relocated their town, to a new site on the right (southwestern, i.e. presently Chinese) bank of the Amur, about {{convert|3|mi}} downstream from the original site; it later became known as [[Aigun]].<ref name="rav48">[[Ernst Georg Ravenstein|E. G. Ravenstein]], ''[https://archive.org/details/russiansonamuri00ravegoog The Russians on the Amur]''. London (1861), pg. 48.</ref><ref>Note that the distance between modern Grodekovo and the historic Aigun on the Chinese side of the river is about {{convert|15|km|sp=us}} on modern maps, rather than {{convert|3|mi}}, as Ravenstein states. However, the location of the Grodekovo archaeological site (i.e., the "Old Aigun") may be quite a distance from the eponymous village; and Ravenstein may be somewhat imprecise in the number.</ref>

The [[Russian–China border conflicts|series of conflicts between Russians and China]] ended with Russia's recognition of the Chinese sovereignty over both sides of the Amur by the [[Nerchinsk Treaty]] of 1689.

===Russian settlement===
As the balance of power in the region had changed by the mid-19th century, the [[Russian Empire]] was able [[Amur Annexation|to take over]] the left (generally northern, but around Blagoveshchensk, eastern) bank of the Amur from China. Since the 1858 [[Aigun Treaty]] and the 1860 [[Treaty of Peking]], the river has remained the border between the countries, although the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] subjects were allowed to continue to live in the so-called [[Sixty-Four Villages East of the River|Sixty-Four Villages]] east of the Amur and the Zeya (i.e., within today's Blagoveshchensk's eastern suburbs).
[[File:Blagoveshchensk-Csesarevich-Nicholas-Triumphal-Arch.jpg|thumb|The triumphal arch erected in Blagoveshchensk to welcome [[Nicholas II of Russia|Crown Prince Nicholas]] in 1891]]

Although Russian settlers had lived in the area as early as 1644 and was known as {{lang|zh-Latn|Hailanpao}} ({{zh|c=[[:zh:海兰泡|海兰泡]]|p=Hǎilánpāo|s=海兰泡|t=海蘭泡}}), the present-day city began in 1856<ref name="gr">{{cite book|title=Энциклопедия Города России|year=2003|publisher=Большая Российская Энциклопедия|location=Moscow|isbn=5-7107-7399-9|pages=47–48}}</ref> as the military outpost of ''Ust-Zeysky''; this name means ''settlement at the mouth of the [[Zeya River]]'' in Russian. [[Tsar]] [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander&nbsp;II]] gave approval for the founding of the city in 1858 as the seat of government for the Amur region, to be named Blagoveshchensk (literally "the city of good news") after the parish church which was dedicated to the [[Annunciation]]. According to Blagoveshchensk authorities, by 1877 the city had some 8,000 residents, with merely 15 foreigners (presumably, Chinese) among them.<ref name="tim1" />

The city was an important river port and trade centre during the late 19th century, with growth further fuelled by a [[gold]] rush early in the 20th century and by its position on the Chinese border opposite the city of [[Heihe]].

Local historians noted the pre-eminence of Blagoveshchensk in the economy of the late 19th century [[Russian Far East]], which was reflected when the heir to the Russian throne, [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas Alexandrovich]] (the future Tsar Nicholas&nbsp;II), visited in 1891 during his [[Eastern journey of Nicholas II|grand tour of Asiatic Russia]], and the locals presented him with [[bread and salt]] on a gold tray, rather than on a silver one as in other cities of the region.<ref>Валентина Кобзарь (Valentina Kobzar). [http://shkolazhizni.ru/archive/0/n-27328/ Сколько «Царских ворот» на Дальнем Востоке? Память о путешествии Николая II] (''How many "Royal Gates" are there in the Far East?'')</ref>

===The Boxer Rebellion===
In the course of the [[Boxer Rebellion]], the Qing Imperial army (made out of Manchus and Han Chinese) and Boxer insurgents [[Battles on Amur River (1900)|shelled the city]] in July 1900. Chinese [[Honghuzi]] forces joined the attack against Blagoveshchensk.<ref>{{cite book |publisher=Central European University Press|editor=Pál Nyíri, Joana Breidenbach|year=2005|isbn=963-7326-14-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icZJJN0wYPcC&q=khunkhuzy+russians&pg=PA90|access-date=18 March 2012|author=Joana Breidenbach|title=China inside out: contemporary Chinese nationalism and transnationalism|edition=illustrated|quote=The political component of Chinese banditry emerged only in the year 1900. For the first time, Khunkhuzy attacked the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk. It ended in the drowning of about 3,000 Chinese near Blagoveshchensk (called Hailanbao in Chinese). When during the Boxer Uprising Boxers and khunkhuzy assaulted Russian positions nearby, Cossacks stationed there decided to drive the Chinese from the Russian bank of the river back onto the Chinese bank. People were simply pushed into the river, and many of them drowned. Even Vladimir Lenin personally criticized the Russian tsarist government for its brutality.|page=90}}</ref> According to the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] belief, the city was allegedly saved by a miraculous [[icon]] of Our Lady of Albazin, which was prayed to continuously during the shelling which lasted almost two weeks.

On 3 July ([[Old Style]]), a decision was made by the city's Police Chief Batarevich and the Military Governor Gribsky to deport the city's entire community of Qing subjects including ethnic [[Manchus]], [[Daur people]] and Han, numbering 4,008<ref name="tim1"/>), who were viewed as potential [[Fifth Column|fifth columnists]]. As cross-river shipping was interrupted by the rebellion, the question arose how to get them from the Russian to the Chinese side of the Amur. Batarevich suggested that the deportees could be first taken east of the [[Zeya River|Zeya]], where they should obtain boats from the local Chinese villagers. The plan, however, was vetoed by the governor, and the decision was made instead to take the deportees to the ''[[stanitsa]]'' of Verkhneblagoveshchenskaya—the place where the Amur is at its narrowest—and make them leave Russia there. As the local ''[[ataman]]'' refused to provide boats to take them across the river (despite the orders of his superior), few of them made it to the Chinese side. The rest drowned in the Amur, or were shot or axed by the police, Cossacks and local volunteers, if they refused to leave the bank. Local Chinese memory holds that a massacre that took place then, at the hands of the Cossacks, which killed so many that the Amur River was choked.<ref>[[Colin Thubron]], ''The Amur River: Between Russia and China,'' [[Random House]], 2021  {{isbn| 978-1-473-56591-3}} pp. 131-133.</ref> According to Chinese sources, about 5,000&nbsp;people reportedly died during these events of 4–8 July 1900.<ref>Олег Анатольевич Тимофеев (Oleg Anatolyevich Timofeyev). [http://www.igpi.ru/center/lib/hist_tradit/east/china/Timofeyev2.html "Российско-китайские отношения в Приамурье (сер. XIX – нач. XX вв.)"] (''Russian-Chinese relations in the Amur region, mid-19th - early 20th centuries''). Part 2. Blagoveshchensk, 2003. Quote: "3 июля благовещенский полицмейстер Батаревич предложил военному губернатору Амурской области К.Н. Грибскому депортировать китайцев на правый берег... Сразу же возник вопрос о транспортных средствах для перевозки нескольких тысяч человек...

Батаревич в конечном итоге принял решение о переправе всех китайцев в районе ст. Верхнеблаговещенской – месте, где Амур наиболее узок...

По прибытии в ст. Верхнеблаговещенскую события приняли еще более драматический оборот. Местный атаман Писарев, несмотря на приказ председателя амурского войскового правления полковника Волковинского, наотрез отказался предоставить китайцам имевшиеся у него шаланду и лодки, опасаясь их захвата противником. Китайцам было предложено переправляться самим, хотя среди них имелись старики и дети. К этому времени к берегу подошли озлобленные продолжающимся обстрелом местные жители. Совершенно естественное нежелание депортируемых самим идти на смерть окружившими их русскими было воспринято почти как вооруженное восстание. Во время последующего следствия Шабанов и Писарев пытались обвинить друг друга в попустительстве началу расправы. Начальник конвоя указывал в рапорте, что стрелял один из местных казаков, неизвестно по чьему приказу. При опросе атамана и казаков станицы ими было заявлено, что переправа (то есть истребление – О.Т.) началась лишь после того, как помощник пристава «принял более строгие меры».

На деле эти меры свелись к уничтожению безоружных китайцев как на берегу, так и уже в воде. Как гласят цинские источники, депортируемых связывали косами по пять-шесть человек и штыками загоняли в воду. Отказавшихся переправляться Шабанов приказал, по свидетельству очевидцев, зарубить топорами. По некоторым данным, огонь был открыт и с цинской стороны. Из всей партии до противоположного берега доплыли лишь 80-100 человек".</ref>

There were 1,266 households in the city, including 900 Daurs and 4,500 Manchus until the massacre.<ref>俄罗斯帝国总参谋部. 《亚洲地理、地形和统计材料汇编》. 俄罗斯帝国: 圣彼得堡. 1886年: 第三十一卷·第185页 （俄语）.</ref> Many Manchu villages were burned by Cossacks in the massacre according to Victor Zatsepine.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Higgins |first1=Andrew |title=On Russia-China Border, Selective Memory of Massacre Works for Both Sides |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/world/europe/russia-china-border.html |agency=The New York Times |date=26 March 2020}}</ref>

This expulsion of the local Chinese caused some hardships for Blagoveshchensk consumers. For example, during the second half of 1900 it became almost impossible to buy any green vegetables in the town, and ten eggs would cost 30-50 [[kopeck]]s (and in winter, as much as a rouble), while before it had been possible to buy ten eggs for 10-15 kopecks.<ref name="tim1" />

The massacre angered the Chinese and had ramifications for the future: the Chinese [[Honghuzi]] fought a guerilla war against Russian occupation and assisted the Japanese in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] against the Russians in revenge. [[Louis Livingston Seaman]] mentioned the massacre as being the reason for the Chinese [[Honghuzi]] hatred towards the Russians:<blockquote>The Chinaman, be he Hung-hutze or peasant, in his relation to the Russians in this conflict with Japan has not forgotten the terrible treatment accorded him since the Muscovite occupation of Manchuria. He still remembers the massacre at Blagoveshchensk when nearly 8,000 unarmed men, women, and children were driven at the point of the bayonet into the raging Amur, until — as one of the Russian officers who participated in that brutal murder told me at Chin-Wang-Tao in 1900 — "the execution of my orders made me almost sick, for it seemed as though I could have walked across the river on the bodies of the floating dead." Not a Chinaman escaped, except forty who were employed by a leading foreign merchant who ransomed their lives at a thousand roubles each. These, and many even worse, atrocities are remembered and now is their moment for revenge. So, it was easy for Japan to enlist the sympathy of these men, especially when emphasized by liberal pay, as is now the case. It is believed that more than 10,000 of these bandits, divided into companies of from 200 to 300 each and led by Japanese officers, are now in the pay of Japan.<ref>{{cite book |publisher=S. Appleton|year=1904|url=https://archive.org/details/fromtokiothroug01seamgoog|access-date=18 March 2012|author=Louis Livingston Seaman|location=PRINTED AT THE APPLETON PRESS, NEW YORK, U.S.A.|title=From Tokio through Manchuria with the Japanese|quote=ant, in his relation to the Russians in this conflict with Japan has not forgotten the terrible treatment accorded him since the Muscovite occupation of Manchuria. He still remembers the massacre at Blagovestchensk when nearly 8,000 unarmed men, women, and children were driven at the point of the bayonet into the raging Amur, until—as one of the Russian officers who participated in that brutal murder told me at Chin-Wang-Tao in 1900—" the execution of my orders made me almost sick, for it seemed as though I could have walked across the river on the bodies of the floating dead." Not a Chinaman escaped, except forty who were employed by a leading foreign merchant who ransomed their lives at a thousand roubles each. These, and many even worse, atrocities are remembered and now is their moment for revenge. So it was easy for Japan to enlist the sympathy of these men, especially when emphasized by liberal pay, as is now the case. It is believed that more than 10,000 of these bandits, divided into companies of from 200 to 300 each and led by Japanese officers, are now in the pay of Japan.|page=[https://archive.org/details/fromtokiothroug01seamgoog/page/n252 170]}}<br>LONDON: SIDNEY APPLETON COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br> Original from the University of California Digitized 21 November 2007.</ref></blockquote>

===Civil war and the Soviet era===
{{More citations needed|date=May 2013|section}}
[[File:The Illustration of The Siberian War, No. 16. The Japanese Army Occupied Vragaeschensk (Blagoveshchensk).jpg|thumb|A Japanese poster depicting the [[Siberian Intervention|Japanese occupation of Blagoveshchensk]] in 1919-1922]]

The city was also the site of conflict during the [[Russian Civil War]], with Japanese troops occupying the city in support of the [[White Army]]. From 1920 until 1922, the city was declared part of the [[Far Eastern Republic]], an area which was nominally independent, but in reality, a buffer zone under control of the [[Russian SFSR]]. The city became the administrative centre of [[Amur Oblast]] in 1932.

During the [[Cultural Revolution]] in China, the city was subject to [[Maoism|Maoist]] [[Propaganda in the People's Republic of China|propaganda]] blasted from [[loudspeaker]]s across the river 24&nbsp;hours a day.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zv6zDwAAQBAJ&dq=Blagoveshchensk+loudspeakers+cultural+revolution&pg=PT137|title=The Border - A Journey Around Russia|first=Erika|last=Fatland |author-link=Erika Fatland|page=|date= 2020|publisher=Quercus |isbn= 9780857057792|access-date=21 July 2022}}</ref>

==Administrative and municipal status==
[[File:Txu-oclc-6614368-nm52-4.jpg|thumb|left|Blagoveshchensk (1951)]]
Blagoveshchensk is the [[administrative centre]] of the [[oblast]]<ref name="Ref7">Law #127-OZ</ref> and, within the [[subdivisions of Russia#Administrative divisions|framework of administrative divisions]], it also serves as the administrative centre of [[Blagoveshchensky District, Amur Oblast|Blagoveshchensky District]],<ref name="Ref347">Law #51-OZ</ref> even though it is not a part of it.<ref name="Ref7" /> As an administrative division, it is, together with six [[types of inhabited localities in Russia|rural localities]], incorporated separately as '''Blagoveshchensk [[City of federal subject significance|Urban Okrug]]'''—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the [[administrative divisions of Amur Oblast|districts]].<ref name="Ref7"/> As a [[subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions|municipal division]], this administrative unit also has urban okrug status.<ref name="Ref599">Law #447-OZ</ref>

==Politics==
In July 2013, a public hearing was held at which citizens declared themselves to be in favour of a return to the direct election of the mayor. A meeting of deputies voted for rejection of the "two-headed" management. In September 2013, City Council voted for a return to the {{Clarify|date=July 2021|text=mayoral election of the mayor|reason=Who is supposed to elect the mayor under this system?}}<ref>[http://ria.ru/politics/20130926/965873513.html Жители Благовещенска снова будут выбирать мэра уже со следующего года]</ref>

==Geography==
The city is located at the confluence of the Amur and the Zeya Rivers, opposite the Chinese city of Heihe.

===Climate===
Blagoveschensk experiences a monsoon-influenced [[hot-summer humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Dwa'', [[Trewartha climate classification|Trewartha]] ''Dcac''), bordering on a monsoon-influenced [[warm-summer humid continental climate]] (''Dwb'', ''Dcbc'') which it had before 1990. The climate is very strongly continental. The city features frigid, windy, but dry winters due to the influence of the [[Siberian high]], and warm, wet summers, due to the [[East Asian monsoon]]. On 1 August 2011, it became the first city in the [[Russian Far East]] to be hit by a tornado.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}.
Temperatures have never risen above freezing from December 21 to January 26, inclusive; conversely, there has never been a freeze between May 23 and September 12 <ref>http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/monitor.php?id=31510&month=9&year=2024</ref>
{{Weather box
|location = Blagoveshchensk (1991-2020, extremes 1859-present)
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan record high C = 0.2
|Feb record high C = 7.0
|Mar record high C = 20.3
|Apr record high C = 31.4
|May record high C = 34.7
|Jun record high C = 39.4
|Jul record high C = 37.7
|Aug record high C = 36.9
|Sep record high C = 33.5
|Oct record high C = 28.0
|Nov record high C = 13.4
|Dec record high C = 3.6
|year record high C = 39.4
|Jan high C = -15.1
|Feb high C = -9.4
|Mar high C = -0.2
|Apr high C = 11.2
|May high C = 19.9
|Jun high C = 25.5
|Jul high C = 27.7
|Aug high C = 25.4
|Sep high C = 19.4
|Oct high C = 9.3
|Nov high C = -4.6
|Dec high C = -14.7
|year high C = 7.9
|Jan mean C = -21.0
|Feb mean C = -16.1
|Mar mean C = -6.4
|Apr mean C = 4.9
|May mean C = 13.2
|Jun mean C = 19.4
|Jul mean C = 22.2
|Aug mean C = 19.9
|Sep mean C = 13.0
|Oct mean C = 3.5
|Nov mean C = -9.8
|Dec mean C = -19.8
|year mean C = 1.9
|Jan low C = -25.6
|Feb low C = -21.8
|Mar low C = -12.2
|Apr low C = -1.1
|May low C = 6.9
|Jun low C = 13.8
|Jul low C = 17.5
|Aug low C = 15.4
|Sep low C = 7.9
|Oct low C = -1.1
|Nov low C = -13.9
|Dec low C = -23.9
|year low C = -3.2
|Jan record low C = -44.5
|Feb record low C = -45.4
|Mar record low C = -35.7
|Apr record low C = -17.7
|May record low C = -7.5
|Jun record low C = 0.1
|Jul record low C = 8.2
|Aug record low C = 4.4
|Sep record low C = -4.3
|Oct record low C = -24.8
|Nov record low C = -32.9
|Dec record low C = -41.2
|year record low C = -45.4
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 7
|Feb precipitation mm = 7
|Mar precipitation mm = 10
|Apr precipitation mm = 25
|May precipitation mm = 55
|Jun precipitation mm = 91
|Jul precipitation mm = 141
|Aug precipitation mm = 112
|Sep precipitation mm = 68
|Oct precipitation mm = 30
|Nov precipitation mm = 13
|Dec precipitation mm = 11
|year precipitation mm = 570
|Jan snow depth cm = 12
|Feb snow depth cm = 10
|Mar snow depth cm = 3
|Apr snow depth cm = 0
|May snow depth cm = 0
|Jun snow depth cm = 0
|Jul snow depth cm = 0
|Aug snow depth cm = 0
|Sep snow depth cm = 0
|Oct snow depth cm = 1
|Nov snow depth cm = 4
|Dec snow depth cm = 8
|year snow depth cm = 12
|Jan humidity = 73
|Feb humidity = 68
|Mar humidity = 62
|Apr humidity = 55
|May humidity = 55
|Jun humidity = 70
|Jul humidity = 78
|Aug humidity = 80
|Sep humidity = 72
|Oct humidity = 62
|Nov humidity = 67
|Dec humidity = 74
|year humidity = 68
|Jan rain days = 0
|Feb rain days = 0
|Mar rain days = 0.4
|Apr rain days = 9
|May rain days = 15
|Jun rain days = 17
|Jul rain days = 18
|Aug rain days = 17
|Sep rain days = 16
|Oct rain days = 8
|Nov rain days = 0.4
|Dec rain days = 0
|year rain days = 101
|Jan snow days = 12
|Feb snow days = 7
|Mar snow days = 8
|Apr snow days = 6
|May snow days = 1
|Jun snow days = 0
|Jul snow days = 0
|Aug snow days = 0
|Sep snow days = 0.2
|Oct snow days = 5
|Nov snow days = 12
|Dec snow days = 14
|year snow days = 65
|Jan sun = 138
|Feb sun = 194
|Mar sun = 227
|Apr sun = 222
|May sun = 252
|Jun sun = 255
|Jul sun = 226
|Aug sun = 227
|Sep sun = 168
|Oct sun = 190
|Nov sun = 157
|Dec sun = 123
|year sun = 2379
|source 1 = Погода и Климат<ref name="Погода" >{{cite web
|url = http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/31510.htm
|title = Климат Благовещенска
|access-date = 8 November 2021
|publisher = Погода и Климат 
|language = ru }}</ref>
| source 2 = [[NOAA]] (sun, 1961–1990)<ref name = NOAA>
{{cite web
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/TABLES/REG_II/RA/31510.TXT
| title = Blagovescensk Climate Normals 1961–1990
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = 3 November 2021}}</ref>
|date=December 2010
}}

==Economy==
Since the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], the city's economic focus has turned to border trade with China. The town is now home to a large Chinese expatriate community. Blagoveshchensk is part of a free-trade zone which includes the Chinese city of Heihe, located on the other side of the Amur River.<ref name="rbth">{{cite news|url=http://rbth.ru/articles/2011/05/16/blagoveshchensk_russias_anchor_on_the_amur_river_12889.html|title=Blagoveshchensk: Russia's anchor on the Amur River|publisher=Russia Beyond the Headlines|date=16 May 2011}}</ref>

Main industries in the town include [[metal]] and [[timber]] processing, as well as [[paper]] production.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

===Transportation===
[[File:Пограничный мост Благовещенск-Хэйхэ.png|thumb|[[Blagoveshchensk–Heihe Bridge]]]]

The city is served by a branch highway and railway connecting it to [[Belogorsk, Amur Oblast|Belogorsk]] on the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]] and [[Trans-Siberian Highway]]. It is also served by a river port. On the other side of the [[Amur River]] is [[Heihe]], [[Heilongjiang Province]], China, which is the starting point of [[China National Highway 202]] that goes south to [[Harbin]] and [[Dalian]]. [[Ignatyevo Airport]], located {{convert|20|km|sp=us}} northwest of the city center, serves domestic destinations.

The [[Blagoveshchensk–Heihe Bridge]], completed at the end of 2019, includes a 2-lane highway bridge over the Amur to link Blagoveshchensk and Heihe.

The world's first international [[Aerial lift|cable car]] to Heihe has also been proposed to open in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |author=Amy Woodyatt |title=The world's first cross-border cable car will travel from Russia to China in under 8 minutes |url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/russia-china-cable-car-scli/index.html |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Russia to China in under eight minutes: World's first cross-border cable car unveiled |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-31/world-first-cable-car-to-connect-russia-and-china/11371308 |work=abc.net.au |date=31 July 2019 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

==Education==

===Universities===
*Amur State Medical Academy<ref>[https://recas.ru/en/universities-of-russia/medical-universities/475-amur-state-medical-academy Amur State Medical Academy], recas.ru. Accessed 9 October 2022.</ref>
*[[Amur State University]]
*[[Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University]]
*[[Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School]]
*Far Eastern State Agricultural University<ref>[https://topuniversitieslist.com/far-east-state-agrarian-university/ Far Eastern State Agricultural University profile], topuniversitieslist.com. Accessed 9 October 2022.</ref>
*[[Finance University under the Government of the Russian Federation]] (Blagoveschensk Branch)
*[[Maritime State University]] named after admiral Gennady Nevelskoy (Blagoveschensk Branch)
*[[Modern University for the Humanities]] (Blagoveschensk Branch)
*Moscow Academy of Business in Association with the Government of Moscow (Blagoveschensk Branch) {{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

==Sister city==
*{{Flagicon|China}} [[Heihe]], [[Heilongjiang]], [[China]]<ref>[http://russian.northeast.cn/system/2006/09/15/000006126.shtml Blagoveshchensk and Heihe partner cities] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820082641/http://russian.northeast.cn/system/2006/09/15/000006126.shtml |date=August 20, 2007 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Russia}}
* [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky]]
* [[Amur Cossacks]]

==References==

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

===Sources===
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|amu|adm|law}}
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|amu|mun|list|blagoveshchensk}}
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|amu|mun|list|blagoveshchensky}}
*{{RussiaBasicLawRef|amu|blagoveshchensk}}
*{{Cite Russian law
|ru_entity=Благовещенская городская Дума
|ru_type=Решение
|ru_number=14/60
|ru_date=25 мая 2006 г.
|ru_title=О гимне города Благовещенска
|ru_effective_date=со дня официального опубликования в газете "Благовещенск"
|ru_published_in="Благовещенск", №22–23
|ru_published_date=2 июня 2006 г
|ru_url=
|ru_amendment_type=Решения
|ru_amendment_number=19/141
|ru_amendment_date=25 ноября 2010 г.
|ru_amendment_title=О внесении изменения в Положение о гимне города Благовещенска, утверждённое решением Благовещенской городской Думы от 25 мая 2006 г. №14/60
|en_entity=Blagoveshchensk City Duma
|en_type=Decision
|en_number=14/60
|en_date=May&nbsp;25, 2006
|en_title=On the Anthem of the City of Blagoveshchensk
|en_effective_date=the day of the official publication in the ''Blagoveshchensk'' newspaper
|en_url=
|en_amendment_type=Decision
|en_amendment_number=19/141
|en_amendment_date=November&nbsp;25, 2010
|en_amendment_title=On Amending the Statute on the Anthem of the City of Blagoveshchensk #14/60 Adopted by the Decision of the Blagoveshchensk City Duma of May&nbsp;25, 2006
}}

==External links==
*[http://www.admblag.ru/ Official website of Blagoveshchensk] {{in lang|ru}}
*[https://blagoveschensk.jsprav.ru/ Blagoveshchensk Business Directory] {{in lang|ru}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtndyrORluU Video: Tornado in Blagoveshchensk, July 31, 2011]

{{Amur Oblast}}
{{Russian Far East}}
{{China–Russia border crossings}}
{{Chinese_historical_placenames_in_Outer_Manchuria}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Blagoveshchensk| ]]
[[Category:Amur Oblast (Russian Empire)]]
[[Category:Russian Far East]]
[[Category:China–Russia border crossings]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1856]]
[[Category:1856 establishments in China]]