Amoor Country, that part of Mantchuria recently annexed to Russia. It embraces all the territory on the left bank of the Amoor, together with the coast districts east of it and of its affluent the Usuri, as far south as the river Turnen on the frontier of Corea. In its widest sense, it is situated between lat. 42° and 57° N., and lon. 120° and 145° E. By a ukase of Dec. 20, 1858, the country was divided into the "province of the Amoor," and the "sea district of the Amoor Country." The latter forms a part of the "littoral province of East Siberia." The province of the Amoor embraces the country on the left bank of the Amoor; capital. Blagovieshtchensk; area estimated at 109,053 sq. m.; pop. in 1867, 22.297. The principal towns in the sea district of the Amoor Country are Nikolayevsk and Sofyevsk. The island of Saghalien is generally included in the territory of the Amoor Country, the whole of which has an area of about 276,-300 sq. m. The principal mountains are the Stanovoi along the northern frontier, and offshoots of the Chingan mountains in the west. The winters are very severe, and navigation is generally closed from the end of October to the beginning of May. The soil is fertile.

Many plants of southern Asia are met with; the rivers swarm with fish; and extensive gold fields have recently been discovered. Although the Russian government has endeavored to develop the resources of the country, its commerce made no progress during the period from 1860 to 1870. The native population consists of about 10,000 Tungusians, divided into eight tribes. In September, 1860, the Russian government organized a force of Cossacks of the Amoor to defend the southern frontier and to settle the territory. - The first knowledge of the country of the Amoor was obtained by the Russian authorities in East Siberia, in 1639. Several expeditions, undertaken by Russian adventurers, led to protracted hostilities with the Chinese, until in 1689 the peace of Nertchinsk secured the whole territory to the Chinese. In 1849 the Russian plans of conquest were resumed. After exploring the coast for several years and establishing the forts of Nikolayevsk and Mariinsk, a large military force was sent in 1854 into the coun-try of the Amoor, and established the Russian rule upon a lasting basis. A ukase of Oct. 31, 1856, proclaimed the union of the lower part of the Amoor Country with Kamtchatka, and made Nicolayevsk the seat of government.

By the treaty of Aigoon, May 28, 1858, ratified by the commercial treaty of Tientsin, June 13, the whole country of the Amoor was ceded by China to Russia. The eastern and western line between Russia and China was regulated by a treaty concluded at Peking on Nov. 14, 1860. - For an account of the attempt to construct a telegraph from Nikolayevsk to San Francisco in 1863-'7, see Telegraph. Concerning the country and river, see Collins, "Exploration of the Amoor River" (Washington, 1858), and " A Voyage down the Amoor, with a Land Journey through Siberia," etc. (New York, 1860).