Raychikhinsk

Raychikhinsk (Russian: Райчи́хинск) is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia, located in the Zeya–Bureya basin, about 40 kilometers (25 mi) from the Amur River and the border with China, and about 165 kilometers (103 mi) east of Blagoveshchensk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 20,534 (2010 Census);^[2] 24,498 (2002 Census);^[6] 27,873 (1989 Soviet census).^[7]

Raychikhinsk Райчихинск
Town[1]
Motor Rally in Raychikhinsk
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Raychikhinsk
Raychikhinsk Location of Raychikhinsk Show map of Russia Raychikhinsk Raychikhinsk (Amur Oblast) Show map of Amur Oblast
Coordinates: 49°47′N 129°25′E
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Amur Oblast[1]
Founded	1932
Town status since	1944
Government
• Head	Viktor Radchenko
Elevation	200 m (700 ft)
Population  (2010 Census)[2]
• Total	20,534
Administrative status
• Subordinated to	Raychikhinsk Urban Okrug[1]
• Capital of	Raychikhinsk Urban Okrug[1]
Municipal status
• Urban okrug	Raychikhinsk Urban Okrug[3]
• Capital of	Raychikhinsk Urban Okrug[3]
Time zone	UTC+9 (MSK+6 [4])
Postal code(s)[5]	676770–676772, 676776, 676779
Dialing code(s)	+7 41647
OKTMO ID	10720000001
Website	www.raychihinsk.ru

History

The town is located near a brown coal deposit which had been known of since the late 1800s. Mining began in 1913, with the foundation of the first permanent settlement in 1932, named Raychikha (Райчиха) after a local stream.^{[citation needed]}

From 1938 until 1942, Raychikha was host to a prison camp of the gulag system, where up to 11,000 prisoners were kept for forced labor in the mining of coal.^[8]

In 1944, it was granted town status and given its present name.^{[citation needed]}

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with three rural localities, incorporated as Raychikhinsk Urban Okrug—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban okrug status.^[3]

Economy

Brown coal mining remains the main economic focus of the town; two open-pit mines surround the town almost completely. The city's largest enterprise is JSC Amursky Coal (Severo-Vostochny and Yerkovetsky open-pit mines, Kontaktovy plot).

Transportation

The town is terminus for a 39-kilometer (24 mi) branch line, which connects to the Trans-Siberian Railway at Bureya.