Political borders define countries and set imperatives, constraints and strategies. These human-drawn boundaries are not always natural nor, necessarily, constant. River basins, especially those that cross national or ethnic boundaries, define the history of the regions they traverse and shape their future relationships. The Amur River, which delineates a portion of the China-Russia border as it flows from the desolate reaches of Mongolia into the Strait of Tartary, does not often make the same lists as other storied rivers, such as the Nile, the Danube or the Mississippi. But it has played a vital role in the dynamic between two vast nations.
The Amur River, stretching more than 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles), is the 10th-longest river in the world. Its major tributaries, the Shilka and Amgun, are fed by smaller rivers emanating from Mongolia and Russia. Farther downstream, the Amur is joined by other notable tributaries: the Zeya from the north and the Songhua and Ussuri from the Chinese south. The Amur Basin is split relatively equally between Russia and China: 54 percent of the basin rests in Russia, and 44 percent lies in China. (Mongolia sits on the edge of the basin with 2 percent.) One of the longest undammed rivers in the world, the Amur is navigable along much of its length and serves as a transport artery for agricultural products and raw materials from the immense Siberian territories of Russia. Because of its geography, Russia relies far more on rail and road than it does on its sole river that does not flow north, but the Amur is still an important transport outlet to the Pacific.
As Moscow focuses east, maintaining its strategic detente with Beijing, there are opportunities for cooperation and trade between the nations, specifically in the areas of hydrocarbons and agriculture. But there is also the potential for conflict: The Chinese and Russian intentions for the river system fundamentally differ. Russia prizes the Amur for the security and transportation opportunities it provides, while China is more inclined to harness the river's power for energy and agriculture. Even though the two nations' relationship seems rosy, their history of conflict on the frontier suggests that the possibility of tensions flaring up again along the banks of the Amur is still very real.
