Ethnic Russians in China
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (15,631) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and other areas. | |
| Languages | |
| Chinese, Russian | |
| Religion | |
| Eastern Orthodox | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Russian people |
Ethnic Russians (Russian: Pусские; simplified Chinese: 俄罗斯族; traditional Chinese: 俄羅斯族; pinyin: Éluósī-zú) form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, according to the ethnicity classification as applied in mainland China. Those in mainland China are the descendants of Russians who settled there since the 17th century, and hold PRC rather than Russian citizenship.
There are currently over 15,000 ethnic Russians in China holding PRC citizenship; however, at least 70,000 Russians are residing in China while keeping their Russian or other nationality.
During the 17th century, the Russian Empire launched several military actions against Qing Empire. In 1644, a group of the Russian army was defeated by Qing army, part of the captives were incorporated into the Eight Banners. During the Battle of Yagsi, nearly 100 Russians surrendered to the Qing authorities, the Kangxi Emperor authorized them to join the Bordered Yellow Banner. Their descendants exists to this day and are known as Albazinians. From 1860 to 1884, lots of Russians came to Hulun Buir panning for gold, and in 1900, Russian troops entered China, destroyed several sentries. By 1907 there were already 1,000 households of Russian settlers in the Ergun Right Banner.
The earliest Russian immigrants who came to Xinjiang were the Jirjaks, who were persecuted under the reign of Czar Peter because of refusing to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church. They sent four heralds to negotiate with the Kazakh chief Kala Usman, and were allowed to settle down in Burqin. After several years they also pioneered some settlements in Kanas, Chuguchak and Ili. In 1861, 160 Jirjaks entered the area of Lop Nur to settle down.
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Wikipedia