The Ussuri or Wusuli (Russian: Уссури; Chinese: 乌苏里江; pinyin: Wūsūlǐ Jiāng) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the Sino-Russian border (which is based on the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking of 1860), until it joins the Amur as a tributary to it near Khabarovsk. It is approximately 897 km (557 mi) long. The Ussuri drains the Ussuri basin, which covers 193,000 km (75,000 sq mi). Its waters come from rain (60%), snow (30–35%), and subterranean springs. The average discharge is 1,620 m/s (57,000 cu ft/s), and the average elevation is 1,682 metres (5,518 ft).
The Ussuri has been known by many names. In Manchu, it was called the Usuri Ula or Dobi Bira (River of Foxes) and in Mongolian the Üssüri Müren. Ussuri is Manchu for soot-black river.
History
The Ussuri has a reputation for catastrophic floods. It freezes up in November and stays under the ice until April. The river teems with different kinds of fish: grayling, sturgeon, humpback salmon (gorbusha), chum salmon (keta), and others.
During World War II, the river marked one of the boundaries which Soviet forces crossed into Manchuria in Operation August Storm in 1945.
