Primorsky Krai

   An administrative province of the Russian Federation. Sometimes known in English as the Maritime Krai, Primorsky is situated in extreme southeastern Russia, bordering Khabarovsk Krai, North Korea, and China. The area was part of the Qing Empire until the mid-19th century. Washed by the Sea of Japan, the province is an entrepôt for goods from Japan and other Pacific Rim countries, as well as an export hub. It is part of the Far Eastern Federal District and Economic Region. The mostly mountainous and heavily forested territory covers some 165,900 square kilometers, with 1,350 kilometers of sea coast. The current population slightly exceeds 2 million. Ethnic Russians comprise 90 percent of the krai’s inhabitants; indigenous Tungusic minorities include Udege, Nanai, and Oroch.

   The fishing industry drives the regional economy, followed by machine building and the defense industry; livestock, fur, and forestry are also important sources of employment. The province is the center of banking and finance for Russia’s Far East, as well as a major outpost of the Russian mafia. Vladivostok (pop. 594,000), once a closed city, is the provincial capital and home to Russia’s Pacific Fleet. As the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the region is well-connected to European Russia and China. The international ports of Vladivostok and Nakhodka-Vostochny are key drivers of the regional economy. The province possesses an immense diversity of wildlife, including rare Siberian or Amur tigers and half of all the bird species found in the former Soviet Union.

   Under the governorship of the China-baiting demagogue Yevgeny Nazdratenko, the krai declared itself a republic during the Yeltsin era; however, this declaration was not recognized by the federal authorities. Nazdratenko continuously sparred with Yeltsin’s chief of staff, Anatoly Chubais, and local proponents of economic liberalism, particularly over subsidies relating to energy, resulting in major power outages in the mid-1990s. In 2001, Nazdratenko resigned in response to criticism from Vladimir Putin and was replaced by businessman Sergey Darkin; the new governor was the first person to be appointed under the 2004–2005 electoral reforms that gave the Russian president power to pick regional governors.

   In recent years, the administration has moved to develop a special economic zone in the region and attract foreign investment, especially from South Korea. In 2009, protests broke out in Vladivostok against cost-prohibitive duties on used cars imported from Asia. Security forces were brought in from Moscow to quell the discontent, much of which was directed at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Primorsky will be one of only four locales in Russia where casinos will be legal after 1 July 2009.