Vladivostok

Vladivostok is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, in the far east of Russia. It is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area of 331.16 square kilometers, with a population of 600,871 residents as of 2021. Vladivostok is the second-largest city in the Far Eastern Federal District, as well as the Russian Far East, after Khabarovsk. It is located approximately 45 kilometers from the China–Russia border.

Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Aigun between Qing China and the Russian Empire and affirmed by the Convention of Peking – of which it is also known as the Amur Annexation – the city was founded as a Russian military outpost on July 2, 1860. In 1872, the main Russian naval base on the Pacific Ocean was transferred to the city, stimulating its growth.