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Primorsky Region, or Primorye (which means “the Seaside”) occupies the southeast of Russia. It is located in the most southern part of the Far East on the Japanese Sea coast. Its territory is 1, 659, 000 square km. The population of Primorsky Region is about 2 million people. Primorsky Region includes a continental part and numerous islands: the Russian Island, the Island of Popov, the Island of Putyatin, the Island of Reineke etc. Primorsky Region bounds the Korean Democratic Republic on the south and the Chinese National Republic on the west.

The territory of Primorsky Region is characterised by such variety of flora and fauna that cannot be found in Central Russia. That is caused by the geographical position of this territory and absence of an integumentary congelation during global cold snaps of its climate (“glacial epoch”) in the Quaternary period. As a result, both heat-loving and cold-resistant plants and animals can be found here. The flora and fauna  of the region has an exclusive scientific value. The flora of Primorsky Region as a whole includes 1720 kinds of plants, 250 of which are trees, bushes and lianas. The share of endemic (meeting only in the given territory) plants is 3.4%, and the share of those included in the Red Data Book is 8 %. 1/3 kinds of plants are medicinal; more than 100 kinds can be used as wild vegetables; more than 50 kinds of trees, bushes and lianas have edible fruits or berries. Experts distinguish more than 200 kinds of edible mushrooms here.

The fauna  of the region is also unique as to its specific structure and combination of northern and southern forms. In Primorsky Region there is a great amount of animals: the tiger, the leopard, the wild goat, the spotty deer, the Manchurian deer, the roe deer, the musk-deer, the sable, the raccoon dog, the wild Ussuri cat, the fox, the Siberian weasel, the American mink, the otter, the glutton, the hare, the chipmunk, and many others. Such variety of fauna allows to develop both scientific and hunting tourism in Primorsky Region. By the way, there are 79 kinds of mammals in our region, and 39 of them, fur and meat ones, are objects of the hunting tourism. The basic fur-bearing animals are the sable, the squirrel, the Siberian weasel, the American mink, the fox, the otter, the musk-rat; the animals famous for their meat are the elk, the Manchurian deer, the wild boar, the roe deer, the spotty deer and the reindeer.

There are 458 kinds of birds registered in Primorsky Region, 40 (8.7 %) of which are included in the International Red Data Book and 49 (10.6 %) of which are included in the Red Book of birds of Asia (the latter is being prepared for the edition). In the Red Book of Russia 76 kinds of birds out of 125 (60.8 %) fall to the share of Primorye. Thus, Primorsky Region is of great interest to ornithologists as an area with the highest variety of birds in Russia. Among the birds living in Primorsky Region and meeting here on spring or autumn flights about 80 kinds are objects of hunting. Waterfowl is also of great importance for hunting. According to some estimations, about 2.5-3 million these birds fly through Primorsky Region annually. Geese and ducks cause the greatest interest as game birds. The largest spring congestion of waterfowl is found in the Prikhankayskaya Lowland where up to 100 thousand geese accumulate in favourable years.

The flora and fauna of the Japanese Sea  is also rather rich and various. According to the specific variety of fishes  the Japanese Sea holds the first place among the seas of Russia. They total 872 kinds here, 179 kinds of which are marketable. There are about 100 kinds of fishes in the lakes and rivers of Primorye. All this proves the presence of favourable preconditions for the organisation of amateur underwater hunting, fishing and taking unique photographs.

All these rare and unique biological resources demand a careful attitude from people. To protect unique nature of Primorsky Region, six preserves have been opened here – more than in any other subject of the Russian Federation.

The climate  of Primorsky Region is moderate, monsoon, damp, it is characterised by many special features. It is its geographical position that influences the climate. The duration of the warm period of a year in Primorsky Region changes from 160 days in northern mountain areas to about 230 days in the south. However, the period favourable for summer rest is considerably shorter and makes up from 40 in the north to about 100 days in the south. The best season in Primorsky Region is autumn . Autumn in Primorsky Region is warm, dry, clear and silent. The temperature of air goes down slowly. This season is usually called "the golden Far Eastern autumn". It remains warm especially long in coastal areas. From the middle of September low night temperatures change the taiga, painting our deciduous and mixed woods with autumn colours. In the beginning of October leaves fall from the trees everywhere around the region. In the first half of November in the south of the region a sharp cold snap is observed, and so at the end of October in the north of the region.

The most suitable places for rest are situated on the southern coast of Primorsky Region and on the islands of the Bay of Peter the Great. The given territory has optimum natural characteristics, diversity of landscapes and a high aesthetic value. Fine places for tourism and rest are near right-bank tributaries of the Ussuri River, in the central and northern parts of the Sikhote-Aling Mountains. On the whole, landscapes optimum from the aesthetic point of view, make up about 45 % of Primorsky Region’s area.

Some tens mountains and hills of the region are unique natural objects. The most attended of them are: Peetang (a name of some Eastern origin), Olkhovaya (=Alder-Tree), Oblachnaya (=Cloudy), Vysokaya (=High). The object of constant interest in amateur tourists and scientific regional specialists is ancient extinct volcanoes. The most famous volcanoes are Baranovsky (on the bank of the Razdolnaya River), the volcanoes located on the Povorotny Cape and on the Olympiad Cape.

There are more than 3000 lakes in Primorsky Region. Lake Khanka is not only the largest natural reservoir of Primorsky Region, but also one of the biggest lakes in Asia. In the south of the region in the Hasansky District small fresh water lakes with the area from 0.2 up to 3.3 sq. km are located. In the same area there is a salty lake Talmi with the area of 36 sq. km.

Primorsky Region has unique opportunities for the organisation of health-improving kinds of tourism with residing on the basis of the sanatorium establishments  existing in the region and, in particular, in the suburbs of Vladivostok. The region has rather impressive supplies of natural health-improving resources. E. g., the deposits of mineral waters  and medical mud are of much importance for the development of tourism in the region. Primorsky Region has the greatest amount of sources of mineral waters  and deposits of curative mud in Russia, and some of them have no analogues in the country. All the basic types of medical mud known in Russia and in the CIS can be found here. The region numbers about 100 displays and deposits of carbonic cold, nitric thermal, nitromethane, methane and other mineral waters . There are two resorts in the region, Sadgorod (in the suburb of Vladivostok) based on a deposit of mud and Shmakovka in Kirovsk area based on cold carbonic mineral waters.

The culture, art, history  and ethnography  of Primorsky Region also make it very attractive for tourists. There are more than two thousand known archaeologic and historical monuments  of great cultural value on the territory of Primorye. 875 of them date from the primeval epoch (settlements of the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic Ages) and to Middle Ages (the first state formations – the Pohai Kingdom, the Golden Empire of the Jurchen tribes etc.).

The analysis of distribution of historical monuments among different parts of the region shows the territories with their deepest concentration which are allocated as cultural and historical zones. Such territories include the basin of the Possiette Gulf (about 120 monuments), vicinities of the settlement of Chernigovka (about 180 monuments), and also a valley of the Razdolnaya River, upper reaches of the Ussuri River, the basin of the Ilistaya River, separate sites on the Japanese Sea coast and a number of other sites. Inclusion of the cultural and historical zones in the structure of territorial recreational systems and protection for these zones will promote the spread of knowledge and the statement of moral values.

Primorsky Region is one of the most advanced industrial regions of Russia. It has huge potential natural resources. The history of ore deposits in Primorsky Region goes back to the beginning of XX century when "the Far Easern Klondike " was found out. Gold was panned out here, silver was smelted from galena ores of the settlement of Tetyukhe (nowadays the town of Dalnegorsk), high-quality coal was loaded as fuel into bunkers of steamships. Primorsky Region became, in essence, a unique region - the only supplier of tin in the former Soviet Union. In post-war years all basic ore areas and the Sikhote-Aling region were discovered and developed. To the present time various deposits of mineral raw material are known, such as tin, tungsten, lead, zinc, copper, silver, gold, boron, titanium, bismuth, indium, iron, manganese, various building raw material, zeolite, jewels, facing and building stones, raw material for stone moulding, cement raw material, porcelain stone, various coals etc.

The detailed information on a site www.fegi.ru/primorye