Khabarovsk, named after a Russian explorer Yerofey Khabarov, was founded in 1858 as a military observation post and later became an important industrial center for the region. The city lies at the Confluence of the rivers Amur and Ussuri, directly across from Harbin, China, and about 800 km (500 mi) north of Vladivostok and is accessible from there by an overnight train running along the Trans-Siberian Railway; rail distance from Moscow is 8,523 km.
In 1894, the Department of Russian Geographical Society was formed in Khabarovsk and began initiating the foundation of libraries, theaters, and museums in the city. Since then, Khabarovsk's cultural life has flourished. Much of the local indigenous history has been well-preserved in the Regional Lore Museum and Natural History Museum and in places like near the Nanaian settlement of Sikhachi-Alyan, where cliff drawings from more 1,300 years ago can be found. The Khabarovsk Art Museum exhibits a rare collection of old Russian icons.
A picturesque city, visitors to Khabarovsk are likely to enjoy walking the broad Amursky Boulevard with its many vibrant shops and perhaps visit the local market. The city's five districts stretch for 45 km along the Amur River.
Unlike Vladivostok, the city has never been closed to foreigners and retains its historically international flavor. Once the capital of the Soviet Far East from 1926 to 1938, since the demise of the Soviet Union, it has experienced an increased Asian presence. It is estimated that over one million Chinese travel to and through Khabarovsk on an annual basis and foreign investment by Japanese and Korean corporations has grown in recent years.
There are international flights to Dalian and Harbin (China), Aomori and Niigata (Japan), and Seoul (Korea).
The city of Khabarovsk was also the site of the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials, in which 12 former members of the Japanese Kwantung Army were put on Trial for the manufacture and use of biological weapons during World War II. See Unit 731.
Some islands on the Amur River had been the object of a boundary dispute between China and Russia during the 1960s.