BLAGOVYESHCHENSK ("Annunciation"). (I) A town in the Far Eastern Area of Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Repub lic, on the left bank of Amur river, near its confluence with the Zeya. Lat. 50° 20' N., Long. 127° 3o' E. Pop. (1933) 63,5oo. It was established in 1856 by Muravieff, and re-named by him in 1858 after the successful treaty of Aigun. The town is a natural halting place for steamers, the river becoming impassable above it, but flowing with a gentle gradient (400ft. in i,3oom.) below it. Steamers may turn off here and traverse the Zeya river for 3oom. to the gold mines. The trade is mainly in tea, cattle, grain and gold and in the products of its flour mills and ironworks. The town has educational institutes, a museum, a public library and an opera house.
(2) A monastery near Nizhni-Novgorod (q.v.) .
(3) A town in the Ufa province of the Bashkir Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic. Lat. o' N., Long. 56° o' E. Pop. (1926)