TRANSBAIKALIA, trans'bi-kale-a. A ter ritory of Eastern Siberia, bounded by the Terri tory of Yakutsk on the north, the Territory of Amur and Manchuria on the east, Mongolia on the south, and Lake Baikal and Irkutsk on the west (Nap: Asia, L 3). Area, 236,868 square miles. The region is divided by the Yablonoi Mountains, a part of the Stanovoi (q.v.) chain, into two parts, of which the western has the char acter of an elevated plateau intersected by a deep valley that extends from Lake Baikal to the Uda River and is used by the chief highways as well as by the Trans-Siberian Railway. The portion east. of the Yablonoi chain is lower than the western part, and is traversed in the southeast by the Nertehinsk 'Mountains. The region is watered by the Argun and Shilka, which unite to form the Amur, the Vitim, a tributary of the Lena. and the Selenga (q.v.), a tributary of Lake Baikal. Of the numerous lakes the principal is Lake Baikal (q.v.). The climate is continental and very severe, the temperature being occasion ally as low as —58°. Transbaikalia is one of the most highly mineralized regions of Siberia. Gold
is found especially in the Nertchinsk Mountains, where there are also rich deposits of silver and lead. Coal is found nee- the southeastern shore of Lake Baikal, and iron in many parts. The mining industry,however, is of little importance, and only the gold output (3882 kilograms in 1897) is of any importance. The mines are owned to a large extent by the State and worked by convict labor, the centre of the mining industries being the Nertchinsk (q.v.) region. Agriculture is confined chiefly to the south, where the natural conditions are more favorable. Stock-raising is extensively carried on. and hunting is still of considerable importance. The chief manufactures are leather, spirits, and flour. The transit trade with llongolia through Kiakhta (q.v.) is large. Population, in 1897. 664.071. of whom the Cos sacks numbered about one-third. The aborigines, mostly Buryats and some Tunguses, have still in the main preserved their clan organization, al though many of them have been assimilated with the Russians. Capital, Tehita (q.v.).