Towns of Transbaikalia in the transboundary trading space (1880-1920s)

Delayed industrial development of Transbaikalia and a favorable geographical position of Transbaikalian towns on the main trade routes predetermined their trade specializations for decades to come. Significance of the towns greatly depended on economic policy of the government and geopolitical factors that determined volume and direction of urban trade and prioritized this or that trade center. The Trans-Siberian railway destroyed the image of Kyakhta as the main gate of the tea trade and assigned the role of a trade and transportation center of Transbaikalia to Verkhneudinsk. In the 1920s, the trading space of the transboundary region transformed once again. Having finally lost its former glory, Kyakhta became a place for smuggling while Verkhneudinsk remained a trade and distribution center until the late 1920s. Then the beginning of industrial revolution radically changed its economic role turning it into a large industrial center of Transbaikalia.