KYAKHTA

also spelled K'achta, formerly (until 1934) Troitskosavsk, town, Buryatiya, south-central Russia. It lies in the basin of the Selenga River, on the frontier with Mongolia. The town is on the railway and motor road from Ulan-Ude to Ulaanbaatar; both routes follow an ancient caravan track that was the only recognized link between Russia and China in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Russian fortress of Troitskosavsk, founded in 1728 adjacent to Kyakhta village, was once a busy frontier post; it attained historical importance as a point of entry to the Russian Empire and was surpassed in this regard only by St. Petersburg and Riga. It has a shoemaking industry. Pop. (1993 est.) 18,500.