a mountain region bordering Lake Baikal on the west and east, in the Buriat ASSR and the Irkutsk Oblast, RSFSR. The Baikal Region includes the Primorskii and Baikal’skii ranges, which are west of Lake Baikal, and the Khamar-Daban, Ulan-Burgasy, and Barguzinskii ranges, which are south and east of the lake. Seismicity is up to 10–11 points. The principal ranges, which reach elevations of 2,000–2,500 m, are composed of Archean, Proterozoic, and Lower Paleozoic metamorphic and intrusive rocks. There are deposits of gold, manganese ores, mica, and coal. The region is drained by several rivers, including the Selenga, Verkhniaia Angara, Barguzin, and Turka. The climate is continental, with the annual precipitation reaching 1,200 mm on the windward slopes. Taiga, dark coniferous in some places, predominates.