NERCHINSK (in full NERCHINSKIY Zavod), a town and silvermine of East Siberia, in the government of Transbaikalia, 150 m. E.S.E. of another Nerchinsk (q.v.) (with which it is often confused), on a small affluent of the Argun. Pop. (1897) 3000. It lies in a narrow valley between barren mountains, and is much better built than any of the district towns of East Siberia. It has a chemical laboratory for mining purposes, and a meteorological observatory (51° 18' N., 119° 37' E., 2200 ft. above sea-level), where meteorological and magnetical observations have been made every hour since 1842. The average yearly temperature is 25.3° F., with extremes of 97.7° and - 52.6°.