“北大荒”作为一个地理概念最早出现在《山海经·大荒北经》中,泛指现黑龙江省、内蒙古自治区东部等未开垦的广袤荒原。新中国成立前后,“北大荒”则专指开发较晚的以黑龙江省宝清、饶河、虎林、密山等县(市)为中心的三江平原近6万平方公里的地域。 As a geographical concept, “Northern Great Wilderness” first appeared in “Shan Hai Jing · Great Northern Trail” and refers to the uncultivated vast wasteland now including Heilongjiang Province and eastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Before and after the founding of new China, the “Great Northern Wilderness” specifically refers to the development of a nearly 60,000-square-kilometer area in the Sanjiang Plain centered around the counties (cities) of Baoqing, Raohe, Hulin and Mishan in Heilongjiang Province.