South Manchuria Railway Zone

The South Manchuria Railway Zone (Japanese: 南満州鉄道附属地, romanized: Minami Manshū Tetsudō Fuzoku-chi; simplified Chinese: 南满洲铁道附属地; traditional Chinese: 南滿洲鐵道附屬地; pinyin: Nán Mǎnzhōu Tiědào Fùshǔ-dì; Wade–Giles: Nan2 Man3-chou1 Tʻieh3-tao4 Fu4-shu3-ti4) or SMR Zone, was the area of Japanese extraterritorial rights in northeast China, in connection with the operation of the South Manchurian Railway.

Japan claimed that this control included all the rights and privileges granted to Russia by China in the Li-Lobanov Treaty of 1896, as enlarged by the Kwantung Lease Agreement of 1898, which included absolute and exclusive administration within the railway zone.

In addition, Japan also maintained Consular Police attached to the Japanese consulates and branch consulates in major cities as Harbin, Qiqihar, and Manzhouli as well as in the Chientao District in which lived large numbers of ethnic Koreans.

After the foundation of Manchukuo, with full Japanese control over all of Manchuria, the zone ceased to have a function and was abolished in 1937.

The South Manchuria Railway Zone had its own private military force, mostly local volunteers of Korean and Japanese descent.