The geographical position of the Crimea.
The Crimean peninsula is located in the extreme south of the European part of Russia and extends from north to south for 195 km, from west to east - for 325 km. The area of Crimea is 26 thousand square meters. km, population 1 million 600 thousand people.
The sea surrounds the peninsula from all sides, and only in the north is the narrow (up to 8 km) Isthmus of Perekop that connects it to the mainland. From the west and south, Crimea is washed by the Black Sea, from the east - the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.
The Crimean region was formed in June 1945. In February 1954 it became part of Ukraine. In 2014 it became a part of the Russian Federation. Administrative center region - Simferopol. On administrative map Russia shows the borders of the Crimean region, settlements, communication routes.
Geological past of the Crimea.
The geological map and geological profile acquaints with the geological past of the Crimea and its constituent rocks. In millions of years distant from us, the geological periods of the seas, replacing each other, then covered, then exposed the territory of the present Crimea, The distribution of rocks in the Crimea is mainly connected with their existence.
In the local history museum of the Crimea, you can see sandstones, clay shale, limestone and other rocks. There is also a collection of fossils and prints of the inhabitants of the ancient seas: molluscs and fish, the cetacean citoterium prescum, sea turtle and etc.
During the millions of years of the Tertiary period in the Middle and Southern Europe it was warm and humid, and mastodons, hipparions, antelopes lived here. The onset of glaciation in the Quaternary period changed the landscape, vegetation and animal world.
The glacier did not reach the Crimea, but the climate here was very harsh. At this time, a mammoth, a woolly rhinoceros, a giant and reindeer, a cave bear, and a cave hyena were found in the Crimea.
Minerals in the Crimea.
In Crimea, about 200 deposits of various minerals have been discovered and studied, which are widely used in the national economy. The Kerch iron ores are of the most important industrial importance. Ores occur close to the surface and are mined in open pit mines. Crimea is rich in chemical raw materials - salts of chlorine, sodium, potassium, bromine, magnesium, which are found in huge quantities in the Sivash brine and numerous salt lakes. Gypsum, table salt, magnesium chloride, etc. are obtained from brine. The use of these salts opens up great prospects for the development of the chemical industry.
Various building materials are mined on the territory of Crimea. Some of them are very important and almost never found elsewhere in Russia. Diorite and andesite are used in road construction, for cladding monuments and large buildings, and ground tras are added to cement to improve its properties. Marble limestones are used in construction, are used on metallurgical plants as a flux.
Some Crimean minerals - rock crystal, chalcedony, carnelian, jasper are used as ornamental stones and are valued for their rich color range. Crimea is rich in resources mineral waters from hydrogen sulphide springs to narzan and borjomi.
Relief of the Crimea.
By the nature of the surface, Crimea is divided into two parts: steppe and mountainous. In the north and central Crimea lies a calm undulating plain. The steppe occupies about 2/3 of the entire area of the peninsula. In the west, it gradually turns into ridges and heights of Tarkhankut. An interesting feature of the eastern part - the slightly hilly Kerch Peninsula - are mud volcanoes, which have nothing to do with volcanism and spew cold mud, and troughs - bowl-shaped depressions filled with iron ore. In the southern part of Crimea there are mountains, consisting of three parallel ridges, separated by narrow valleys. The mountains stretch from the southwest to the northeast, bending in a weak arc to the north - their length is 150 km, width - 50 km. The most significant peak of the Crimean Mountains - Roman-Kosh (1545 g), is located in the Main (southern) ridge, in the Babugan mountain range. The upland of the Main Ridge consists of undulating plateau-yails (pastures) - Ai-Petrinskaya, Nikitskaya, Karabi, etc. In the east of Crimea, the main ridge is closed by the Kara-Dag mountain group, an interesting monument of volcanic activity of the Jurassic geological era. The main ridge is largely composed of limestones, which, being exposed to the action of atmospheric and ground waters, give vivid manifestations of karst processes (karst dips, cavities and caves).
The flora of the Crimea.
The flora of the Crimea is very rich, it is represented by more than two thousand plant species. The distribution of vegetation depends on the climate, topography and soils of the peninsula.
On the plain, from north to south, zones of salt-tolerant vegetation inherent in saline soils of the Sivash region (saline, sarsazan, kermek and others), wormwood and wormwood-fescue steppes replace each other. Further to the south lie feather grass steppes, and in the foothills shrub forb steppes with thyme (thyme), rocky alfalfa, tauric asphodeline appear. Currently, virgin lands are plowed up. The third mountain range (foothill zone) is occupied by the forest-steppe, where groves of low oaks, maples, ash trees, as well as thickets of blackthorn, hawthorn, wild rose, and scumpia are especially common. The slopes of the middle and Main ranges are covered with oak, beech and pine forests. Yayla is treeless and covered with herbaceous vegetation. Lonely pines and beeches are bizarrely twisted by the wind and give the landscape a kind of harsh color. The flora of the southern slope of the Main Ridge is of great interest. The natural vegetation here is mainly forest: pine, juniper, fluffy oak and Mediterranean species: pistachio, strawberry tree, yellow jasmine. But the typical landscape of the South Bank is created by ornamental garden and park vegetation. As a result of human creative activity, exotic plants have become a permanent element of the landscape: Himalayan and Lebanese cedars, cypresses, magnolias, sequoias, ivy, and Chinese wisteria. There are also endemic (inherent only in this area) plants in Crimea: Steven's maple (in the forests of the northern slope of the mountains), Biberstein's yaskolka ("Crimean edel-weiss", on high-mountain plateaus and yayls), Stankevich's pine, on coastal rocks from Balaklava to the Cape Aya and near Sudak).
Crimea climate.
The Crimean peninsula lies on southern border temperate zone. The climate of Crimea is distinguished by some features associated with its geographical location: great softness and humidity, significant sunshine. But the diversity of the relief, the influence of the sea and mountains create great differences in the climate of the steppe, mountainous and southern coastal parts of the peninsula. In the steppe Crimea, hot summers and relatively warm winter(July temperature 23-24 °, February temperature 0.5-2 °), annual quantity precipitation is low. Mountain Crimea is distinguished by more significant precipitation, less hot summers.
The southern coast provides the most favorable combination of climatic factors: mild winters, sunny hot summers ( average temperature February in Yalta 3.5 °, July 24 °), summer breezes tempering the heat, fresh breath of forests and parks. Are favorable climatic conditions the region of Evpatoria and the southeastern coast (Feodosia, Sudak, Planerskoe), as well as the mountainous Crimea (Old Crimea).
Waters in the Crimea.
The waters of the Crimea are subdivided into surface (rivers, streams, lakes) and underground (ground, artesian, karst). Rivers originate from Main ridge Crimean mountains, they are short, shallow and characterized by a large irregularity of runoff (overflow in spring and in showers and dry up in summer). The most significant river is Salgir (length 232 km). The water problem in Crimea is being solved by the construction of artificial reservoirs and canals (reservoirs on Alma, Kacha, Salgir, Simferopol reservoir, containing up to 36 million cubic meters of water). Reservoirs are being built on the river. Belbek and a tunnel about 7 km long was laid through the main mountain range for the Belbek flow to Yalta.
The waters of the North Crimean Canal will water and irrigate the most arid regions of the steppe Crimea from Perekop to Kerch. The construction of this canal will increase the yields of corn, wheat, rye, tobacco, and more intensively develop highly productive animal husbandry. The industrial centers and villages of the Crimea will be supplied with excellent Dnieper water.
Soils of Crimea.
The nature of the soil depends on the soil-forming rocks, relief, climate, plant and animal organisms. The variety of physical and geographical conditions has created a very heterogeneous composition of soils in the regions. The predominant type is southern chernozems and dark chestnut soils, which occupy the central part of the steppe Crimea.
The soils of the foothill, mountainous Crimea and the Southern coast are varieties of chernozems: calcareous chernozems, brown mountain forest soils, mountain meadow subalpine chernozems, brown soils of forests and shrubs of the Southern coast. On these soils, tobacco, vegetables, ethereal plants, grapes, stone fruits, ornamental trees and shrubs are well cultivated. The main place in agriculture in the steppe Crimea belongs to grain crops, of which wheat and corn. In modern conditions, the progressive role of the tilled farming system is especially important, which significantly increases the productivity of grain crops.
Black Sea.
The Black Sea belongs to the so-called inland seas, since it is not directly connected with the ocean. In terms of its hydrobiological and hydrophysical properties, the Black Sea stands out sharply from other marine bodies of water. Its feature is a sharp fluctuation in surface water temperatures (from one to twenty-eight degrees). The salinity of the Black Sea due to desalination by the waters of the Danube, Dniester and other rivers is relatively low: in the upper layers 17-18% (in 1 l -i 17-18 g of salt), at a depth it significantly increases, since the deep Bosphorus current brings more salt water from the Sea of Marmara. The greatest depth of the Black Sea is determined at 2243 m. Oxygen is contained in the upper horizons, “at a depth of 200 m and below, oxygen disappears and saturation with hydrogen sulfide increases.
The Black Sea is a source of fish wealth. The history of the formation of the Black Sea basin has several tens of millions of years, during which its shape and hydrological regime have repeatedly changed. That is why the composition of his animal world is diverse. In the Black Sea, three groups of fish are distinguished: relict (residual, these include herring, sturgeon fish, many species of gobies), freshwater - in estuaries and river estuaries (pike perch, perch, ram), Mediterranean invaders (anchovy, sprat, mullet, horse mackerel , mackerel, bonito, tuna and others, over 100 species of fish in total). Tuna is the largest commercial fish, its length can reach three meters, and its weight is five hundred kilograms.
Animal world of the Crimea.
The fauna of the Crimea is distinguished by a number of features and is of the so-called insular character. Many species of animals living in the territories close to Crimea are absent in Crimea, but there are endemic (local) forms of animals, the appearance of which is associated with a peculiar geological history of the peninsula (the geological age of the mountainous Crimea is older than the steppe part of the peninsula, and its fauna was formed much earlier and in other conditions). Steppe Crimea belongs to the European-Siberian zoogeographic subregion, and mountainous to the Mediterranean. On the territory of the peninsula, these subregions are bordered along the line of foothills.
Crimean scorpion (poisonous), found in rock crevices on the South Coast, Crimean gecko, Crimean owl, black and long-tailed tit, goldfinch, linnet, mountain bunting and some others. The Mediterranean forms of animals are highlighted: phalanx, scolopendra, leopard snake, yellow-bellied (legless lizard, very useful, as it destroys harmful rodents). In the same showcase there is a rock lizard, a water snake, a marsh turtle; from amphibians, the crested newt, found in small mountain reservoirs, the tree frog - an inhabitant of tree plantations near fresh water bodies, as well as shrews, a water cooler, bats, a reserved beech forest with protected animals: Crimean deer, roe deer and mouflon. For many centuries, the Crimean forests and animals were mercilessly exterminated. It was only after the Great October Socialist Revolution that an end was put to the predatory extermination of the forests and animals of the Crimea.
For the protection of nature and its restoration in the central mountainous part of the Crimea, the State Reserve was created in 1923, reorganized in 1957 into the Crimean State Reserve and Hunting Economy. The flora and fauna of the Crimean mountains on the territory of the economy has been largely restored. Many birds fly by Crimea on the way to warm countries: snail, golden plover, harlequin, white heron, kite, night heron, golden eagle and others. These birds rest in Crimea before the flight across the Black Sea, birds that fly to Crimea for the winter: tap dancers, bullfinches, waxwings, siskins, whiskers, larks, Siberian buzzards and others.
Crimea - the golden mean of the earth
This land is beautiful, washed by one of the most festive seas the globe.
K. Paustovsky.
Each of us has the inalienable right to love our native land and to assert that there is no land more beautiful, more blessed, and unique. Only a fool will argue, a wise person will agree, although he will add: "Of course, you are right, dear friend, but my homeland is also beautiful ..."
Crimeans behave this way and not otherwise: after all, millions of people from all over the world come to Crimea every year. Of course, Crimeans agree that there are blessed corners of the earth somewhere else. They do not ask: "Why did you come to us, and not we to you?" Without a doubt, Crimeans are wise people, they say in such cases: "Of course, you are right, dear friend, but my Crimea is beautiful too, let me tell you about it."
Let's open the map and orient ourselves on the terrain. The most southern point Crimea (44 ° 23 ") - Cape Sarych, near the village of Foros, located between Sevastopol and Alupka. The northernmost (46 ° 15") is located on the Perekop Isthmus, near the village of Perekop. This means that Crimea is located at the 45th latitude, in the middle between the North Pole and the equator. Perhaps someone else has some other thoughts on this, but in the middle means in the middle, and not somewhere else. At the 45th latitude, by the way, is the geographical center of France, such European cities as Budapest, Bucharest, Milan, Bern, the Canadian city of Montreal, the American cities of Minneapolis and Portland. They have everything in order with latitude, but longitude ...
The westernmost point of Crimea (32 ° 29 ") is Cape Priboyny (Kapa-Mryn) on the Tarkhankut Peninsula, the most eastern (36 ° 39") is Cape Fonar on the Kerch Peninsula. So, Crimea is located near 30 ° east longitude, that is, in the middle between the Greenwich meridian and the Urals, separating Europe and Asia. Please open a map of the world, do not be lazy. At what longitude is it bent in half, where is its middle? Of course, along the line of 30 "east longitude. Approximately at this longitude are St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkov, Ankara, Cairo, Lake Victoria, highest point Africa - Kilimanjaro Volcano, North and South Poles. They were lucky with longitude, but only Crimea was lucky.
If you look at the sky, then it will point to the Crimea. The Milky Way is called Chumatsky Shlyakh in Ukrainian. The nebula pointing to the south seems to have been created for the correct orientation of our ancestors, the Chumaks, who traveled to the Crimea for salt.
Before closing the map, let's take another look at the peninsula depicted on it. What is Crimea like? Of course - in the heart. A heart shaken by the Creator's Plan. A heart delighted with the incomprehensible wisdom and endless beauty of Nature. Crimea is also like arms outstretched for embrace and a cross sent down to people to comprehend the great unity of Faith, Love and Hope. Cross connecting North and South, West and East. But most of all, Crimea is like a flower dropped by the Creator on the Earth.
Of course, you are right, dear friend, your homeland is beautiful, but my Crimea is beautiful too! Let me tell you a little more about it.
The area of the Crimean peninsula exceeds 26 thousand km2, the maximum distance from north to south is 205 km, from west to east - 325 km. Yes, this is smaller than Switzerland, the Netherlands or Belgium, but Crimea is almost 56 times larger than Andorra, 82 times larger than Malta and 165 (!) Times larger than such a venerable European principality as Liechtenstein. We will not compare Crimea with such small states as San Marino.
In many countries of the world there is not a single sea, but in the Crimea there are two of them: the Black and the Azov. The Black Sea forms three large bays off the coast of the peninsula: Karkinitsky, Kalamitsky and Feodosia; The Sea of Azov also has three large bays: Kazantip, Arabat and Sivash.
Crimea in the north is connected to the mainland by a narrow eight-kilometer strip of land called the Perekop Isthmus. The Kerch Strait, which is 4-5 km wide, separates the Crimean Peninsula from the Taman Peninsula - the western end Krasnodar Territory Russia. The total length of the peninsula's borders exceeds 2500 km, the shores are little indented, except for the very winding coastline of a part of the peninsula near Sevastopol. In the coastal strip of the flat Crimea there are 50 estuary lakes with a total area of 53 thousand km2. Of course, this is not so much as, say, in Finland or Norway, but the Crimean lakes are valuable because they are filled with brine, a concentrated saline solution that has absorbed the power of the sea, sun and earth.
At the beginning of the XX century. in Crimea, about 40% of table salt was mined Russian Empire... DI Mendeleev's statement is well known that using oil as fuel is equivalent to burning banknotes. To paraphrase the words of the great chemist, we can say that using the Crimean salt as a table salt is like salt the soup with gold. Ecologically chaste chemical industry on the peninsula at the Saki and Krasnoperekopsky chemical plants from lake and Sivash salt produces various compounds of sodium, calcium, magnesium, bromine. However, the medicinal use of the Crimean estuaries is much more famous, but this is a separate conversation.
Once upon a time, palaces were erected on the South Coast of Crimea by monarchs and their entourage. The ruler of the next historical period invited Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill to the section of the post-war world. Why did the highly esteemed guests of Crimea prefer it to all other places on Earth? Because they were attracted by the unique Crimean climate, whose indisputable advantages are not due to several reasons.
The first is the aforementioned equidistance from the equator and the North Pole, which determines a long summer day, and not a miserable 12 hours in the tropics, and a sufficient amount of fertile heat - namely heat, and not equatorial heat or polar cold.
The second is the union of the sea and the mountains. On hot sunny days of summer, Crimea is refreshed by a breeze, a cool breeze from the sea. In the evening, cool hours, it is replaced by warm air from the mountains.
The third is the unique position of the peninsula relative to the general circulation of the atmosphere, the prevalence of westerly winds and stable anticyclones with clear weather and, as a result, a record number of sunny days, the absence of the sweltering heat carried by the air currents from Africa, and, naturally, the minimal impact of cold air masses with north, from which the mountains serve as an additional barrier.
The Crimean mountains are small, their maximum height (Mount Roman-Kosh) reaches 1545 m, much less than Everest, but this height is quite enough to create a paradise of subtropics on the South Coast, without simultaneously erecting an insurmountable barrier between warm sea and the northern, steppe part of the peninsula.
Perhaps in some other place on Earth the expression "mountains of gold" is an exaggeration, a metaphor, but not in Crimea. Crimean marls are used as raw materials for cement production, facing slabs are made from marble-like limestones, beautiful white buildings are being built from blocks of the famous Inkerman stone from the time of Chersonesos to the present day. Diabases of magmatic origin, due to their high strength, richness of color shades and good polishing qualities, are used for the manufacture of monuments and facing slabs. In Karadag and in other places, there are such minerals (gems) as agate, jet, onyx, opal, carnelian, brocade jasper.
Why are there gems! Even clay in Crimea is precious. The Crimean bentonite formed from volcanic ash, popularly called keel, soap earth or mountain soap, has very unusual properties. Previously, it was used for clarifying wines, making soap, washing and bleaching, today it is used in high technology.
The flat plateaus of the Crimean mountains combine the properties of plains and mountains, representing another “golden mean” of Crimea. Yailas, not closed from the merciless sun, seem to the uninitiated a symbol of dehydration, but this is not at all the case: underlain by porous limestones, they absorb sediments like a sponge, so that, together with shady forests, drop by drop accumulate water that feeds the Crimean rivers.
Everything is in Crimea, but in order not to jinx it, its inhabitants love to grumble just in case. And since how to find a reason for grunting in this paradise difficult enough, they habitually annoy the lack of water. Indeed, there are only 1,657 rivers on the peninsula, and only 150 of them are less than 10 km long. The total length of watercourses is 5966 km, more than the length of the Amur from the mouth to the headwaters of the Argun, but somewhat less than the Nile.
However, it must be honestly said that the natural water resources of the peninsula were clearly insufficient in its steppe part. We have heard a lot of bad things about global reclamation projects, and most likely this is the case. Probably, the turn of the northern rivers to the south threatened the Earth environmental disaster, but the turn of the southern river to the south, that is, the creation of the North Crimean Canal, solved many of the problems of the peninsula.
Crimean drinking water is generally poorly mineralized, which is beneficial for the human body, but if you are used to water enriched with wastewater from industrial giants, you should not be upset prematurely. After all, Crimea has everything, even black water. The water of the Adzhi-Su mineral spring saturated with hydrogen sulfide in the village of Kuibyshevo, Bakhchisarai region, forms a black sediment from biologically active gummines and bitumen, healing in hot medicinal baths. All in all, more than a hundred springs of healing mineral waters have been explored in Crimea, rich in many trace elements - from fluorine to radium.
Geographical position, climate, steppe areas on the tops of mountains, transparent and black waters - we are everywhere talking about combining opposite principles. If you mix all the colors into one, you get a dirty gray color. To avoid misunderstandings, we will immediately make an official explanation: Crimea is the Golden Mean, not mediocrity. The colors of his palette sparkle without mixing, and at the same time create a unique flavor.
Combining the steppe and subtropics, Crimea not only does not mix them, but complements the zone of forests and forest-steppe. Yayla is not a half-steppe-half-mountain, but a unique one a natural phenomenon, which is difficult to find analogues. Combining different principles, Crimea preserves their originality and supplements them with new, only inherent qualities. Natural sciences unanimously prove the insular origin of Crimea - we will talk about this more than once and give the arguments of scientists - therefore, on the peninsula, in addition to the amazing combination of steppe and Mediterranean nature, there is a great variety of endemic species of plants and animals found only on the peninsula.
Among the natural areas of Crimea, man-made landscapes are scattered with fancy mosaics: intertwining architectural styles of many centuries and peoples of cities, towns and villages, majestic parks, well-groomed fields, lush gardens, fragrant plantations of roses and lavender, unique vineyards. In 1963, a period of intensive irrigated agriculture began in Crimea. Almost 40 types of vegetable crops are grown in open and closed ground. The quality of Crimean products is famous far beyond the borders of the autonomous republic.
Essential oil enterprises in the cities of Simferopol, Bakhchisarai, Alushta, Sudak and the urban-type settlement of Nizhnegorsk produce rose, lavender and sage oils. Food industry is one of the leading industries in Crimea. The largest fishing port on the Black Sea with refrigerators, canning and ship repair factories has been built in Sevastopol. However, the high level of development Food Industry The peninsula is due not only to the high-end agriculture of the peninsula and the rich resources of the seas. Its development is facilitated by a relatively high level of food consumption, especially in summer time... Thus, the issue of welcoming guests is raised in Crimea on a grand scale.
Crimea is the unity of the sea, steppe and mountains. It is necessary to remove a layer of soil from the surface of the earth in the steppe Crimea, and on the surface there will be a wonderful, easy-to-work building material - shell limestone. Buildings that have a shell rock layer in their walls, like the sea, keep them warm in winter and cool in summer.
However, one should not think that only shell rock is hidden under the fertile Crimean soil. Iron ore The Kerch basin is so shallow that they are being developed in an open pit. These ores are unique in their high manganese content, so when alloyed steels are smelted, this element is added in a minimal amount or not at all.
Since the mid-60s. industrial development of natural gas fields is underway on the Tarkhankut Peninsula, in the Northern Crimea and on the Arabat Spit. The ramified system of gas pipelines made it possible to gasify most of the settlements, transfer thermal power plants to environmentally friendly fuel and enter the country's unified gas pipeline system.
The pinnacle of the industrial pyramid of the Crimean Autonomous Republic are high-tech industries: electronics, automotive, defense, construction of supertankers.
The complex development of the Crimean industry is based on an extensive network of communication routes. There are two main railways in Crimea. Sea transport carries out small coastal communication in the Azov-Black Sea basin and distant international flights... However, the main transport of the Autonomous Republic is automobile. It accounts for about 90% of domestic freight and passenger traffic. In the early 60s. a mountain trolleybus route Simferopol - Yalta was put into operation, which makes it possible to connect the capital of the republic with the South Bank by convenient and inexpensive transport.
The environmental safety of the Crimean industry has a long tradition. Back in 1931, the first in the USSR, the most powerful wind power plant in Europe at that time, was built in Balaklava. The generator blades had a diameter of 30 meters. The unique power plant was destroyed during the war. In 1986, a 5 MW solar power plant was built in Crimea. The total area of the mirrors is 40 thousand m2. Several ecologically perfect projects have been implemented on the peninsula, using tidal energy, solar and geothermal energy to generate electricity to supply heat to residential buildings, sanatoriums and hotels.
The intercity trolleybus service clearly demonstrates the level of environmental requirements for the development of the Crimean industry.
It would take a very long time to talk about Crimean science, about the great scientists who worked here, but instead of a huge list of discoveries, we will limit ourselves to a single brief remark: several sciences were created in Crimea, including virology, physics of the sea, and helioseismology.
People of many nationalities inhabit Crimea, all of them are representatives of an endemic species called "Crimeans". Crimeans are hardworking, quick-witted, hospitable and inclined to have fun. Men are wise, strong, women are kind and unusually beautiful. In a word, they are the same as other people on Earth, and only one thing distinguishes them from the rest of the inhabitants of the planet: they are more patient with the geographical bragging of visitors. Crimeans listen attentively to the guests, treat them with amazing Crimean wines, feed them with dishes made from ecologically pure Crimean products, take them to caves, reserves, beaches, dolphinariums, tasting rooms, arrange sea excursions ... Further - all the content of the book.
The population of Crimea in summer and early autumn increases many times over. When millions of guests go home, it turns out that there are about 2.5 million true Crimeans. As of 1998, 363.8 thousand people lived in the Crimean capital Simferopol, 167.4 thousand in Kerch, 371.4 thousand in Sevastopol, and 113.5 thousand in Evpatoria. Given the small number of the above-described endemic species, we propose to put it in the Red Book and, if there is no way to stop all talk about the unsurpassed (?!) Charm of other lands, then at least give the Crimeans a word in defense of their homeland.
Alas, this is not always possible, because in holiday season Crimeans are a minority on the peninsula. But they came up with a way out and told about themselves and their land in the coat of arms.
Coat of arms of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea
Columns are a symbol of the ancient Crimean civilization, the memory of Naples, Panticapaeum, Tmutarakan, Chersonesos, Theodoro, and other cities and kingdoms that once existed on the territory of Crimea. Griffin is a symbol of the guardian and protector of Crimea. The blue pearl in his paw symbolizes the uniqueness of Crimea, the unity of all its peoples, religions and cultures. The Varangian shield is a symbol of the intersection of trade routes, and its red color is a symbol of courage and courage of the peoples of Crimea. The rising sun at the top is a symbol of rebirth, prosperity, warmth and light.
In general, everything that is reflected in the words of the wise writer is embodied: "Everyone is rewarded according to his faith ..."
© Chapters from the book "All about Crimea. With love." publishing house "World of Information", 2002 (text - G. Dubovis, responsible for the issue A. Ganzh, R. Tsyupko, ed. T. Esadze)
Take a look at the map of our Motherland. In the extreme south of the European part, a peninsula juts out deeply, resembling an irregular quadrangle. It is small. Its area is only about 26 thousand square meters. km - 14 times less. In the north, narrow (up to 8 km), it is connected to the mainland, in the south and west it is washed by the waters of the Black Sea, in the north-east and east - the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait.
In the distant geological past, there were vast seas in the south: Sarmatian, Meotic and Pontic. The bottom of the Pontic sea-lake began to rise, and its waters finally gathered in two basins: the Black Sea and the Caspian, which were first connected by the Kumo-Manych Strait. They either connected with the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, then separated from it.
The modern Black Sea emerged about 10 thousand years ago. It is one of the deepest seas in our country. A strip of coastal shallow water stretches along its shores - with depths of up to 200 m. This bank of several more or less steep ledges descends to the central part of the bottom. The maximum depth of the Black Sea is 2245 m.
The Black Sea is warm. In summer, surface waters in the open sea warm up to 24-25 °, and in shallow coastal waters up to 28-29 °. In winter, the surface water temperature of the open sea is 6-7 °. The temperature of the coastal waters is generally around 0 ° with slight fluctuations. In this regard, in its coastal part, the sea freezes only in especially cold winters.
Located inside the mainland, freshened by the rivers flowing into it, the Black Sea is an average basin. The salinity of its surface waters is 16-18 ppm, that is, 16-18 parts by weight of salt per 1000 parts by weight of water. The deep waters of the Black Sea are saturated with hydrogen sulfide and therefore lifeless.
His organic world is very peculiar. Here are found fish that previously inhabited the Pontic sea-lake - pontic relics, which include beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, tulka, some species of gobies, etc. There are fish that descended from the south in the cold epochs of the past, penetrated into the Mediterranean Sea, and from it to Black. Representatives of this so-called boreal-Atlantic group of fish are sprats, salmon, gloss flounder, katran shark, stingray - sea fox.
There are, although rare, and representatives of the Arctic fauna - seals. In 1934, a seal was seen near Batumi.
The most numerous and varied are fish of the Mediterranean fauna: mullet, mackerel, horse mackerel, red mullet, bonito, sea bass, sea carp, flounder, stingray - sea cat.
Small fish also live: sea needle, seahorse, stickleback.
Two species of Mediterranean fish are poisonous. These are the sea ruff (scorpion fish) and the sea dragon. The ruff has a gland at the base of the second ray of the dorsal fin that produces a poisonous fluid that causes a painful inflammatory process.
A large and daring predator is the swordfish. In a state of irritation, she attacks not only fishing scows, but even passing ships.
Crimea is located within 44о23 ′ (Cape Sarych) and 46о15 ′ (Perekop ditch) north latitude and 32о30 ′ (Cape Karamrun) and 36о40 ′ (Cape Fonar) east longitude. The area of the Crimean peninsula is 26.0 thousand km2, the maximum distance from north to south is 205 km, from west to east - 325 km.
A narrow eight-kilometer strip of land in the north (Perekop isthmus) connects Crimea with the mainland, and 4-5 km - the width of the Kerch Strait in the east (the length of the strait is about 41 km) - separates it from the Taman Peninsula. The total length of the Crimean borders exceeds 2500 km (taking into account the extreme tortuosity of the coastline of the northeast). In general, the shores of Crimea are little indented, Black Sea forms three large bays: Karkinitsky, Kalamitsky and Feodossiysky; The Azov Sea also formed three gulfs: Kazantip, Arabat and Sivash.
Physical and geographical position of Crimea in general, it is distinguished by the following most characteristic features. Firstly, the location of the peninsula at 45 ° north latitude determines its equal distance from the equator and the North Pole, which is associated with a fairly large amount of incoming solar energy and a large number of hours of sunshine. Secondly, Crimea is almost an island. This is connected, on the one hand, with a large number of endemics (plant species that are not found anywhere except in this area) and endemics (similar animal species); on the other hand, this explains the significant deprivation of the Crimean fauna; in addition, the climate and other natural components are significantly influenced by the marine environment. Thirdly, the position of the peninsula in relation to the general circulation of the Earth's atmosphere is especially important, leading to the prevalence of westerly winds in Crimea. Crimea occupies a borderline position between the temperate and subtropical geographic zones.
Features of transport geographic location Crimea in the past determined the nature of the population of the peninsula and the specifics of its economy. In the Middle Ages, Crimea was a kind of dead end on the way of many nomadic tribes. Many settled here and perceived the local languages, culture, and religion.
The maritime environment of Crimea determined not only the peculiarities of external economic ties, but also the development of seaside recreation. Through the Danube and Dnieper rivers, Crimea has access to the ports of Central Europe, the Baltic States and Scandinavia, and through the Don and the canal system of European Russia - to the Baltic and White seas, the Caspian states.
A favorable feature of the economic and geographical location of Crimea is its neighborhood with the economically developed Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine and with Krasnodar Territory RF.
State and territorial structure
The capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the city of Simferopol. The territorial-administrative structure of Crimea includes villages, urban-type settlements, cities. Sevastopol has a special status of “a separate administrative unit”, but it is an integral part of Crimea.
Languages used on the territory of Crimea- Russian, Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar.
The central figure of the coat of arms of Crimea is a white (silver) griffin holding a shell with a blue (azure) pearl in its raised paw. Griffin (winged lion with an eagle's head) is a mythological creature - a symbol of the ancient cities of Chersonesos, Panticapaeum and others, in later times - the cities of Sevastopol and Kerch.
Since ancient times, protective properties have been attributed to the griffin. On the coat of arms of Crimea, he is depicted as a symbol of the guardian and defender of the republic. The blue pearl symbolizes Crimea as a unique corner of the planet, the unity of all its peoples, religions and cultures.
The griffin is placed on the Varangian shield (small coat of arms) - a symbol of the intersection of important trade routes, and its red color is a symbol of courage, bravery and courage of the Crimean peoples of all ages.
The shield is held by antique marble columns. The crown of the coat of arms is the rising golden sun - a symbol of rebirth and prosperity, warmth and light.
Under the shield, wrapped in rings around the columns, is a blue-white-red (in the colors of the Crimean flag) motto ribbon with the inscription: “Prosperity in unity”.
Crimea nature
The nature of the Crimea is called a natural museum. There are few places in the world where a variety of comfortable and picturesque landscapes would be combined in such an original way. They are largely due to the originality of the geographical location, geological structure, relief, climate of the peninsula. The Crimean mountains divide the peninsula into two unequal parts. Big - northern - is located in the extreme temperate zone, southern - the Crimean sub-Mediterranean - refers to the northern edge of the subtropical belt.
The flora of Crimea is especially rich and interesting. Only wild higher plants account for more than 65% of the flora of the entire European part of the Commonwealth countries. Along with this, about 1000 species of foreign plants are cultivated here. Almost all the flora of Crimea is concentrated in its southern mountainous part. This is a truly museum richness of flora.
The climate of most of Crimea- this is the climate of the temperate zone: mild steppe - in the flat part; more humid, typical for deciduous forests - in the mountains. The southern coast of Crimea is characterized by a sub-Mediterranean climate of dry forests and shrubs.
The Crimean peninsula is provided with a lot of heat not only in summer, but also in winter. In December and January, there is 8-10 times more heat per unit of the earth's surface per day than, for example, in St. Petersburg.
Crimea receives the greatest amount of solar heat in summer, especially in July. Spring is cooler here than autumn. And autumn - best season of the year. The weather is calm, sunny and moderately warm. True, sharp fluctuations in pressure during the day sharply exacerbate cardiovascular diseases in people who are not entirely healthy.
In Crimea, which is well supplied with heat, the biological productivity of plants, including agricultural crops, and the resistance of landscapes to loads largely depend on the amount of moisture. And the need for water is constantly increasing among the local population and the national economy, primarily in agriculture and health resorts. So the water in Crimea is a true engine of life and culture.
Relatively small amount atmospheric precipitation, long dry summer, the spread of karst rocks in the mountains led to the poverty of the Crimea with surface waters. Crimea is divided into two parts: a plain steppe with a very small number of surface watercourses and a mountain forest with a relatively dense river network. There are no large freshwater lakes here. In the coastal strip of the flat Crimea there are about 50 estuary lakes with a total area of 5.3 thousand square kilometers.
In Crimea, there are 1,657 rivers and temporary watercourses with a total length of 5996 km. Of these, about 150 rivers are dwarf rivers up to 10 km in length. The Salgir River alone is more than 200 km long. The river network is extremely unevenly developed on the peninsula.
Depending on the direction of the surface water runoff, the Crimean rivers are divided into three groups: rivers on the northwestern slopes of the Crimean Mountains, the rivers on the southern coast of Crimea, and rivers on the northern slopes of the Crimean mountains.
All rivers on the northwestern slopes flow almost parallel to each other. Until about the middle of their course, they look like typical mountain streams. The largest of them are Alma, Kacha, Belbek and Chernaya.
The rivers of the southern coast of Crimea are short, have very steep channel slopes, stormy temper in floods.
In the west, besides the usually dry ravines and the Khastabash brook, the largest is the Uchan-Su river. Running quickly to the sea, it forms waterfalls in four places. The topmost and largest of them (Volatile Water).
The rivers of the northern slopes of the Crimean Mountains are distinguished by the fact that outside the mountains they deviate to the east and flow into the Sivash - the lagoon of the Azov Sea. In the upper reaches of the river, it is constantly with water, and within the plains in summer, their channels are often dry.
Salgir is the longest river in Crimea. Together with the tributary Biyuk-Karasu, it represents the largest water system in Crimea. The upper reaches of the Salgir are formed from the confluence of the Angara and Kizil-Koba rivers. Near the village of Zarechnoye it flows into Salgir large inflow Ayan. Salgir fills the large Simferopol reservoir, built in 1951-1955. Below Simferopol, the river receives its right tributaries - the Beshterek, Zuya, Burulcha rivers, and 27 km from Sivash - Biyuk-Karasu. The Taiganskoye and Belogorskoye reservoirs have been built on Biyuk-Karasu.
Population of Crimea
The population of Crimea is unevenly distributed throughout the territory. 50% of the population of the republic lives on the coast. In 1991, 69% lived in cities, and 31% in rural areas. 43% of the Crimean population lives in four large cities: Sevastopol (371.4 thousand people in 1991), Simferopol (357 thousand people), Kerch (189.5 thousand people) and Evpatoria (113.3 thousand people).
Crimea is characterized by an increase in the number of cities and urban-type settlements and the relative stability of rural settlements. In recent years, cities such as Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, have appeared on the map of Crimea. The number of urban-type settlements is growing rapidly - since 1959, more than doubled.
The bulk of the population of Crimea is made up of workers (about 60 percent), office workers - 28, peasants - less than 11 percent.
Education
Crimea has always been distinguished not only by a high proportion of the urban population, but also by a high level of literacy and education of its inhabitants. For every thousand inhabitants in cities there were 900, and in villages 730 people with higher, secondary specialized and secondary education.
The training of highly qualified specialists is carried out by 6 state higher educational institutions (Simferopol State University, Crimean Medical Institute, Crimean Agricultural Institute, Sevastopol Instrument-Making Institute. Crimean Institute of Environmental Protection and Resort Construction, Crimean State Industrial Pedagogical Institute), two branches of universities - Kiev Economic University (in Simferopol) and the Kaliningrad Fish University (in Kerch), as well as several commercial universities.
Military specialists are trained by the military institute in Sevastopol and the civil engineering school in Simferopol.
In recent years, colleges have been established on a commercial basis. 30 secondary specialized educational institutions are engaged in the training of specialists. Vocational schools train personnel in 120 specialties.
In Crimea, there are academic institutes and cultural institutions. There are several professional theaters and a philharmonic society, an art gallery in Feodosia. A large number of newspapers are published. There are a large number of museums in Crimea, many of which are associated with the destinies of prominent writers, artists, scientists who lived on the peninsula.
The economic appearance of the Crimea
The economic appearance of the Crimea, the structure, the nature of the location of industries and the population evolved mainly in accordance with its natural and socio-economic conditions.
Until 1917, the republic's economy was predominantly agrarian. Gradually it developed into an industrial-agrarian one.
Crimea is distinguished by a diversified agriculture and recreational economy, the production of soda ash, titanium dioxide, sulfuric acid, technological equipment for the food industry, televisions, ocean vessels, fish and fish products. In addition to mechanical engineering, chemical industry, agriculture and recreation, the industries of specialization also include the food industry, which produces grape wines, canned fruits and vegetables, and essential oils.
In structure industrial production the leading place belongs to the food industry, followed by mechanical engineering and metalworking, the chemical industry, and the construction materials industry.
Agriculture of the Crimea is specialized in grain and animal husbandry, viticulture, horticulture, vegetable growing, as well as in the cultivation of essential oil crops (lavender, rose, sage). The volumes of gross production of livestock and crop products are balanced.
Sea transport is of great importance for the republic. Export-import transportation of various cargoes is carried out through the Crimean ports. The most important ports are Kerch, Feodosia, Yalta, Evpatoria. The largest port city is Sevastopol.
Recreational economy is one of the leading industries in the republic. WITH Latin recreation is translated as "recovery", meaning the restoration of physical and psychophysiological conditions of a person. The recreational facilities include; sanatoriums, boarding houses, houses and recreation centers, tourist hotels and tourist centers, campings, children's camps. The recreational farm operates on beach, balneological and climatic resources, therapeutic mud, sea water, landscape resources.
Branches of social infrastructure of Crimea- utilities, consumer services, public education, public catering, trade, health care, social security, culture, physical education, credit and insurance, science and scientific services - are distinguished by a high level of development.
Located at latitude southern France and northern Italy.
Crimean rivers
The main river is Salgir. Her 232 -km channel begins in the Angarsk Pass area and is lost off the coast of the Azov Sea. A total of about 150 rivers. The most fertile and picturesque valleys are located between Bakhchisarai and Sevastopol. They are formed by the rivers Alma, Kacha, Belbek, Chernaya.
Being essentially an island, it has become a kind of reserve for some endemic (not found anywhere except in this area) representatives of flora and fauna. Flora and fauna.
Rare plants and animals, unique landscapes, which the peninsula is so rich in, are under conservation protection. Their total area is about 700 square kilometers, it is more 2,5% from the territory, one of the highest indicators of reserve saturation for the CIS. Many of the protected sites are visited by tourists; here you are required to be especially careful with nature.
