Geography. Geographical location and borders of Crimea

The Crimean peninsula is located in the south of Russia. Latitude of southern France or northern Italy. From the east, the shores of Crimea are washed by the waters of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, and from the west and south - by the Black Sea. The Crimean peninsula is connected to the mainland only by a narrow isthmus, a maximum of eight kilometers wide. The name of the isthmus at first glance seems unexpected - Perekopsky (what did they want to dig, but did not have time?!).

Crimea also includes two peninsulas:

Kerch, it is located in the east between the Black and Azov seas,
Tarkhankutsky, occupies western part Crimea.

South coast Crimean peninsula It is not without reason that it is considered the most favorable: the sea is located in the southeast, the mountains protect from the winds in the northwest. This creates a velvety climate of dry subtropics.

The Crimean peninsula has borders with Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Georgia. The capital and the largest transport hub on the peninsula is the city of Simferopol. The population of Simferopol is about 400 thousand inhabitants.

Geographic characteristics

Territory - 26860 km². Length: from east to west - 360 km, from south to north - 180 km.
The most South part- Cape Sarych; the westernmost cape is Priboyny; cape with speaking name The lantern is in the east.

There are many seaports, the largest are Evpatoria, Feodosia, Yalta, Kerch.

Length coastline the Crimean peninsula is more than 2,500 km. Of these, almost 50% falls on the Sivash Bay, 750 km - the Black Sea coast and about 500 km - the coast of the Sea of Azov. The shores of the peninsula are indented by numerous bays, gulfs and coves.

The territory of Crimea is 72% plains, 20% mountains and 8% lakes and rivers.

Relief

The Crimean peninsula and in the distant years, judging by the results of the study, had favorable natural conditions. People have lived here for a very long time. Here are found monuments of the Middle Paleolithic (about 150 thousand years ago), Mesolithic, Neolithic, Eneolithic and Bronze Age.

In many Crimean local history museums unique archaeological finds are kept, found in grottoes, caves, under rock canopies, where primitive people found a natural shelter.

Here are some natural historical monuments Crimea:

burial of Neanderthals in the Kiik-Koba cave, located near the village. Zuya in the Belogorsky district,
Wolf Grotto and Chokurcho near Simferopol,
Starosele near Bakhchisarai,
Ak-Kaya near Belogorsk.

In Europe, older finds are not known.

The relief of the Crimean peninsula consists of three unequal parts:

North Crimean Plain with the Tarkhankut Upland (about 70% of the territory),
Kerch Peninsula
and in the south - the mountainous Crimea extends in three ridges.

The highest mountain in the Crimean mountains is Roman-Kosh (1545 m).

Crimean mountains

Once upon a time, 200 million years ago, the waves of the primary Tethys ocean crashed in this place. Crimean and Caucasian mountains rose from it 7-8 million years ago. These mountains divided the waters of the ocean, forming the Black and Caspian Seas.

They have three main ridges, which are separated by valleys. These ridges begin in the southwest of Crimea. Here are their names:

Main (aka South) - starts at and follows along the coast to Feodosia. It has a length of almost 180 km. It ends at Cape St. Elijah;
The inner ridge (Middle), stretches from the Mekenziev mountains towards the Old Crimea;
External - starts from the Kara-Tau hill, which is on the watershed of the Belbek and Kacha rivers, and follows to Simferopol.

The width of the mountain strip reaches 50 km.

Crimean mountains very picturesque and not like the others. They are like huge frozen waves. Main ridge to the north it has gentle slopes, and to the south it breaks off with high steep walls. It has its own peculiarity - it does not have the usual peaks, but wavy upland plateaus. In Crimea, they are called yayly (translated as summer pasture).

In Alushta, the Main Ridge is divided into separate massifs bearing the names Babugan, Chatyr-Dag and Demerdzhi. The sloping Dolgorukovskaya yayla goes to the north, and the largest Karabi-yayla in terms of area goes to the east. It connects with Demerdzhinskaya only by a "bridge" in the form of the Table Mountain.

After that, the Main Ridge finally disintegrates, leaving only a few mountain ranges, peaks and volcanic massifs, of which the most interesting, unusual is Karadag.

In many places East Bank the ancient "Taurian platform" protrudes directly from the ground, forming an unusually shaped elevation with landslides, cracks, ravines. Further, to the east of Feodosia, roads and paths lead to sparsely populated land, the relief of which is called the Kerch hilltop.

To the north and northwest of the Feodosia Bay, almost the entire little Crimea occupied a huge, in comparison with the coastal resort strip, the Crimean steppe. So "Cimmeria" (sometimes called "Kimtavria") is a land of contrasts - mountains, coast, flat hills, steppe.

Steppe

The steppe occupies the largest part of the Crimean territory. It is the southern outskirts of the East European, or Russian, plain and slightly lowers to the north. The Kerch Peninsula is divided by the Parpach Ridge into two parts: the southwestern - flat and the northeastern - hilly, which is characterized by the alternation of ring-shaped limestone ridges, gentle depressions, mud hills and coastal lake basins.

In the flat part of the peninsula, varieties of southern and carbonate chernozems predominate, dark chestnut and meadow chestnut soils of dry forests and shrubs, as well as brown mountain-forest and mountain-meadow chernozem-like soils (on yayles) are less common.

The Crimean peninsula has vast agricultural lands. More than 52% of the territory is occupied by arable land, there are not so many orchards and vineyards - about 5%. It’s not even clear where Crimean wines appeared in our stores now! Part of the land is used for pastures. There are also forests.

Rivers and lakes

On the Crimean peninsula more 1600 rivers and temporary drains. Their total length is about 6000 kilometers. However, usually these are small streams, which dry up almost all in summer. There are only 257 rivers longer than 5 km.

The most significant of the rivers according to their geographical position are divided into several groups:

rivers of the northern and northeastern slopes of the Crimean mountains (Salgir, the most long river peninsulas - 232 km; Wet Indole - 27 km; Churuksu - 33 km, etc.);
rivers of the northwestern slope (Chernaya - 41 km, Belbek - 63 km, Kacha - 69 km, Alma - 84 km, Western Bulganak - 52 km, etc.);
the rivers of the southern coast of Crimea (Uchan-Su - 8.4 km, Derekoika - 12 km, Ulu-Uzen - 15 km, Demerdzhi - 14 km, Ulu-Uzen East - 16 km, etc.);
river-beams of the flat Crimea and the Kerch Peninsula.

The rivers of the northwestern slopes of the Crimean Mountains flow almost parallel to each other, until the middle of the course they are typically mountainous. The rivers of the northern slopes on the plain deviate to the east and flow into the Sivash. The short rivers of the Southern Coast flowing into the Black Sea are typically mountainous throughout their entire length. mountain river Wuchang-Su runs down to the sea, forming waterfalls in four places.

There are also many lakes and estuaries on the territory of the peninsula - more than three hundred. Some of them are muddy. The lakes located along the coast are mostly salty. On the Tarkhankut peninsula there is a rather large freshwater Ak-Mechet lake. mountain lakes are mainly artificial reservoirs. There are more than 50 salt lakes in Crimea, the largest of them is Lake Sasyk (Kunduk) - 205 sq. km.

Weather in Crimea

The natural conditions of the Crimean peninsula are very extraordinary. This amazing edge endowed with both fertile lands and magnificent sea coast, and majestic, unique in their beauty, mountain ranges. The Crimean peninsula has a mild climate throughout the peninsula.

Crimea today is the blessed land of the Crimean peninsula, washed by the Black and Azov seas. In the north it stretches a plain, in the south - the Crimean mountains with a necklace near the coastal strip of seaside resort cities: Yalta, Miskhor, Alupka, Simeiz, Gurzuf, Alushta, Feodosia, Evpatoria and seaports - Kerch, Sevastopol.

Crimea is located within 44 0 23 "(Cape Sarych) and 46 0 15" (Perekop ditch) of northern latitude and 32 0 30 "(Cape Karamrun) and 36 0 40" (Cape Lantern) of eastern longitude. The area of the Crimean peninsula is 26.0 thousand km 2, 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 is the width Kerch Strait in the east (the length of the strait is about 41 km) - they separate it from Taman Peninsula. The total length of the borders of Crimea exceeds 2500 km (taking into account the extreme sinuosity of the coastline of the northeast). The Black Sea forms three major bays: Karkinitsky, Kalamitsky and Feodosia; Sea of Azov also formed three bays: Kazantip, Arbat and Sivash.

Physical location

Physical and geographical position of Crimea generally differs in the following most characteristic features. Firstly, the location of the peninsula at 45 0 north latitude determines its equidistance from the equator and the North Pole, which is associated with a fairly big amount incoming solar energy and many hours of sunshine. Secondly, Crimea is almost an island. This is related, on the one hand, 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 depletion 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, which leads to the predominance of westerly winds in Crimea, is of particular importance. Crimea occupies a border position between the temperate and subtropical geographical zones.

Climate

The climate of most of the Crimea- this is the climate of the temperate zone: mild steppe - in the flat part; more humid, typical for broad-leaved 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 large amount of heat not only in summer, but also in winter. In December and January, 8-10 times more heat is received here 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 here is cooler 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 people who are not very healthy.

In the 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 both among the local population and National economy, especially rural and resort. So the water in the Crimea is the true engine of life and culture.

A relatively small amount of precipitation, a long dry summer, the spread of karst rocks in the mountains led to the poverty of the Crimea surface waters. Crimea is divided into two parts: a flat steppe with a very small number of surface watercourses and a mountainous forest with a relatively dense river network. There are no big ones here. fresh lakes. In the seaside strip of the flat Crimea there are about 50 lakes-estuaries with a total area of 5.3 thousand square kilometers.

The renaming of historical place names of Crimea is one of the hottest topics. It is known that the executions of the Crimean toponyms took place several times, leaving the Crimeans without their former names. settlements. titles geographical objects renaming affected less. However, many historical names mountains and rivers are gradually falling out of use, although their names have not been officially changed.

Mount Uzun-Syrt

All Crimeans know the most beautiful mountain Klementyev near Koktebel. But few have heard its historical and real name - Uzun-Syrt, which means " long ridge". Uzun-Syrt began to be called "Mount Klementyev" after the death of test glider pilot Pyotr Klementyev here in 1924.

Mount Ayu-dag

The name of one of the most famous mountains Crimea - Ayu-Dag is translated as "bear-mountain". And although officially its name sounds exactly “Ayu-Dag”, in Lately the use of translation is becoming more and more common.

Peak Orman-kosh

Initially Mount Roman-kosh- the most high point Crimea - was called Orman-kosh - "pasture in the forest." The name was "corrected" in 1913, when the Romanovs celebrated the 300th anniversary of their stay on the royal throne. In the same year, a dirt road was built to the highest point of the Crimea - the Romanovskaya road. Nicholas II personally inspected it. Then the Crimean topographers decided to please the king by swapping the letters in the name of the peak. So Orman-kosh became Roman-kosh.

Rock Kush-kai

to the peninsula there are several peaks with the name Kush-kaya - “rock-bird”. One of them is a coastal rock massif between Sudak and Novyi Svet. This is the largest fossil reef in the Crimea, formed about 140-165 million years ago. However, many guidebooks use the name "Falcon" to designate this rock.

Plateau of Su-Batkan-Yayla

Historically, the plateau had a Crimean Tatar name after the name of the Su-batkan river flowing through it. “Dolgorukovskaya yayla” began to be informally called only at the beginning of the 20th century by the name of the landowners Dolgorukovs, who owned land in the Salgir valley, adjacent to the yayla from the west.

Buyuk-Karasu River

One of the most significant tributaries of the Salgir is the Buyuk-Karasu River. Toponym means "big black water". Its meaning is that the river is fed by a powerful spring source, and not by a glacier, for example. This name was distorted to the ridiculous "Karasevka". Why ridiculous? Because there have never been any crucian carp in this river.

Kokkoz River

The left tributary of the Belbek River is called Kokkoz - "blue eye", which means the water mirror of a spring or well. But many Crimeans distort the name to the clumsy word "Kokkozka" or, even worse, "Kokoska".

Derekoy River

The river bears the same name as the now disappeared village of Derekoy, whose territory has long been within the city of Yalta. The name Derekoy means "gorge village". It is not clear why, but more and more often this river is called Bystraya.

Located at the latitude of southern France and northern Italy.

Crimean rivers

The main river is the Salgir. Her 232 -x kilometer channel begins in the area of the Angarsk Pass and is lost off the coast of the Sea of Azov. A total of approx. 150 rec. The most fertile and picturesque valleys are located between Bakhchisaray 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. vegetable and animal world.

rare plants and animals, unique landscapes, which the peninsula is so rich in, are under protected protection. Their total area is about 700 square kilometers, that's over 2,5% from the territory, one of the highest indicators of reserved saturation for the CIS. Many of the protected sites are visited by tourists, here you are required to take special care of nature.