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Crimea,
autonomous republic in southeastern Ukraine. It is a peninsula in
the Black Sea, connected to the mainland by the narrow Isthmus of Perekop.
Crimea's total area is 25,993 sq km (10,036 sq mi). The administrative center
and principal city is Simferopol’. The terrain is mostly a level upland plain, with
several parallel mountain ranges in the southeastern area. The climate in
the plains area is cold and windy in the winter and dry in the summer. Fruit
orchards and vineyards are numerous. The scenic Crimean coastal region
has a mild climate and is a famous resort area; the leading resort town is Yalta.
Crimea's population is about 2,456,000 (1989). Russians, Ukrainians, and Tatars are the major ethnic groups. Agricultural products of Crimea include fruits, tobacco, grains, and almonds. Cattle and sheep are raised on the mountain slopes. The republic contains productive mineral deposits, notably salt and phosphoric iron ore. Other important industries are shipbuilding, fishing, and manufacturing. After nearly 1000 years of successive invasions by various peoples, Crimea was overrun by the Ottomans in 1475. In 1783 the Russian Empire took control. The peninsula was embattled during the Crimean War (1853-1856) and figured prominently in the civil war following the Russian Revolution of 1917. In 1921 Crimea was established as an autonomous republic for Crimean Tatars within the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR), which the next year became part of the newly founded Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. After World War II (1939-1945), Soviet leader Joseph Stalin accused the Crimean Tatars of collaborating with the enemy during the war and deported them to Central Asia. Crimea was made a region of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in 1954. Shortly after the USSR collapsed in 1991, the possession of Crimea became a source of tension between Russia and Ukraine. In 1992 the Crimean legislature issued a declaration of independence. The Ukrainian government, however, insisted on retaining the region within the administrative structure of Ukraine.
Source: Microsoft Bookshelf 98© | ||||