Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of 147,033 .
The Sea of Azov is an inland shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Russia on the east, and by Ukraine on the northwest and southwest. It is an important access route for Central Asia, from the Caspian Sea via the Volga–Don Canal.
Crimea is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine. To the east, the Crimean Bridge, constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch, linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia. The Arabat Spit, located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. Across the Black Sea to the west lies Romania and to the south is Turkey. The population is 2.4 million, and the largest city is Sevastopol. The region has been under Russian occupation since 2014.
The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) to 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) wide and up to 18 metres (59 ft) deep. The most important harbor, the Crimean city of Kerch, gives its name to the strait, formerly known as the Cimmerian Bosporus or Straits of Taman. It has also been called the Straits of Yenikale after the Yeni-Kale fortress in Kerch.
The Isthmus of Perekop, literally Isthmus of the Trench, is the narrow, 5–7 kilometres (3.1–4.3 mi) wide strip of land that connects the Crimean Peninsula to the mainland of Ukraine. The isthmus projects between the Black Sea to the west and the Syvash to the east. The isthmus takes its name of "Perekop" from the Tatar fortress of Or Qapi.
The Bay of Arabat,, is in the southwestern Azov Sea in eastern Europe.
The Arabat Spit or Arabat Arrow is a barrier spit that separates the large, shallow, salty Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. The spit runs between the Henichesk Strait in the north and the north-eastern shores of Crimea in the south. It is the largest of several spits of the Sea of Azov.
Greek Crimea concerns the ancient Greek settlements on the Crimean Peninsula. Greek city-states first established colonies along the Black Sea coast of Crimea in the 7th or 6th century BC. Several colonies were established in the vicinity of the Kerch Strait, then known as the Cimmerian Bosporus. The density of colonies around the Cimmerian Bosporus was unusual for Greek colonization and reflected the importance of the area. The majority of these colonies were established by Ionians from the city of Miletus in Asia Minor. By the mid-1st century BC the Bosporan Kingdom became a client state of the late Roman Republic, ushering in the era of Roman Crimea during the Roman Empire.
The Syvash or Sivash, also known as the Putrid Sea or Rotten Sea, is a large area of shallow lagoons on the western edge of the Sea of Azov. Separated from the sea by the narrow Arabat Spit, the water of the Syvash covers an area of around 2,560 km2 (990 sq mi) and the entire area spreads over about 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi). The Henichesk Strait is its eastern connection to the Sea of Azov. The Syvash borders the northeastern coast of the main Crimean Peninsula. The central and eastern Syvash were registered as wetlands of Ukraine under the Ramsar Convention. Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the entire Syvash has been occupied by Russia.
Taurida Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. It included the territory of the Crimean Peninsula and the mainland between the lower Dnieper River with the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. It formed after the Taurida Oblast was abolished in 1802 during Paul I's administrative reform of the territories of the former Crimean Khanate, which were annexed by Russia from the Ottoman Empire in 1783. The governorate's centre was the city of Simferopol. The name of the province was derived from Taurida, a historical name for Crimea.
Tuzla Island is a sandy islet in the form of a spit located in the middle of the Strait of Kerch, between the Kerch Peninsula in the west and the Taman Peninsula in the east. The island was formed from part of the Taman Peninsula after a 1925 storm.
Chushka Spit is a sandy spit in the northern part of the Strait of Kerch. It extends from Cape Achilleion and the town of Ilich to the south-west in the direction of the Black Sea for almost 18 kilometres (11 mi). Administratively, it belongs to Temryuksky District, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
The Crimean Bridge, also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning the Kerch Strait between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in Russia and the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea. Built by the Russian Federation after its annexation of Crimea at the start of 2014, the bridge cost ₽227.92 billion (US$3.7 billion) and has a length of 19 km (12 mi), making it the longest bridge in Europe and the longest bridge ever constructed by Russia.
The Yeni Kale Lighthouse is an active lighthouse on Cape Fonar near Yeni-Kale fortress in eastern Crimea on the shore of Kerch Strait. Navigation cressets on this coast were first mentioned in the Periplus of Scylax, dated 350 BC.
Cape Fonar is the easternmost point of the Crimean peninsula. The cape is located on the western shore of Kerch Strait near the exit to Azov Sea.
Strilkove is a Ukrainian village in Henichesk urban hromada, Henichesk Raion, Kherson Oblast. In 2013 its population was 1,415, and was predominantly ethnic Russian.
The Isthmus of Ak-Monay or Isthmus of Parpach is a narrowing of the Crimea Peninsula to a 17-km width between the Gulf of Feodosia to the south and Sivash and the Bay of Arabat to the north. The isthmus connects Kerch Peninsula to the rest of Crimea.
A dispute over Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait arose between Russia and Ukraine in 2003, sparked by unannounced Russian construction of a causeway from their side of the strait toward the island, which is Ukrainian territory. Russians offered various reasons for building the causeway, but Ukraine saw it as a threat to their territorial integrity. The dispute raised fears of an armed confrontation, but a settlement was negotiated.
Opuk Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve located on the southern coast of the Kerch Peninsula on the Black Sea. It is centered on a limestone massif rising from the kerch plains, and a salt lake. The site is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.
Lacy's campaign to Crimea was a military expedition from May to October 1737 by the Don army under the command of Field Marshal Peter Lacy, along with Cossacks and Kalmyk auxiliary cavalry led by Prince Galdan-Narbo, against the forces of the Crimean Khanate led by Fetih II Giray during the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739. The battles culminated in Russian victory at the Salgir River in Crimea on July 12, 1737, and in the vicinity of Karasubazar on July 14.
