Kerch Peninsula | |
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Coordinates: 45°15′N36°00′E / 45.250°N 36.000°E | |
Location | Crimea |
Part of | Crimea |
The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula.
This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman Peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the peninsula is located within the Lenine Raion.
In Classical Antiquity, the area was known as the "Rough Peninsula" (Greek: Χερσόνησος Τραχεία, Latin : Chersonesus Trachea).
In Slavic languages, its pronunciation does not vary by much: Ukrainian : Керченський півострів, Kerchenskyi Pivostriv; Crimean Tatar : Keriç yarımadası, Kerich Yarymadasy; Russian : Керченский полуостров, Kyerchyenskii Polu'ostrov.
The Kerch Peninsula is almost completely surrounded by water and only to the west connects with the rest of Crimea by the Isthmus of Ak-Monay which is only 17 kilometres (11 mi) wide (from the southern end of the Arabat Spit to the town of Primorsky (Khafuz), Feodosiya). On elevated portions of the isthmus, named after the village of Kamianske (former Aq-Monai), are seen both of the surrounding seas.
The widest portion of the Kerch Peninsula is between the Kazan-Tip Cape (north) and Chauda Cape (south), that are 52 kilometres (32 mi) apart. The length of Kerch Peninsula is over 90 kilometres (56 mi), from the western portion of Aqmanai Isthmus to the Fonar Cape. The total area of the peninsula is 2,830 square kilometres (700,000 acres), which is just over 10% of the total area of the Crimean peninsula.
The southern coast of the Kerch peninsula is washed by the Black Sea and the Bay of Feodosia, to the east as a natural border serves the Strait of Kerch, while the northern shores are part of the coastline of the Sea of Azov, Kazantip Bay, and Bay of Arabat. Away to the northwest from the peninsula runs another isthmus known as the Arabat Spit (locally Arabat arrow) which separates Sivash (the Rotten Sea) from Azov Sea. Other prominent features of the peninsula are Mount Mithridat located in the east at the shores of the Strait of Kerch and the Ararat Mountain (175 metres (574 ft)) located just west of the Kerch city, both of which are part of the northeastern elevated region. At the southeastern portion of peninsula are located mountains Sosman and Kharuchu-Oba. The highest mountain on the peninsula is Pikhbopai that is part of the Mithridat crest and 189 metres (620 ft) tall. The Kerch Peninsula, as well as surrounding areas such as Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, and the Caspian Sea region (which encompasses the Caucasus and Central Asia) are home to many mud volcanoes. These mud volcanoes are important for the region's oil industry. [1] [2] [3]
Beside the above-mentioned bays there are also Mysova bay and Tatarska bay, both located around the Kazan-Tip Cape making it look as a small peninsula.
On the territory of the peninsula are located several natural preserves (zapovedniks):
Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. Kerch has a population of about 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 is 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, currently under Russian occupation. 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 largest city is Sevastopol. The region has a population of 2.4 million, and 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. 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.
The Syvash or Sivash, also known as the Putrid Sea or Rotten Sea, is a large area of shallow lagoons on the west coast 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. 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.
The Taurida Governorate was a governorate of the Russian Empire. It included the Crimean Peninsula and the mainland between the lower Dnieper River and the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. It formed after the Taurida Oblast was abolished in 1802 in the course of Paul I's administrative reform of the territories of the former Crimean Khanate annexed by the Russian Empire in 1783. The governorate's centre was the city of Simferopol. The province was named after the ancient Greek name of Crimea - Taurida.
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.
Tuzla Spit or Kosa Tuzla was a long narrow peninsula or sandy spit in the eastern part of the Strait of Kerch which extended from Cape Tuzla to the north-west in the direction of the city Kerch for almost 11 kilometres (6.8 mi).
The Chushka Spit is a sandy spit in the northern part of the Strait of Kerch which extends from Cape Achilleion 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 the 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.
Strilkove is a Ukrainian village in Henichesk raion of Kherson oblast. It belongs to Henichesk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. In 2001 its population was 1,372, and was predominantly ethnic Russian.
A crisis in Russia–Ukraine relations developed at the end of 2003 caused by disputes over the ownership of Tuzla Island and the construction by Russia of a dam in the Kerch Strait to Tuzla Island. The dispute raised fears of an armed confrontation.