Simferopol Totally Explained

Everything about Simferopol totally explained

Simferopol (English pronunciation ) (; ;, literally: The white mosque) is the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in southern Ukraine. As the capital of Crimea, Simferopol is an important political, economic, and transport center of the peninsula. As of 2006, the city's population is 340,600.
Archaeological evidence in Simferopol indicates the existence of an ancient Scythian city, collectively known as the Scythian Neapol. The location was also home to a Crimean Tatar town, Aqmescit. After the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire, the city's name was changed to its present Simferopol.

History

Early history

Archaeological evidence in the Chokurcha cave shows the presence of ancient people living in the territory of modern Simferopol. The Scythian Neapol, known by its Greek name, is also located in the city, which is the remnants of an ancient capital of the Crimean Scythians who lived on the territory from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD.
Later, the Crimean Tatars founded the town of Aqmescit. The name Aqmescit literally translates as "the white mosque" (Aq—white, and mescit—mosque). For some time, Aqmescit served as the residence of the Qalğa-Sultan, the second important position in the Crimean Khanate after the Khan himself.

Russian Empire and Civil War

The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις (Sympheropolis), translated as "the city of usefulness." Germans perpetrated one of the largest war-time massacres in Simferopol, killing in total over 22,000 locals—mostly Russians, Jews, Krymchaks, and Gypsies. On one occasion, on December 13, 1941, the Einsatzgruppen D under Otto Ohlendorf's command killed at least 14,300 Simferopol residents.
In April 1944, the Red Army liberated Simferopol. On May 18, 1944, the Crimean Tatar population of the city along with the whole Crimean Tatar nation of Crimea was forcibly deported to Central Asia in a form of collective punishment. On April 26, 1954, Simferopol, together with the rest of the Crimean Oblast, was transferred from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
A minor planet 2141 Simferopol discovered in 1970 by Soviet astronomer Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova is named after the city.

After Ukrainian independence

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Simferopol became the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within newly independent Ukraine. Today, the city has a population of 340,600 (2006) most of which are ethnic Russians, with the rest being Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities.
After the Crimean Tatars were allowed to return from exile in the 1990s, several new Crimean Tatar suburbs were constructed, as many more Tatars returned to the city compared to number of exiled in 1944. Land owenership between the current residents and returning Crimean Tatars is a major area of conflict today with the Tatars requesting the return of lands seized after their deportation.
Simferopol is currently twinned with: Heidelberg, Germany; Kecskemét, Hungary; Salem, United States, Bursa, Turkey; and Rousse, Bulgaria.

Transportation

Simferopol has a main railway station, which serves millions of tourists each year. The city is also connected via the Simferopol International Airport, which was constructed in 1936.
The city also has several main bus stations, with routes towards many cities, including Sevastopol, Kerch, Yalta, and Yevpatoriya. The Crimean Trolleybus connects Simferopol to the city of Yalta on Crimea's Black Sea coast. The line is the longest trolleybus line in the world with a total length of .

Politics and administrative divisions

As the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Simferopol houses it's political structure including the Parliament and Council of Ministers. Simferopol is also the administrative center of the Simferopolskyi Raion (district), however, it's directly subordinate to the Crimean authorities rather than to the raion authorities housed in the city itself.
The city of Simferopol is administratively divided into three raions (Zaliznychnyi, Tsentralnyi, and Kyivskyi), four urban-type settlements (Ahrarne, Aeroflotskyi, Hriesivskyi, Komsomolske) and one village (Bitumne). The city's mayor is Henadiy Babenko, from the Party of Regions.

Geography and climate

Simferopol is located in the south-central portion of the Crimean peninsula. The city lies on the Salhir River and near the artificial Simferopol Reservoir, which provides the city with clean drinking water.
The city's climate is dry and warm, with soft winters. The average temperature in January is and in July. The average rainfall is per year, and there's a total of 2,469 hours of sunlight per year.

Famous people from Simferopol

Andriy Hryvko, a Ukrainian cyclist who rides for Team Milram.
Kelly Holiday, Electronica and Hip-Hop DJ and producer
Adolph Joffe, a Russian Communist revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and a Soviet diplomat
Yana Klochkova, a Ukrainian swimmer, who has won five Olympic medals in her career, with four of them being gold.
Zara Levina, a Russian composer
Yuri I. Manin, a Russian-born mathematician
Evhen Tsybulenko, professor of international law

Sergey Karjakin, the youngest chess grandmaster in history at the age of 12 years and 7 months.

Ekaterina Serebrianskaya, an individual rhythmic gymnast

Lev Sigalevich, painter

Oleg Kotov, Col. Russian Air Force, Expedition 15 Soyuz Commander & Flight Engineer

Franz Josef Grenzebach jr., diplomatist of the Russian Tzar and Trader in Eastern Europe and Middle East in the 19th century.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Simferopol'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://simferopol.totallyexplained.com">Simferopol Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.