Simferopol
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Simferopol (Ukrainian: Сімферополь; Russian: ; ) is the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine. It is situated on the small Salgir River.
History
A famous archaeological site known as Scythian Neapol, the remnants of an ancient capital of the Crimean Scythians, is located within the city's boundaries.
Later, the Crimean Tatar town of Aqmescit was located in the area of modern Simferopol.
Russians renamed the city Simferopol in 1784 after the conquest of Crimea by Catherine II of Russia. In Greek Συμφερόπολις (Sympheropolis) means "the city of use". In 1802 Simferopol became the administrative center of the Taurida Governorate. During the Crimean War of 1854-1856 Russian army reserves and a hospital were located in the city. More than 30,000 Russian soldiers were buried in the vicinity of the city.
In the 20th century Simferopol once again was affected by wars in the region. At the end of the Russian Civil War, the headquarters of General Pyotr Wrangel, leader of the anti-Bolshevik White Army, were located there. On November 13, 1920 the Red Army captured the city and on October 18, 1921, Simferopol became the capital of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
During the World War II Simferopol was occupied by the German army between November 1, 1941 and April 13, 1944. 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 killed at least 14,300 Simferopol residents.
The Soviets recaptured Simferopol in April, 1944. And on May 18 the Crimean Tatar population of the city with the whole Crimean Tatar nation was forcibly deported to Central Asia.
After the war, on April 26, 1954, Simferopol, together with the rest of Crimea, was transferred from Russia to the Ukrainian SSR by Nikita Khrushchev.
Modern City
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Simferopol became the capital city of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within independent Ukraine. Today it has a population of 363,600 (as of 2004) who are mostly ethnic Russians. There are also significant Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities.
After Crimean Tatars returned from the exile in 1990s several new Crimean Tatar suburbs were erected.
The city has a railway terminus, serving millions of summer tourists each year, and an international airport. The world's longest trolley bus line connects Simferopol to Yalta on Crimea's Black Sea coast.
Famous people from Simferopol
- Adolph Joffe, a Russian Communist revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and a Soviet diplomat
- Yuri I. Manin, a Russian-born mathematician
- Ekaterina Serebrianskaya, an individual Rhythmic Gymnast
External links
- [What to Put on Crimea's Center Coat of Arms?] 22 May, 2006 UNIAN report (in Ukrainian; includes images of suggested CoA versions)
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