1.
Krasnoyarsk Krai
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Krasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia, with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk—the third-largest city in Siberia. Krasnoyarsk Krai is the largest krai in the Russian Federation, the second largest federal subject, and the third largest subnational governing body by area in the world. It borders the Sakha Republic, Irkutsk, the Tuva Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, and Kemerovo, Tomsk, and Tyumen Oblasts, and the Kara Sea and Laptev Sea of the Arctic Ocean in the north. The krai is located in the basin of the Arctic Ocean, the main rivers of the krai are the Yenisei, and its tributaries, the Kan, the Angara, the Podkamennaya Tunguska, and the Nizhnyaya Tunguska. There are also several lakes in the krai. The largest lakes include Beloye, Belyo, Glubokoye, Itat, Khantayskoye, Labas, Lama, Pyasina, Taymyr, the rivers and lakes are rich with fish. The climate is continental with large temperature variations during the year. For the central and southern regions where most of the population lives, long winters and short. The territory of Krasnoyarsk Krai experiences conditions of three belts, Arctic, Subarctic, and moderate. In the north there are less than 40 days with temperature above 10 °C, the average temperature in January is −36 °C in the north and −18 °C in the south. The average temperature in July is +10 °C in the north, the annual precipitation is 316 millimeters. Snow covers the regions of the krai from early November until late March. The peaks of the Sayan Mountains higher than 2, 400–2,600 m, permafrost is widespread, especially in the north. The highest point of the krai is Grandiozny Peak in the East Sayan Mountains at an elevation of 2,922 meters, according to archaeologists, the territory of Siberia was settled around 40,000 BCE. The grave-mounds and monuments of the Scythian culture in Krasnoyarsk Krai belong to the 7th century BCE and are ones of the oldest in Eurasia, a princes grave, the Kurgan Arshan, discovered in 2001, is also located in the krai. Russian settlement of the began in the 17th century. After the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway the Russian colonization of the strongly increased. During both the Tsarist and the Bolsheviks regimes the territory of Krasnoyarsk Krai was used as a place of exile of political enemies, the first leaders of the Soviet state, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin were exiled to what is now the krai in 1897–1900 and 1903, respectively
2.
Flag of Krasnodar Krai
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The flag of Krasnodar Krai, in the Russian Federation, is a horizontal tricolour of blue, purple, and green. The purple band is twice the width of the other two, the flag is charged with a golden coat of arms in the center. The arms are fimbriated with black and feature the pernac, a cossack sceptre, the colours of the flag of Krasnodar Krai are identical to those of the flag of Kuban, but that of Krasnodar Krai is charged with a golden coat of arms in the center. The flag was adopted on June 6,1995, flag of Kuban Flags of the World
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
5.
Federal districts of Russia
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The federal districts are groupings of the federal subjects of Russia. Plenipotentiary Representatives are appointed by the President and are employees of the Presidential Administration, source, President Vladimir Putin established seven federal districts in May 2000. On January 19,2010 the new North Caucasian Federal District split from the Southern Federal District, on March 2014, after the Russian military intervention in and annexation of Crimea, the Crimean Federal District was established. The legality of this annexation is disputed by most states as well as NATO, on July 28,2016 the Crimean Federal District was abolished and merged into the Southern Federal District in order to improve the governance
6.
Southern Federal District
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The Southern Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Its territory lies mostly on the Pontic-Caspian steppe, the Southern Federal District was originally called the North Caucasian Federal District when it was founded in May 2000, but was renamed soon after for political reasons. On January 19,2010, the Southern Federal District was split in two, with its southern territories forming a new North Caucasian Federal District. On July 28,2016 Crimean Federal District was abolished and merged into Southern Federal District in order to improve the governance, Crimean Federal District was established on March 21,2014 after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. The federal district includes both the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, both recognized as part of Ukraine by most of the international community. Ukraine considers the area, along with the areas of Luhansk Peoples Republic and Donetsk Peoples Republic and its population was 13,854,334 according to the 2010 Census, living in an area of 420,900 square kilometers. Southern Federal District News and events of Russian South
7.
Economic regions of Russia
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No federal subject can belong to more than one economic region. Economic regions are grouped into economic zones. An economic region or its parts can belong to more than one economic zone, establishment and abolition of economic regions and economic zones or any changes in their composition are decided upon by the federal government of Russia. The following is the list and composition of the economic regions, sorted by population
8.
North Caucasus economic region
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North Caucasus Economic Region is one of 12 economic regions of Russia. It comprises the whole of the North Caucasian Federal District and the federal subjects of the Southern Federal District. In this area, descending northward from the chain of the Caucasus Mountains to a level plain, are found rich deposits of oil, natural gas. The major cities are Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Grozny, Vladikavkaz, farm machinery, coal, petroleum, and natural gas are the chief products. The Kuban River region, a fertile area, is one of the chief granaries of Russia. Wheat, sugar beets, tobacco, rice, and sunflower seeds are grown, other rivers include the Don, the Kuma, and the Terek, and the Volga-Don Canal is a major transportation route. This region includes the most troubled part of the Russian Federation, the Chechen Republic, Economic capacities are far lower than the average for the country as a whole. GDP per capita is half that of the average for the Federation. Employment in agriculture is well above the national average. Life expectancy for men and women is at the average for the Federation as a whole. But other indicators are high are signs of trouble, for example, the migration of the population, the readiness of people to move to find a job elsewhere and high unemployment
9.
Krasnodar
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Krasnodar is a city and the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Kuban River, approximately 148 kilometers northeast of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 744,995, Krasnodar was founded on January 12,1794 as Yekaterinodar. City status was granted in 1867, on December 7,1920, as a result of the October Revolution, Yekaterinodar was renamed Krasnodar. The new name consists of Krasno-, and dar, in the first half of the 19th century, Yekaterinodar grew into a busy center of the Kuban Cossacks, gaining official town status in 1867. By 1888 about 45,000 people lived in the city, in 1897 an obelisk commemorating the two-hundred-year history of the Kuban Cossacks was erected in Yekaterinodar. During the Russian Civil War the city changed several times, coming successively under the control of the Red Army. Many Kuban Cossacks, as committed anti-Bolsheviks, supported the White Movement. Lavr Kornilov, a White general, captured the city on April 10,1918, during World War II units of the German Army occupied Krasnodar between August 12,1942 and February 12,1943. The city sustained damage in the fighting, but was rebuilt. German forces, including Gestapo and mobile SS execution squads, killed thousands of Jews, Communists, shooting, hanging, burning, and even gas vans were used. In the summer of 1943 the Soviets began trials, including of their own citizens, for collusion with the Nazis, the first such trial took place at Krasnodar from July 14 to 17,1943. The Krasnodar tribunal pronounced eight death sentences, which were carried out in the city square in front of a crowd of about thirty thousand people. Krasnodar is the center of the krai. As a municipal division, the City of Krasnodar is incorporated as Krasnodar Urban Okrug, Krasnodar is home to the steel lattice hyperboloid tower built by the Russian engineer and scientist Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov in 1928, it is located near Krasnodar Circus. Other attractions include St. There, there are situated many sights of Krasnodar, at the beginning of this street one can see the Central Concert Hall, at the other end one can see the Avrora cinema center. A Triumphal Arch is situated in the middle of Krasnaya Street, theater Square is home to the largest splash fountain in Europe. This fountain was inaugurated on September 25,2011 along with the official ceremony to celebrate the City Day in Krasnodar. Krasnodar is the center of southern Russia
10.
Legislative Assembly of Krasnodar Krai
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The Legislative Assembly of Krasnodar Krai is the Russian provinces standing legislative body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, the assembly consists of 100 deputies elected for a term of 5 years. 50 members are elected from constituencies and 50 deputies - on party lists. Chairman of the Legislative Assembly is Vladimir Beketov from December 20,1995
11.
Federal subjects of Russia
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Since March 18,2014, the Russian Federation constitutionally consists of 85 federal subjects, although the two most recently added subjects are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Three Russian cities of importance have a status of both city and separate federal subject which comprises other cities and towns within federal city keeping old structure of postal address. In 1993, there were 89 federal subjects listed, by 2008, the number of federal subjects had been decreased to 83 because of several mergers. In 2014, Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea became the 84th and 85th federal subjects of Russia, every federal subject has its own head, a parliament, and a constitutional court. Federal subjects have their own constitution and legislation, subjects have equal rights in relations with federal government bodies. The federal subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council and they do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy. Composition of post-Soviet Russia was formed during the history of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic within the USSR, the Federation Treaty was included in the text of the 1978 Constitution of the Russian SFSR. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the system became de jure closer to other modern federal states with a republican form of government in the world. There are several groupings of Russian regions, Federal subjects should not be confused with the eight Federal districts which are not subdivisions of Russia, are much larger and each encompass many federal subjects. Federal districts were created by Executive Order of the President of Russia specially for presidential envoys, an official government translation of the Constitution of Russia in Article 5 states,1. Another translation of the Constitution of Russia gives for article 65, each federal subject belongs to one of the following types, b. ^ According to Article 13 of the Charter of Leningrad Oblast, however, St. Petersburg is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast. ^ According to Article 24 of the Charter of Moscow Oblast, however, Moscow is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast. ^ Not recognized internationally as a part of Russia, the merging process was finished on March 1,2008. No new mergers have been planned since March 2008, Федерального конституционного закона №7-ФКЗ от30 декабря2008 г. Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Российская газета, №237,25 декабря1993 г
12.
Time in Russia
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There are eleven time zones in Russia, which currently observe times ranging from UTC+02,00 to UTC+12,00. Daylight saving time is not used in Russia, since 4 December 2016, the time zones are as follows, Daylight saving time in Russia was originally introduced on 30 June 1917 by a decree of the Russian Provisional Government. However, it was abandoned by a Decree of the Soviet government five months later, Daylight saving time was re-introduced in the USSR on 1 April 1981, by a decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The usage of daylight saving time continued after the Soviet collapse but ended in 2011, on 27 March 2011, clocks were advanced as usual, but they did not go back on 30 October 2011, effectively making Moscow Time UTC+4 permanently. In the Russian Empire, most of the observed solar time. During the late 19th century, Moscow Mean Time was introduced on 1 January 1880,2,30,17 corresponds to 37. 6166667°, the longitude of Moscow. Other parts of Russia kept solar time for several years. At this time, Russia had the Julian calendar with 12 or 13 days less date compared to Western Europe, so it is possible to say the Moscow actually had GMT-285,29,43, GMT-309,29,43 and GMT-309,28,41. Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar on Thursday,14 February 1918, after the Soviet Union was created, Moscow Time became UTC+2 and the various other time zones were introduced throughout Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union, for example Irkutsk Time GMT+7. Between 1917-1922 the time was ordered, with daylight savings time some of those years. On 21 June 1930, the Soviet Union advanced all clocks by one hour, Moscow Time was now GMT+3 and Irkutsk Time GMT+8. On 1 April 1981, daylight saving time was re-introduced, clocks were moved one hour forward on 1 April, on 1 April 1981,00,00,00, Oymyakonsky District changed its time zone from MSK+6 to MSK+8. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+9 to UTC+12, on 1 April 1982,00,00,00, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug changed its time zone from MSK+10 to MSK+9, thus eliminating Anadyr Time. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+14 to UTC+13, on 27 March 1988,02,00,00, Saratov and Volgograd oblasts changed its time zone from MSK+1 to MSK. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+5 to UTC+4, on 23 May 1993,00,00,00, Novosibirsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+8 to UTC+7, on 28 May 1995,00,00,00, Altai Krai and Altai Republic changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. On 30 March 1997,02,00,00, Sakhalin Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+8 to MSK+7, on 1 May 2002,03,00,00, Tomsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. On 1 January 2004,00,00,00, New Siberian Islands, Tomponsky District, the following time zone changes occurred on 28 March 2010, which, in particular, led to abolition of two of the eleven time zones
13.
Vehicle registration plates of Russia
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Vehicle registration plates are the mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, and have existed in Russia for many decades. Most motor vehicles which are used on roads are required by law to display them. The current format uses a letter followed by 3 digits and two more letters, to improve legibility of the numbers for Russian cars abroad, only a small subset of Cyrillic characters that look like Latin characters are used. Finally, the number and letters RUS are included, as well as the national flag. There is a different format for trailers, motorcycles, mopeds and scooters plates are made of square reflective plates and its format is 4 digits at the top and two letters at the bottom. Some autonomous regions are not required to have the flag on the licence plates, vehicles used by certain organisations or categories of persons carry special plates, Special plates in the above categories never carry the Russian flag, except for trailers. There are special reserved for government officials. The license plates for government officials originally had a larger flag instead of the regional code. Rich businessmen, prominent politicians and crime lords often use para-legally acquired special licence plates to get preferential treatment from the transport police, often, this is used in conjunction with a flashing siren. The Society of Blue Buckets is a protest movement that opposes this trend, as of 2014, there are new codes for Russian plates, number 82 for the Republic of Crimea and 92 for Sevastopol. The Russian Federation then officially annexed Crimea from Ukraine and now administers it as two federal subjects, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Ukraine, backed by most of the community, refuses to accept the annexation. As per GOST provision, only 1,726,272 combinations may be issued within one administration unit, in certain regions, the amount of vehicles exceeds that number, and the combination may not be reused after a vehicle was taken off the registration. All this creates an issue of running out of numbers, a short-term solution was introducing more codes for those regions. Introduction of new license plate is being considered as a future solution. In the following years some codes were reassigned or discontinued, as the populous regions started running out of license plate combinations, new codes past code 89 were assigned to them as well. Additional triple-digit codes were created by adding a 1 or a 7 to the regional code. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Order 282 from March 28,2002, 1Code 059 is a former code for Syria
14.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
15.
Romanization of Russian
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Romanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic script into the Latin alphabet. Scientific transliteration, also known as the International Scholarly System, is a system that has used in linguistics since the 19th century. It is based on the Czech alphabet and formed the basis of the GOST, OST8483 was the first Soviet standard on romanization of Russian, introduced in 16 October 1935. This standard is an equivalent of GOST 16876-71 and was adopted as a standard of the COMECON. GOST7. 79-2000 System of Standards on Information, Librarianship and it is the official standard of both Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Machine readable passports is an adoption of an ICAO stadards for travel documents and it was used in Russian passports for a short period during 2010–2013. The standard was substituted in 2013 by GOST R ISO/IEC 7501-1-2013, which does not contain romanization, ISO/R9, established in 1954 and updated in 1968, was the adoption of the scientific transliteration by the International Organization for Standardization. It covers Russian and seven other Slavic languages, ISO9,1995 is the current transliteration standard from ISO. It is based on its predecessor ISO/R9,1968, which it deprecates, for Russian, the UNGEGN, a Working Group of the United Nations, in 1987 recommended a romanization system for geographical names, which was based on the 1983 version of GOST 16876-71. It may be found in some international cartographic products, American Library Association and Library of Congress romanization tables for Slavic alphabets are used in North American libraries and in the British Library since 1975. The formal, unambiguous version of the system requires some diacritics and two-letter tie characters, British Standard 2979,1958 is the main system of the Oxford University Press, and a variation was used by the British Library to catalogue publications acquired up to 1975. The BGN/PCGN system is relatively intuitive for Anglophones to read and pronounce, the portion of the system pertaining to the Russian language was adopted by BGN in 1944 and by PCGN in 1947. In Soviet international passports, transliteration was based on French rules, in 1997, with the introduction of new Russian passports, a diacritic-free English-oriented system was established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but this system was also abandoned in 2010. In 2006, GOST52535. 1-2006 was adopted, which defines technical requirements and standards for Russian international passports, in 2010, the Federal Migratory Service of Russia approved Order No. 26, stating that all names in the passports issued after 2010 must be transliterated using GOST52535. 1-2006. The standard was abandoned in 2013, finally in 2013, Order No.320 of the Federal Migratory Service of Russia came into force. It states that all names in the passports must be transliterated using the ICAO system. This system differs from the GOST52535. 1-2006 system in two things, ц is transliterated into ts, ъ is transliterated into ie, Scholarly ¹ Some archaic letters are transcribed in different ways
16.
North Caucasus
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The North Caucasus or Ciscaucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Sea of Azov and Black Sea on the west and the Caspian Sea on the east, within European Russia. Geopolitically, the Northern Caucasus includes the Russian republics and krais of the North Caucasus, the outer border of the Soviet Unions North Caucasus Krai was the same as that of present-day North Caucasus Economic Region which includes an oblast, two krais, and seven republics. The former North Caucasus Military District also included Astrakhan Oblast, Volgograd Oblast, and its administrative center was Rostov-on-Don until 10 January 1934, Pyatigorsk until January 1936, then Ordzhonikidze and, from 15 December 1936, Voroshilovsk. Geographically, the term North Caucasus also refers to the slope and western extremity of the Caucasus Major mountain range. The Forecaucasus steppe area is also encompassed under the notion of Ciscaucasus, thus the northern boundary of the Forecaucasus steppe is generally considered to be the Manych River. Ciscaucasus was historically covered by the Pontic steppe, mostly on fertile calcareous chernozyom soils and it is bounded by the Sea of Azov on the west, and the Caspian Sea on the east. According to the Concise Atlas of the World, Second Edition, shaw, Institute of British Geographers Media related to North Caucasus at Wikimedia Commons North Caucasus travel guide from Wikivoyage Relations between The North and South Caucasus. Articles in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No.27
17.
Southern Russia
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During World War I, the south had a large Russian population, Muslim minorities, and other non-Russians. The term does not conform to any areas of the Russian Federation as designated by the Russian Classification on Objects of Administrative Division. It was never a formal subdivision, neither did it have strict boundaries, on June 23,1917, Ukraine was officially recognized as an independent country. South Russia also contained a large population of Ukrainians during World War I. In April 1917, the Kuban Cossacks with Nakazny Ataman proclaimed the Kuban Rada as the administration of the Kuban. The Kuban Rada declared its independence on February 16 and sought union with the officially recognized independent Ukrainian Peoples Republic, the Kuban Peoples Republic included all territory of the former Kuban Oblast. In April 1918, the Don Army was formed, after failing to oust the Bolsheviks from Petrograd during the Kerensky–Krasnov uprising, Pyotr Krasnov arrived in the south and, in May 1918, became the Don Cossack Host Ataman at Novochercassk. Supported by Germany, he equipped the army removed the Soviets from the Don region in May–June 1918. By the middle of June, a Don Army was in the field with 40,000 men,56 guns and 179 machine-guns, in February 1918, the Reds captured Taganrog. Later, with the Reds capturing Rostov-on-Don, the Volunteer Army, searching for its bluebird from February to April, Denikin succeeded him in command and abandoned the assault withdrawing back northward toward Rostov and eventually to Novochercassk. Arriving on April 24,1918, from his 900-mile Iassy-Don March, Colonel Mikhail Drozdovsky defeated the Reds at Novocherkassk, altogether, these units on January 8,1919, constituted the Armed Forces of South Russia. With the end of World War I, independent Ukraine lost support from the Central Powers causing a power vacuum in the former Russian Empires south, in November 1918, Krasnov lost German support. In January 1919, he acknowledged Denikin as supreme commander of the White Armed Forces of Southern Russia and, subsequently, on February 19,1919, fled to western Europe in exile. Also, beginning in December 1917, Felix Dzerzhinsky, head of the Cheka, had strong support to violently suppress persons opposed to Bolshevism. He instituted the Red Terror and decossackization to exterminate anyone who would counter the Communist Revolution which had placed the Reds or Bolsheviks at the head the government, Whites opposed the Reds and southern Russia fiercely supported the Whites. In early 1919, Anton Denikin, as commander of the Armed Forces of South Russia marched on Moscow, on January 23,1919 the Volunteer Army under Denikin oversaw the defeat of the 11th Soviet Army and then captured the North Caucasus region. After capturing the Donbass, Tsaritsyn and Kharkov in June, Denikins forces surrounded Moscow on July 3,1919 and it appeared that his Whites would succeed in ousting the Reds from power. Denikins army would be defeated at Orel in October 1919
18.
Russian Census (2010)
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The Russian Census of 2010 is the first census of the Russian Federation population since 2002 and the second after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Preparations for the census began in 2007 and it took place between October 14 and October 25, the census was originally scheduled for October 2010, but was moved to 2013 allegedly for financial reasons, although it was also speculated that political motives were influential in the decision. However, in late 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that the Government of Russia allocated 10.5 billion rubles in order to conduct the census as originally scheduled, Results showed the population to stand at 142.9 million. Since the previous 2002 census, population has decreased by 2.3 million, according to the 2010 census, urban population is 105.3 million, rural population is 37.5 million. The urbanisation rate is currently 73. 7%, the median age is 38 years. The ethnic composition is dominated by Russians, demographics of Russia Russian Census 2010 final results Results of 2010 All-Russia population census Official website of the 2010 Census
19.
Kuban
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The settlement of Kuban and of the adjacent Black Sea region occurred gradually for over a century, and was heavily influenced by the outcomes of the conflicts between Russia and Turkey. In the mid-18th century, the area was settled by the mountainous Adyghe tribes. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, the population of the area started to show more pro-Russian tendencies. In order to stop Turkish ambitions to use Kuban region to facilitate the return of the Crimea, after the Russian annexation of the Crimea, right-bank Kuban, and Taman in 1783, the Kuban River became the border of the Russian Empire. New fortresses were built on the Kuban in the 1780s–1790s, until the 1790s, these fortresses and the abandoned Cossack settlements on the Laba River and in Taman remained the only indication of Russian presence in the area. More intensive settlement started in 1792–1794, when Black Sea Cossack Host, in the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the right bank of the Kuban River was settled. At the same time, first settlements appear on the coast of the Black Sea, during the second half of the 19th century, the settlement rate intensified, and the territory was administratively organized into Kuban Oblast and Black Sea Okrug. The location of the territory along the border had a significant effect on its administrative division, which incorporated the elements of civil and military governments
20.
Black Sea
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The Black Sea is a body of water between Eastern Europe and Western Asia, bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. It is supplied by a number of rivers, such as the Danube, Dnieper, Rioni, Southern Bug. The Black Sea has an area of 436,400 km2, a depth of 2,212 m. It is constrained by the Pontic Mountains to the south and by the Caucasus Mountains to the east, the longest east-west extent is about 1,175 km. The Black Sea has a water balance, that is, a net outflow of water 300 km3 per year through the Bosphorus. Mediterranean water flows into the Black Sea as part of a two-way hydrological exchange, the Black Sea drains into the Mediterranean Sea and then the Atlantic Ocean, via the Aegean Sea and various straits. The Bosphorus Strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and these waters separate Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The Black Sea is also connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch, the water level has varied significantly. Due to these variations in the level in the basin. At certain critical water levels it is possible for connections with surrounding water bodies to become established and it is through the most active of these connective routes, the Turkish Straits, that the Black Sea joins the world ocean. When this hydrological link is not present, the Black Sea is a basin, operating independently of the global ocean system. Currently the Black Sea water level is high, thus water is being exchanged with the Mediterranean. The Turkish Straits connect the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea, and comprise the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Black Sea as follows, On the Southwest. The Northeastern limit of the Sea of Marmara, a line joining Cape Takil and Cape Panaghia. Strabos Geographica reports that in antiquity, the Black Sea was often just called the Sea, for the most part, Graeco-Roman tradition refers to the Black Sea as the Hospitable sea, Εὔξεινος Πόντος Eúxeinos Póntos. This is a euphemism replacing an earlier Inhospitable Sea, Πόντος Ἄξεινος Póntos Áxeinos, strabo thinks that the Black Sea was called inhospitable before Greek colonization because it was difficult to navigate, and because its shores were inhabited by savage tribes. The name was changed to hospitable after the Milesians had colonized the southern shoreline and it is also possible that the epithet Áxeinos arose by popular etymology from a Scythian word axšaina- unlit, dark, the designation Black Sea may thus date from antiquity. A map of Asia dating to 1570, entitled Asiae Nova Descriptio, from Abraham Orteliuss Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, english-language writers of the 18th century often used the name Euxine Sea to refer to the Black Sea
21.
Kuban River
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The Kuban River is a river in the Northwest Caucasus region of European Russia. It flows mostly through Krasnodar Krai for 660 kilometres but also in the Karachay–Cherkess Republic, Stavropol Krai and the Republic of Adygea. The Kuban, known to Herodotus as Hypanis, flows 870 kilometres north and west from its source near Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus Mountains and it is navigable up to Krasnodar. Major cities along the Kuban are Karachayevsk, Cherkessk, Nevinnomyssk, Armavir, Ust-Labinsk, Krasnodar, despite its name, Slavyansk-na-Kubani lies not on the Kuban River, but on its distributary the Protoka. The river originates on the slopes of Mount Elbrus and forms at the merger of its two tributaries, Ullukam and Uchkulam, from the source of Ullukam to the delta, it has a length of 906 kilometres. Between the source and Nevinnomyssk the river mostly in the deep and narrow gorge, has many thresholds. Near Nevinnomyssk a dam supplies water to the Nevinnomyssk channel, in its central part, until the confluence of the Bolshaya Laba River, the Kuban River flows in a wide flat valley with terraced slopes. Then it bends to the west and develops a left-bank floodplain, there it is winding and has many shoals and rapids. Below the mouth of Laba the river widens up to 20 kilometres, at 116 kilometres from the mouth, the Kuban converges with a major tributary, the Protoka, which is 130 kilometres long. Near its mouth the Kuban narrows to 3 to 4 kilometres, the delta contains numerous limans, some of which have gradually separated from the river. Until the 19th century the Kuban River discharged into both the Black and the Azov seas, however later, the rising grounds redirected the river entirely to the Azov Sea. In the upper stream the river is fed by glaciers. Near Krasnodar, this drops to 32%, meanwhile, the water supply from the subsoil water increases from 21% to 32%. The river does not freeze over because of a warm climate. The Kuban River is characterized by numerous floods due to rains and thaws, the water level used to fluctuate by up to 5 metres, with the maximum in July and the minimum in February. The amplitude of these fluctuations was reduced by construction of the Nevinnomyssk channel and these measures also provided water for fish farming and rice fields. The average discharge of the Kuban River is at its maximum near Krasnodar at about 425 cubic metres per second and it was formerly higher by some 30 cubic metres per second but was lowered by the reservoir construction. The average discharge near Armavir is 163 cubic metres per second, the annual outflow to the Azov Sea is about 12 to 13 cubic kilometres of water,8 million tonnes of sediments and 4 million tonnes of dissolved salts
22.
Rostov Oblast
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Rostov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of 100,800 square kilometers and its administrative center is the city of Rostov-on-Don, which also became the administrative center of the Southern Federal District in 2002. Rostov Oblast borders Ukraine and also Volgograd and Voronezh Oblasts in the north, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais in the south, and it is within the Russian Southern Federal District. The Don River, one of Europes largest rivers, flows through the oblast for part of its course, lakes cover only 0. 4% of the oblasts area. The most important ethnicities are the 3,795,607 ethnic Russians, the 77,802 ethnic Ukrainians, the 110,727 ethnic Armenians. Other important groups are the 35,902 Turks,16,493 Belarusians ),13,948 Tatars,17,961 Azeris,11,449 Chechens,16,657 Roma,11,597 Koreans, and 8,296 Georgians. There were also 76,498 people belonging to other ethno-cultural groupings,76,735 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group, according to a 2012 official survey 49. In addition, 26% of the population declares to be spiritual but not religious, 12% is atheist, major industries of Rostov Oblast are agriculture, agricultural industry, food processing, heavy industry, coal and automobile manufacture. Областной закон №19-ЗС от29 мая1996 г, Областного закона №442-ЗС от23 ноября2015 г. «О поправках к Уставу Ростовской области», Вступил в силу6 июня1996 г. Опубликован, Наше время, №98–99,6 июня1996 г, Областной Закон №30-ЗС от10 октября1996 г. Вступил в силу с момента опубликования, Опубликован, Наше время, №196,31 октября1996 г. Official website of Rostov Oblast Russian South
23.
Stavropol Krai
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Stavropol Krai is a federal subject of Russia in the North Caucasian Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Stavropol, the krai encompasses the central part of the Fore-Caucasus and most of the northern slopes of Caucasus Major. The krai was established as North Caucasus Krai on October 17,1924, after undergoing numerous administrative changes, it was renamed Ordzhonikidze Krai, after Sergo Ordzhonikidze, in March 1937, and Stavropol Krai on January 12,1943. In 1970-1978, Mikhail Gorbachev, a native of Stavropol Krai and he left the region for Moscow in 1978, when he was promoted to a Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, to become the Partys General Secretary and the nations leader 7 years later. Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Krai Administration, the Charter of Stavropol Krai is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Stavropol Krai is the regional standing legislative body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, the krai administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the krai Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia. According to the 2010 Census, the population was 2,786,281, up from 2,735,139 recorded in the 2002 Census. The population of the krai is concentrated in the basins of the Kuban River and of the Kuma River. The Kuban Cossacks are now generally considered ethnic Russians, even though they are of Ukrainian origin, the 2010 Census counted thirty-three ethnic groups of more than 2,000 persons each, making this federal subject one of the most multiethnic in Russia. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group. Birth Rate,11.22 per 1,000 Death Rate,13.32 per 1,000 Net Immigration, +3.5 per 1,000 NGR, -0. 21% per Year PGR, +0. 14% per Year Births,34,768 Deaths,33,356 According to a 2012 official survey 46. In addition, 19% of the population declares to be spiritual but not religious, 16% is atheist, Stavropol Krai is administratively divided into twenty-six districts and ten cities/towns. The districts are subdivided into nine towns of district subordinance, seven urban-type settlements. Irrigated agriculture is developed in the region. As of the beginning of 2001, Stavropol Krai had 3,361 km of irrigation canals, among the major irrigation canals are, Nevinnomyssk Canal, the trunk of the Kuban-Yegorlyk Irrigation System. The Great Stavropol Canal, transporting water from the Kuban River eastward across the entire krai, the Terek-Kuma Canal and Kuma-Manych Canal, transporting water from the Terek River via the Kuma River to the East Manych River. Закона №132-кз от2 декабря2015 г, «О поправках к Уставу Ставропольского края»
24.
Karachay-Cherkessia
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The republic has several distinct ethnic groups, and the government recognizes five official languages. The population in 2010 was just under half a million people and it stretches for 140 kilometers from north to south and for 170 kilometers from east to west. Mountains cover 80% of the territory, Mount Elbrus, which at 5,642 meters is the highest peak in Caucasus, is located on the republics border with Kabardino-Balkaria. The republic is rich in water resources, a total of 172 rivers flow through its territory, with the largest one being the Kuban, Bolshoy Zelenchuk, Maly Zelenchuk, Urup, and Laba. There are about 130 mountain lakes of glacial origin and an abundance of mineral springs, climate is moderate, with short winters and long, warm, humid summers. The average January temperature is −3.2 °C, and the average July temperature is +20.6 °C, average annual precipitation varies from 550 millimeters in the plains to 2,500 millimeters in the mountains. Natural resources include gold, coal, clays, and more, the Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Oblast was created 12 January 1922, in the early years of the Soviet Union. It was split into Karachay Autonomous Oblast and Cherkess National Okrug on 26 April 1926, the Cherkess National District was elevated to an autonomous oblast status on 30 April 1928. In 1943, Karachay Autonomous Oblast was abolished, the Karachay people were accused of collaboration with the Nazis and subsequently deported to the Kazakh, most of the Karchay territory was split between Stavropol Krai and the Georgian SSR. On July 3,1991, the autonomous oblast was elevated to the status of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia, also in December 1991, the words Autonomous Soviet Socialist were dropped from the official name of Karachay-Cherkessia. A commission was established Supreme Education Council three autonomous regions - Karachai, Cherkess and Batalpashinsk, sources,1970 to 2008, 2009-2013 According to the 2010 Census, Karachays make up 41% of the republics population, followed by Russians, and Cherkes and Abazins together make up 20%. According to a 2012 official survey 48% of the population of Karachay-Cherkessia adheres to Islam,13, in addition, 12% of the population declares to be spiritual but not religious, 7% is atheist and 4. 4% follows other religions or did not answer to the question. The head of the government in Karachay-Cherkessia is the Head, until February 2011, the President was Boris Safarovich Ebzeyev, a former judge of the Constitutional Court of Russian Federation. Rashid Temrezov is currently the Head of the republic, ethnic tension is a considerable problem in the republic. In May 1999 Karachay-Cherkessia conducted its first ever free regional presidential election, when Vladimir Semyonov, a Karachay, won the election over Stanislav Derev, a Circassian, there were protests by supporters of Derev, with widespread allegations of fraud. A court ruling upheld the election result, prompting thousands of Derevs supporters to march in protest. Although activity by separatists in the region pales in comparison with Chechnya and Dagestan, a car-bomb that killed two people in March 2001 was blamed on Chechen separatists. Muslim separatist groups have formed and dozens of their members have killed by the Russian authorities
25.
Adygea
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The Republic of Adygea, also known as the Adyghe Republic, is a federal subject of Russia, with its territory enclaved within Krasnodar Krai. Its area is 7,600 square kilometers with a population of 439,996, forests cover almost 40% of its territory. Borders — the Republic of Adygea is entirely surrounded by Krasnodar Krai, highest point — Chugush Mountain 3,238 m. The 870-kilometer long Kuban River is one of the navigable rivers in the Caucasus region. It forms part of the border between the Republic of Adygea and Krasnodar Krai. The republic has no large lakes, other natural resources include gold, silver, tungsten, and iron. Cherkess Autonomous Oblast was established within the Russian SFSR on July 27,1922, on the territories of Kuban-Black Sea Oblast, at that time, Krasnodar was the administrative center. It was renamed Adyghe Autonomous Oblast on August 24,1922 and it was renamed Adyghe Autonomous Oblast in July 1928. On January 10,1934, the autonomous oblast became part of new Azov-Black Sea Krai, Maykop was made the administrative center of the autonomous oblast in 1936. Adyghe AO became part of Krasnodar Krai when it was established on September 13,1937, on July 3,1991, the oblast was elevated to the status of a republic under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The first President of the republic was Aslan Aliyevich Dzharimov, elected on 5 January 1992, from 2002 to 2007, Hazret Sovmen was President. He, and most of the rest of the elite in Adygea, are Adyghes. As a reaction to that, an organization calling itself the Union of Slavs was established and they advocate the merger of Adygea with Krasnodar Krai, but have so far have had little support for that proposition from the Russian government. Relations between Adygs and ethnic Russians in Adyghe are currently good, Russians make up two-thirds of the population within Adygea and the current Head, Aslan Tkhakushinov is an ethnic Adyghe and was elected largely on the support of Russian votes. The Republic of Adygea is administratively divided into seven districts, two cities/towns, and five urban-type settlements, municipally, the republic is divided into two urban okrugs, five urban settlements, and 46 rural settlements. Note м. р. above is an abbreviation for муниципальный район Population,439, 996 ,447, 109 ,432, 588 . Source, Russian Federal State Statistics Service According to the 2010 Census, ethnic Russians make up 63. 6% of the total population. Other groups include Armenians, Ukrainians, Kurds, Tatars, According to a 2012 official survey 35
26.
Enclave and exclave
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An enclave is a territory, or a part of a territory, that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state. Territorial waters have the same attributes as land, and enclaves may therefore exist within territorial waters. An exclave is a portion of a state or territory geographically separated from the part by surrounding alien territory. Enclave is sometimes used improperly to denote a territory that is partly surrounded by another state. Vatican City and San Marino, enclaved by Italy, and Lesotho, unlike an enclave, an exclave can be surrounded by several states. The Azeri exclave of Naxçıvan is an example of an exclave. Semi-enclaves and semi-exclaves are areas that, except for possessing an unsurrounded sea border, Enclaves and semi-enclaves can exist as independent states, while exclaves always constitute just a part of a sovereign state. A pene-enclave is a part of the territory of one country that can be approached conveniently — in particular by wheeled traffic — only through the territory of another country, pene-enclaves are also called functional enclaves or practical enclaves. Many pene-exclaves partially border their own territorial waters, a pene-enclave can also exist entirely on land, such as when intervening mountains render a territory inaccessible from other parts of a country except through alien territory. A commonly cited example is the Kleinwalsertal, a part of Vorarlberg, Austria. The word enclave is French and first appeared in the century as a derivative of the verb enclaver. In law, this created a servitude of passage for the benefit of the owner of the surrounded land, the first diplomatic document to contain the word enclave was the Treaty of Madrid, signed in 1526. Later, the term began to be used also to refer to parcels of countries, counties, fiefs, communes, towns, parishes. This French word eventually entered the English and other languages to denote the same concept although local terms have continued to be used, in India, the word pocket is often used as a synonym for enclave. In British administrative history, subnational enclaves were usually called detachments or detached parts, in English ecclesiastic history, subnational enclaves were known as peculiars. The word exclave, modeled on enclave, is a extension of the concept of enclave. Enclaves exist for a variety of historical, political and geographical reasons, in particular, this state of affairs persisted into the 19th century in the Holy Roman Empire, and these domains exhibited many of the characteristics of sovereign states. Prior to 1866 Prussia alone consisted of more than 270 discontiguous pieces of territory, thus, over time enclaves have tended to be eliminated. This exchange thus effectively de-enclaved another two dozen second-order enclaves and one third-order enclave, eliminating 197 of the Indo-Bangladesh enclaves in all, the residents in these enclaves had complained of being effectively stateless
27.
Georgia (country)
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Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi, Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres, and its 2016 population is about 3.72 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy, during the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century, a unified Kingdom of Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Thereafter the kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under hegemony of various powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire. Russian rule over Georgia was eventually acknowledged in various treaties with Iran. Since the establishment of the modern Georgian republic in April 1991, post-communist Georgia suffered from civil, the countrys Western orientation soon led to the worsening of relations with Russia, culminating in the brief Russo-Georgian War in August 2008. Georgia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and it contains two de facto independent regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which gained limited international recognition after the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Georgia and a part of the international community consider the regions to be part of Georgias sovereign territory under Russian military occupation. Georgia probably stems from the Persian designation of the Georgians – gurğān, in the 11th and 12th centuries adapted via Syriac gurz-ān/gurz-iyān, starting with the Persian word gurğ/gurğān, the word was later adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages. This term itself might have established through the ancient Iranian appellation of the near-Caspian region. The self-designation used by ethnic Georgians is Kartvelebi, the medieval Georgian Chronicles present an eponymous ancestor of the Kartvelians, Kartlos, a great-grandson of Japheth. However, scholars agree that the word is derived from the Karts, the name Sakartvelo consists of two parts. Its root, kartvel-i, specifies an inhabitant of the core central-eastern Georgian region of Kartli, ancient Greeks and Romans referred to early western Georgians as Colchians and eastern Georgians as Iberians. Today the full, official name of the country is Georgia, before the 1995 constitution came into force the countrys name was the Republic of Georgia. The territory of modern-day Georgia was inhabited by Homo erectus since the Paleolithic Era, the proto-Georgian tribes first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. The earliest evidence of wine to date has found in Georgia. In fact, early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, the classical period saw the rise of a number of early Georgian states, the principal of which was Colchis in the west and Iberia in the east
28.
Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
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The Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation on 18 March 2014. On 23 February 2014, pro-Russian demonstrations were held in the Crimean city of Sevastopol and it led to the other members of the then G8 suspending Russia from the group, then introducing the first round of sanctions against the country. The resolution calls upon all States and international organizations not to recognize or to imply the recognition of Russias annexation, the Russian Federation opposes the annexation label, with Putin defending the referendum as complying with the principle of self-determination of peoples. In July 2015, Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Crimea had been integrated into Russia. Crimea became part of the Russian Empire in 1783, when the Crimean Khanate was annexed, initially it was incorporated into the Empire as Taurida Oblast but in 1795 it was merged into Novorossiysk Governorate and then, in 1802, transferred to the Taurida Governorate. A series of short-lived governments were established during first stages of the Russian Civil War, in October 1921, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Russian SFSR was instituted. In 1954, the Crimean Oblast was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. In 1989, under perestroika, the Supreme Soviet declared that the deportation of the Crimean Tatars under Stalin had been illegal, in 1990, the Soviet of the Crimean Oblast proposed the restoration of the Crimean ASSR. The oblast conducted a referendum in 1991, which asked whether Crimea should be elevated into a signatory of the New Union Treaty, by that time, though, the dissolution of the Soviet Union was well underway. The Crimean ASSR was restored for less than a year as part of Soviet Ukraine before Ukrainian independence, newly independent Ukraine maintained Crimeas autonomous status, while the Supreme Council of Crimea affirmed the peninsulas sovereignty as a part of Ukraine. The autonomous status of Crimea was limited by Ukrainian authorities in 1995, on 24 August 2009, anti-Ukrainian demonstrations were held in Crimea by ethnic Russian residents. Sergei Tsekov said then that he hoped that Russia would treat Crimea the same way as it had treated South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Yanukovych won the 2010 presidential election with strong support from voters in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and southern and eastern Ukraine. The Crimean autonomous government strongly supported Yanukovych and condemned the protests, on 4 February 2014, the Presidium of the Supreme Council considered holding a referendum on the peninsulas status, and asked the Russian government to guarantee the vote. The Security Service of Ukraine responded by opening a case to investigate the possible subversion of Ukraines territorial integrity. The Euromaidan protests came to a head in late February 2014, arseniy Yatsenyuk was appointed by the Rada to serve as the head of a caretaker government until new presidential and parliament elections could be held. This new government was recognised internationally, though the Russian government said that these events had been a coup détat, in January 2014 the Sevastopol city council had already called for formation of peoples militia units to ensure firm defence of the city from extremism. Crimean parliament members called for a meeting on 21 February. Crimean Tatar Mejlis chairman Mustafa Dzhemilev said that he suspected that the meeting was arranged to call for Russian military intervention in Crimea
29.
Crimea
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The peninsula is located south of the Ukrainian region of Kherson and west of the Russian region of Kuban. It is connected to Kherson Oblast by the Isthmus of Perekop and is separated from Kuban by the Strait of Kerch, the Arabat Spit is located to the northeast, a narrow strip of land that separates a system of lagoons named Sivash from the Sea of Azov. Crimea has historically been at the boundary between the world and the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Crimea and adjacent territories were united in the Crimean Khanate during the 15th to 18th century, in 1783, Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire. It became the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within newly independent Ukraine in 1991, with Sevastopol having its own administration, within Ukraine, the ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet and its facilities were divided between Russias Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Naval Forces. The two navies shared some of the harbours and piers, while others were demilitarised or used by either country. Sevastopol remained the location of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters with the Ukrainian Naval Forces Headquarters also based in the city, most of the international community does not recognize the annexation and considers Crimea to be Ukrainian territory. Russia currently administers the peninsula as two federal subjects, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Ukraine continues to assert its right over the peninsula, the classical name Tauris or Taurica is from the Greek Ταυρική, after the peninsulas Scytho-Cimmerian inhabitants, the Tauri. In English usage since the modern period the Crimean Khanate is referred to as Crim Tartary. The Italian form Crimea also becomes current during the 18th century, the omission of the definite article in English became common during the later 20th century. The name Crimea follows the Italian form from the Crimean Tatar name for the city Qırım which served as a capital of the Crimean province of the Golden Horde, the name of the capital was extended to the entire peninsula at some point during Ottoman suzerainty. The origin of the word Qırım is uncertain, suggestions argued in various sources include, a corruption of Cimmerium. A derivation from the Turkic term qirum, from qori-, other suggestions that have not been supported by sources but are apparently based on similarity in sound include, a derivation from the Greek Cremnoi. However, he identifies the port, not in Crimea, no evidence has been identified that this name was ever in use for the peninsula. The classical name was revived in 1802 in the name of the Russian Taurida Governorate, in the 8th century BCE the Cimmerians migrated to the region and subsequently the Scythians as well it being the site of Greek colonies. The most important city was Chersonesos at the edge of todays Sevastopol, the Persian Achaemenid Empire expanded to Crimea. Later occupiers included the Romans, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, the Byzantine Empire, Khazars, the Kipchaks, the Golden Horde, consideration of the succeeding residents of the peninsula by their linguistic grouping is also of relevance
30.
Kerch Strait
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The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russias Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is 3.1 kilometres to 15 kilometres wide, the most important harbor, the Crimean city of Kerch, gives its name to the strait, formerly known as the Cimmerian Bosporus. The Krasnodar Krai side of the strait contains the Taman Bay encircled by Tuzla Island, Russia had started the construction of a major cargo port near Taman, the most important Russian settlement on the strait, but its building has been suspended. The straits are about 35 kilometers long and are 3.1 kilometers wide at the narrowest and separate an eastern extension of Crimea from Taman, the western extension of the Caucasus Mountains. In antiquity, there seem to have been a group of islands intersected by arms of the Kuban River, the Romans knew the strait as the Cimmerian Bosporus from its Greek name, the Cimmerian Strait, which honored the Cimmerians, nearby steppe nomads. During the Second World War, the Kerch Peninsula became the scene of much desperate combat between forces of the Soviet Red Army and Germany, fighting frequency intensified in the coldest months of year when the strait froze over, allowing the movement of troops over the ice. The cable railway, which went into operation on 14 June 1943 with a capacity of one thousand tons, was only adequate for the defensive needs of the Seventeenth Army in the Kuban bridgehead. The bridge was never completed, and the Wehrmacht finished evacuating the Kuban bridgehead in September 1943, in 1944 the Soviets built a provisional railway bridge across the strait. Construction made use of supplies captured from the Germans, the bridge went into operation in November 1944, but moving ice floes destroyed it in February 1945, reconstruction was not attempted. A territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine in 2003 centred on Tuzla Island in the Strait of Kerch, on Sunday 11 November 2007 news agencies reported a very strong storm on the Black Sea. Four ships sank, six ran aground on a sandbank, the Russian-flagged oil tanker Volgoneft-139 encountered trouble in the Kerch Strait where it sought shelter from the above storm. During the storm the tanker split in half, releasing more than 2000 tonnes of fuel oil and it is thought that the effects of the spill are likely to be felt for many years to come. Four other boats sank in the storm, resulting in the release of sulphur cargo, the storm hampered efforts to rescue crew members. Another victim of the storm, the Russian cargo ship Volnogorsk, loaded with sulfur, after the war, ferry transportation across the strait was established in 1952, connecting Crimea and the Krasnodar Krai. Originally there were four train ferry ships, later three ships were added. Train transportation continued for almost 40 years, the aging train-ferries became obsolete in the late 1980s and were removed from service. In the autumn of 2004, new ships were delivered as replacements, moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov campaigned for a highway bridge to be constructed across the strait. Since 1944, various projects to span the strait have been proposed or attempted
31.
Mediterranean climate
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A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, Mediterranean climate zones are associated with the four large subtropical high pressure cells of the oceans, the Azores High, South Atlantic High, North Pacific High, and South Pacific High. These climatological high pressure cells migrate by latitude according to the angle of the Sun, shifting north-eastward in the summer. These semi-permanent high pressure systems play a role in the formation of the worlds subtropical and tropical deserts as well as the Mediterranean Basins climate. The Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in the Mediterranean Basin, the Sahara Desert, the South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert and Kalahari Desert, and the Mediterranean climate of the western part of South Africa. Under the Köppen climate classification, hot climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, however, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely. In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade, Klamath and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can also be found at elevations in Corsica
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Tourism
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Tourism is travel for pleasure or business, also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. Tourism may be international, or within the travellers country, Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a countrys balance of payments. Today, tourism is a source of income for many countries. International tourism receipts grew to US$1.03 trillion in 2011, the ITB Berlin is the worlds leading tourism trade fair. The word tourist was used by 1772 and tourism by 1811. It is formed from the tour, which is derived from Old English turian, from Old French torner, from Latin tornare, to turn on a lathe. Tourism is an important, even vital, source of income for many regions and it also creates opportunities for employment in the service sector of the economy associated with tourism. This is in addition to goods bought by tourists, including souvenirs, in 1936, the League of Nations defined a foreign tourist as someone traveling abroad for at least twenty-four hours. Its successor, the United Nations, amended this definition in 1945 and it includes movements for all purposes. In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined tourism in terms of particular activities chosen and undertaken outside the home, in this context, travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited, by contrast, traveler is often used as a sign of distinction. The sociology of tourism has studied the values underpinning these distinctions. International tourist arrivals reached 1.035 billion in 2012, up from over 996 million in 2011, the World Tourism Organization reports the following ten destinations as the most visited in terms of the number of international travellers in 2016. International tourism receipts grew to US$1.2 trillion in 2014, based upon air traffic, the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index reports the following cities as the top ten most popular destinations of international tourism worldwide. MasterCard reports the following cities as the top ten biggest earners on international tourism worldwide in 2015, as early as Shulgi, however, kings praised themselves for protecting roads and building waystations for travelers. During the Roman Republic, spas and coastal resorts such as Baiae were popular among the rich, pausanias wrote his Description of Greece in the 2nd century AD. In ancient China, nobles sometimes made a point of visiting Mount Tai and, on occasion, the Islamic hajj is still central to its faith and Chaucers Canterbury Tales and Wu Chengens Journey to the West remain classics of English and Chinese literature. The 10th- to 13th-century Song dynasty also saw secular travel writers such as Su Shi, under the Ming, Xu Xiake continued the practice
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Novorossiysk
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Novorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for exporting grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City, in antiquity, the shores of the Tsemess Bay were the site of Bata, an ancient Greek colony that specialized in the grain trade. It is mentioned in the works of Strabo and Ptolemy, among others, genoese merchants from the Ghisolfi family maintained a trade outpost there in the Middle Ages. Archaeological investigation of the area is in its infancy, but some interesting items have already been uncovered, from 1722, the bay was commanded by the Ottoman fortress of Sujuk-Qale or Soğucak. Named after the province of Novorossiya, the port formed a link in the chain of forts known as the Black Sea Coastal Line. During the rest of the 19th century, Novorossiysk developed rapidly and it was granted city status in 1866 and became the capital of the Black Sea Governorate, the smallest in the Russian Empire, in 1896. In December 1905, the city was the seat of the short-lived Novorossiysk Republic, from August 26,1918 until March 27,1920, Novorossiysk was the principal center of Denikins White Army. Denikins South Russian Government was moved to Crimea and many Whites escaped from Novorossiysk to Constantinople, most of the town was occupied by the German and Romanian Armies on September 10,1942. A small unit of Soviet sailors defended one part of the town, known as Malaya Zemlya, for 225 days beginning on February 4,1943, and the town was liberated by the Red Army on September 16,1943. The heroic defense of the port by the sailors allowed the Soviets to retain possession of the citys bay, Novorossiysk was awarded the title Hero City in 1973. In 1960, the town was commemorated in Dmitri Shostakovichs work Novorossiysk Chimes, in 2003, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree setting up a naval base for the Black Sea Fleet in Novorossiysk. Russia has allocated 12.3 billion rubles for the construction of the new base between 2007 and 2012, the construction of other facilities and infrastructure at the base, including units for coastal troops, aviation and logistics, will continue beyond 2012. In 2014 the naval base remained incomplete, completion is scheduled for 2016. The Russian lease on port facilities in Sevastopol, which, though the base of Russias Black Sea Fleet, is part of Ukraine, was set to expire in 2017. As a municipal division, the City of Novorossiysk is incorporated as Novorossiysk Urban Okrug, Novorossiysk has a humid subtropical climate. The city sprawls along the shore of the non-freezing Tsemess Bay and it is the busiest oil port in the Black Sea and the terminus of the pipeline from the Tengiz Field, developed by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. Novorossiysk is also a city, dependent on steel, food processing
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Hero City
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Hero City is a Soviet honorary title awarded for outstanding heroism during World War II. It was awarded to cities of the Soviet Union. In addition the Brest Fortress was awarded an equivalent title of Hero Fortress and this symbolic distinction for a city corresponds to the individual distinction Hero of the Soviet Union. According to the statute, the city is issued the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal. Also, the obelisk is installed in the city. The usage of the hero city is dated to articles in Pravda as early as in 1942. On June 22,1961 the term Hero City was applied to Kiev in the ukases that awarded Kiev the Order of Lenin, the same day ukases were issued about awarding the cities mentioned above, Leningrad, Volgograd, Kiev, Sevastopol, and Odessa. However traditionally for these cities the anniversaries of being Hero City correspond to the dates mentioned earlier, additionally, Moscow was declared Hero City and Brest declared Hero Fortress. Subsequent awards were issued as follows,14 September 1973, Kerch,26 June 1974, Minsk 7 December 1976, Tula 6 May 1985, Murmansk and Smolensk In 1988 the issuance of the award was officially discontinued. On April 5,2005 the State Duma of Russian Federation passed the law in the first reading about the introduction of the honorary title City of Military Glory, potential candidates are places of fierce battles, Oryol, Rzhev, Yelnya, Voronezh, Vyazma, and others. The fortress in Brest, Belarus was awarded the title Hero Fortress in 1965 and it was located right on the recently established border between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany drawn in the secret appendix to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. German artillery heavily shelled the fortress, the subsequent attempt to take it with infantry failed, however. The Brest garrison, although cut off from the world and having run out of food, water and ammunition, fought. The Germans deployed tanks, tear gas and flame throwers, after the Germans had taken most of the ruined fortifications, taking heavy casualties, bloody fighting continued underground. The fighting ended only in late July, the actual front had by then already moved hundreds of kilometres further east. Even after the fortress was taken, the few surviving defenders continued to hide in the basements. The city of Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, saw what is regarded as one of the greatest human tragedies of the entire war. Leningrad, one of the cities with an amount of classical
35.
Sochi
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Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Black Sea coast near the border between Georgia/Abkhazia and Russia. The area of the city proper is 176.77 square kilometers, according to the 2010 Census, the city had a permanent population of 343,334, up from 328,809 recorded in the 2002 Census, making it Russias largest resort city. Being part of the Caucasian Riviera, it is one of the few places in Russia with a subtropical climate, with warm to hot summers. It will also be one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Greater Sochi is elongated along the Black Sea coast for 145 kilometers. Sochi is in the north of Western Asia, falling on the side of the Greater Caucasus. Sochi is approximately 1,603 kilometers from Moscow, from the southwest, it is bordered by the Black Sea. The vast majority of the population of Sochi lives in a strip along the coast and is organized in independent microdistricts. The biggest of these microdistricts, from the northwest to the southeast, are Lazarevskoye, Loo, Dagomys, central Sochi, Khosta, Matsesta, the whole city is located on the slopes of the Western Caucasus which descend to the Black Sea and are cut by the rivers. The biggest rivers in Sochi are the Mzymta, which is in fact the longest Black Sea tributary in Russia, other rivers include the Ashe, the Psezuapse, the Sochi, the Khosta, and the Matsesta. The Psou River makes the border with Abkhazia, the northeastern part of the city belongs to the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve which is a World Heritage Site spanning vast areas in Krasnodar Krai and Adygea. Almost the whole area of the Greater Sochi, with the exception of the coast, Sochi has a humid subtropical climate with mild winters in the period from December to March and warm summers in the period from May to October. From the 6th to the 11th centuries, the area belonged to the kingdom of Lazica. The Christian settlements along the coast were destroyed by the invading Göktürks, Khazars, Mongols, the northern wall of an 11th-century Byzantine basilica still stands in the Loo Microdistrict. Provision of weapons and ammunition from abroad to the Circassians caused a conflict between the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom that occurred in 1836 over the mission of the Vixen. The Russians had no detailed knowledge of the area until Baron Feodor Tornau investigated the route from Gelendzhik to Gagra. At the outbreak of the Crimean War, the garrison was evacuated from Navaginsky in order to prevent its capture by the Turks, who effected a landing on Cape Adler soon after. The last battle of the Caucasian War took place at the Godlikh river on March 18,1864 O. S. where the Ubykhs were defeated by the Dakhovsky regiment of the Russian Army. On March 25,1864, the Dakhovsky fort was established on the site of the Navaginsky fort, the end of Caucasian War was proclaimed at Kbaade tract on June 2,1864, by the manifesto of Emperor Alexander II read aloud by Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia
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2014 Winter Olympics
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Both the Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics were organized by the Sochi Organizing Committee. Sochi was selected as the host city in July 2007, during the 119th IOC Session held in Guatemala City and it was the first Olympics in Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union was previously the host nation for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and these were the first Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee presidency of Thomas Bach. A total of 98 events in 15 winter sport disciplines were held during the Games, in preparation, organizers focused on modernizing the telecommunications, electric power, and transportation infrastructures of the region. However, immediately following the ceremony, commentators evaluated the Games to have been successful overall. Allegations concerning the corruption of the anti-doping system possibly employed during the Games surfaced in 2015, rodchenkov stated that the FSB tampered with over 100 urine samples as part of a cover-up, and that a third of the Russian medals won at Sochi were the result of doping. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported the names of 15 athletes who are among the 28 under investigation, the Russian team potentially could be stripped of up to 12 Olympic medals among these athletes alone. Sochi was elected on 4 July 2007 during the 119th International Olympic Committee session held in Guatemala City, Guatemala, defeating bids from Salzburg, Austria and this is the first time that the Russian Federation has hosted the Winter Olympics. The Soviet Union was the host of the 1980 Summer Olympics held in, as of October 2013, the estimated combined cost of the 2014 Winter Olympics had topped US$51 billion. This amount included the cost for Olympic games themselves and cost of Sochi infrastructural projects, dmitry Kozak was the main overseer for the events in Sochi. The breakdown table below is based on a report that has analyzed the distribution of Olimpstroys $49.5 billion budget, estimates also suggest that additional unrecoverable operational costs could have added another $3 billion. He confirmed that the Organizing Committee had raised more than $500 million through marketing in the first five months of 2009, the Russian Government provided nearly 327 billion rubles for the total development, expansion and hosting of the Games. 192 billion rubles coming from the budget and 7 billion rubles from the Krasnodar Krai budget. The organizers expected to have a surplus of US$300 million when the Games conclude, Sochi 2014 is the 12th straight Olympics to outlaw smoking, all Sochi venues, Olympic Park bars and restaurants and public areas were smoke-free during the Games. It is also the first time that an Olympic Park has been built for hosting a winter games, the Sochi Olympic Park was built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretinsky Valley, about 4 km from Russias border with Abkhazia/Georgia. The venues were clustered around a water basin on which the Medals Plaza is built. It also features The Waters of the Olympic Park, a fountain which served as the backdrop in the medals awards. Its primary use is to host the Formula One Russian Grand Prix, in January 2015, work began on adapting Fisht Olympic Stadium into an open-air football stadium to host matches during the 2018 FIFA World Cup
37.
Russian Navy
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The Russian Navy is the naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. The regular Russian Navy was established by Peter the Great in October 1696, ascribed to Peter I is the oft quoted statement, A ruler that has but an army has one hand, but he who has a navy has both. The symbols of the Russian Navy, the St. Andrews ensign, neither Janes Fighting Ships nor the International Institute for Strategic Studies list any standard ship prefixes for the vessels of the Russian Navy. For official U. S. Navy photographs, they are referred to as RFS—Russian Federation Ship. However, the Russian Navy itself does not use this convention, a rearmament program approved in 2007 placed the development of the navy on an equal footing with the strategic nuclear forces for the first time in Soviet and Russian history. This program, covering the period until 2015, expected to see the replacement of 45 percent of the inventory of the Russian Navy, out of 4.9 trillion rubles allocated for military rearmament,25 percent will go into building new ships. Another setback is attributed to Russias domestic shipbuilding industry which is reported to have been in decline as to their capabilities of constructing contemporary hardware efficiently, some analysts even say that because of this Russias naval capabilities have been facing a slow but certain irreversible collapse. The origins of the Russian navy may be traced to the period between the 4th and the 6th century, the first Slavic flotillas consisted of small sailing ships and rowboats, which had been seaworthy and able to navigate in riverbeds. During the 9th through 12th centuries, there were flotillas in the Kievan Rus consisting of hundreds of vessels with one, riverine vessels in 9th century Kievan Rus guarded trade routes to Constantinople. The citizens of Novgorod are known to have conducted military campaigns in the Baltic Sea —although contemporary Scandinavian sources state that the fleet was from Karelia or Estonia, ladya was a typical boat used by the army of Novgorod. There were also smaller sailboats and rowboats, such as ushkuys for sailing in rivers, lakes and skerries, kochis, during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Cossacks conducted military campaigns against the Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire, using sailboats and rowboats. The Don Cossacks called them strugs and these boats were capable of transporting up to 80 men. The Cossack flotillas numbered 80 to 100 boats, the centralized Russian state had been fighting for its own access to the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov since the 17th Century. By the end of century, the Russians had accumulated some valuable experience in using riverboats together with land forces. Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, the construction of the first three-masted ship to be entirely within Russia was finished in 1636. She was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein with a European design, in 1668, they built a 26-gun ship, the Oryol, a yacht, a boat with a mast and bowsprit, and a few rowboats. Unquestionably the most celebrated Russian explorer was Semyon Dezhnev, who, in 1648, rounding the Chukotsk Peninsula, Dezhnev passed through the Bering Sea and sailed into the Pacific Ocean. The regular Russian Navy was created at the initiative of Peter the Great, during the Second Azov campaign of 1696 against the Ottoman Empire, the Russians employed for the first time 2 warships,4 fireships,23 galleys and 1300 strugs, built on the Voronezh River
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Black Sea Fleet
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The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic command of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. Its ships are based in various harbors of the Black Sea and it is considered to have been founded by Prince Potemkin on May 13,1783, together with its principal base, the city of Sevastopol. Russia struggled for a time against its main rival in the region. The Black Sea Fleet defeated the Turks in 1790, and fought the Ottomans during World War I, the Romanians during World War II, the division of the fleet in 1997 became the basis of the Ukrainian Navy. The Black Sea Fleet is considered to have founded by Prince Potemkin on May 13,1783, together with its principal base. Formerly commanded by such legendary admirals as Dmitriy Senyavin and Pavel Nakhimov, in 1790, Russian naval forces under the command of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov defeated the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Kerch Strait. From 1841 onward, the fleet was confined to the Black Sea by the London Straits Convention, the crew of the battleship Potemkin revolted in 1905 soon after the Navys defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. Lenin wrote that the Potemkin uprising had had an importance in terms of being the first attempt at creating the nucleus of a revolutionary army. During World War I, there were a number of encounters between the Russian and Ottoman navies in the Black Sea, german submarines of the Constantinople Flotilla and Turkish light forces would continue to raid and harass Russian shipping until the wars end. During the Russian Civil War, the vast majority of the Black Sea Fleet was scuttled by Bolsheviks in Novorossiysk, most of the ships became part of the Russian Squadron of Wrangls armed forces and after the evacuation sailed to Tunisia. Out of those ships, some were passed to the French Navy, few ships that did stay in Black Sea were salvaged in the 1920s, while a large scale new construction programme began in the 1930s. Over 500 new ships were built during that period as well as expansion of coastal infrastructure took place. The Fleet was commanded by Vice Admiral F. S, oktyabrskiy on the outbreak of war with Germany in June 1941. The Fleet gave an account of itself as it fought alongside the Red Army during the Siege of Odessa. In 1952, Turkey decided to join NATO, placing the Bosporus Strait in the Western sphere of influence, together with the advent of long-range nuclear weapons, this dramatically decreased the strategic value of any naval activity in the Black Sea.11.94. 124th Maritime Missile Aviation Regiment - disbanded 1993, 943rd Maritime Missile Aviation Regiment - disbanded 1996. The military importance of the fleet has degraded since the collapse of the Soviet Union, due to significant funding cuts and, to a degree, the loss of its major missions. In 1992, the part of the personnel, armaments
39.
Abkhazia
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Abkhazia is a partially recognised state on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus Mountains, south of Russia and northwest of Georgia proper. It covers 8,660 square kilometres and has a population of around 240,000, the separatist Abkhazian polity, formally the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny, is recognised only by Russia and a small number of other countries. The status of Abkhazia is an issue of the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict. The region enjoyed autonomy within Soviet Georgia at the time when the Soviet Union began to disintegrate in the late 1980s, despite the 1994 ceasefire agreement and years of negotiations, the dispute remained unresolved. The long-term presence of a United Nations Observer Mission and a Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States peacekeeping force failed to prevent the flare-up of violence on several occasions. On 28 August 2008, the Parliament of Georgia declared Abkhazia a Russian-occupied territory, the Abkhazians call their homeland Аҧсны, popularly etymologised as a land/country of the soul, yet literally meaning a country of mortals. It possibly first appeared in the century in an Armenian text as Psin. The state is designated as the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny. The Russian Абхазия is adapted from the Georgian აფხაზეთი, in Mingrelian, Abkhazia is known as აბჟუა or სააფხაზო. Between the 9th and 6th centuries BC, the territory of modern Abkhazia was part of the ancient Georgian kingdom of Colchis and this kingdom was subsequently absorbed in 63 BC into the Kingdom of Egrisi, known to Byzantine Roman sources as Lazica. Classical authors described various peoples living in the region and the multitude of languages they spoke. Arrian, Pliny and Strabo have given accounts of the Abasgoi and Moschoi peoples somewhere in modern Abkhazia on the shore of the Black Sea. Around the mid 6th century AD, the Byzantines and the neighbouring Sassanid Persia fought for supremacy over Abkhazia for 20 years, Abkhazia, or Abasgia in classic sources, formerly part of Colchis and later of Egrisi until the late 690s, was a princedom under Byzantine authority. The country was mostly Christian, with the seat in Pityus. An Arab incursion into Abkhazia led by Marwan II, was repelled by Leon I jointly with his Egrisian and Kartlian allies in 736, after acquiring Egrisi via a dynastic union in the 780s the Kingdom of Abkhazia was established and became a dominant power in western Caucasus. During this period the Georgian language replaced Greek as the language of literacy, the western Georgian kingdom flourished between 850 and 950 when it annexed significant parts of central Georgia. In the 16th century, after the break-up of the Georgian Kingdom into small kingdoms and principalities, since the 1570s, when the Ottoman navy occupied the fort of Tskhumi, Abkhazia came under the influence of the Ottoman Empire and Islam. Under Ottoman rule, the majority of Abkhaz elite converted to Islam, the principality retained a degree of autonomy
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Taman Peninsula
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The Taman Peninsula, a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia, borders on the north with the Sea of Azov, on the west with the Strait of Kerch and on the south with the Black Sea. The area has evolved over the past two millennia from a chain of islands into todays peninsula, in ancient times the Pontic Greek colonies of Hermonassa and Phanagoria stood on the peninsula, as did the later city of Tmutarakan. The Maeotae and Sindi settled in the area from ancient times, in the classical period it became part of the Bosporan kingdom, its inhabitants included Sarmatians, Greeks, Anatolian settlers from Pontus, and Jews. In the 4th century CE the area fell to the Huns, it was later the capital of Great Bulgaria, following the breakup of the Khazar Khaganate in c. 969, the formed part of a Khazar Jewish successor state under a ruler named David. By the late 980s it came largely into the possession of the Kievan Rus, the Mongols seized the area in 1239 and it became a possession of Genoa, along with Gazaria in Crimea, in 1419. For most of the 15th century the Guizolfi family, founded by the Genoese Jew Simeone de Guizolfi, the rulership of the region by Jewish consuls, commissioners or princes has sparked much debate over the extent to which Khazar Judaism survived in southern Russia during this period. The Khanate of Crimea seized the Taman Peninsula in 1483, either It fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1783. In 1791, during the Russo-Turkish War, it passed into the control of the Russian Empire, Russia ceded it back to the Ottomans in 1792. It finally passed to Russia in 1828. }For much of the succeeding century, the largest settlement was the Cossack town of Taman, succeeded by the port town of Temryuk in modern times. Mikhail Lermontov describes the town of Taman in his novel, A Hero of Our Time, the peninsula contains small mud volcanoes and deposits of natural gas and petroleum. The German Wehrmacht and the Romanian Army occupied the Taman Peninsula in 1942, the story of the motion picture Cross of Iron revolves around conflicts that arise within the leadership of a Wehrmacht regiment during the German retreat from the Kuban bridgehead
41.
Sea of Azov
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The Sea of Azov is a sea in Eastern Europe. To the south it is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea, the sea is bounded in the north by mainland Ukraine, in the east by Russia, and in the west by the Crimean Peninsula. The Don and Kuban are the rivers that flow into it. The Sea of Azov is the shallowest sea in the world, there is a constant outflow of water from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. The sea is affected by the inflow of numerous rivers, which bring sand, silt, and shells, which in turn form numerous bays, limans. Because of these deposits, the sea bottom is relatively smooth, also, due to the river inflow, water in the sea has low salinity and a high amount of biomass that affects the water colour. Abundant plankton results in high fish productivity. The sea shores and spits are low, they are rich in vegetation, the name likely derives from the settlement of an area around Azov, whose name comes from the Kipchak Turkish asak or azaq. A Russian folk etymology, however, instead derives it from an eponymous Cuman prince named Azum or Asuf, a formerly common spelling of the name in English was the Sea of Azoff, which is closer to the Russian pronunciation. In antiquity, the sea was known as the Maeotis Swamp from the marshlands to its northeast. It remains unclear whether it was named for the nearby Maeotians or if that name was applied broadly to various peoples who happened to live beside it. Other names included Lake Maeotis or Maeotius, the Maeotium or Maeotic Sea, the Cimmerian or Scythican Swamps, the Maeotians themselves were said by Pliny to call the sea Temarenda or Temerinda, meaning Mother of Waters. The medieval Russians knew it as the Sea of Surozh after the adjacent city now known as Sudak and it was known in Ottoman Turkish as the Balük-Denis from its high productivity. There are traces of Neolithic settlement in the now covered by the sea. In 1997, William Ryan and Walter Pitman of Columbia University published a theory that a flood through the Bosporus occurred in ancient times. Subsequent work has been both to support and to discredit this theory, and archaeologists still debate it. This has led some to associate this catastrophe with prehistoric flood myths, the Maeotian marshes around the mouth of the Tanais River were famous in antiquity, as they served as an important check on the migration of nomadic people from the Eurasian steppelands. The Maeotians themselves lived by fishing and farming, but were avid warriors able to defend themselves against invaders
42.
Political status of Crimea
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The status of Crimea is the subject of a political and territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia. Despite international opinion however, the currency, tax and legal system are all operational under Russian jurisdiction, Ukraine has there applied for multiple litigations through international crime, water resources, the European Union and other courts. In 1920, immediately after the RSFSR recognized the independence of the Ukrainian SSR, in 1994 Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, which states that it would Respect Belarusian, Kazakh and Ukrainian independence and sovereignty and the existing borders. A detailed status of Crimea at that time was not described nor mentioned in the Budapest Memorandum, the Crimean Oblast council became Supreme Council of Crimea and, on 4 September 1991, passed the Declaration of state sovereignty of Crimea. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the autonomy renamed itself the Republic of Crimea, the Ukrainian government initially accepted its name, but not its claims to be a state. A similar resolution was adopted for Sevastopol a year later, both moves were condemned by Ukraine and resulted in no changes to the Russian Constitution. In 1994, after parliamentary and presidential elections in the Republic, the Supreme Council, following a referendum, held in same year, the Supreme Council of Crimea restored the 1992 Constitution to its original revision. Another Constitution was passed by Crimean parliament in 1995, but many parts of it were rejected by the Ukrainian parliament, among them were Republics name and citizenship. Ultimately, the new Constitution of Ukraine adopted neither extreme and reiterated the autonomous status of the republic, the Republic was declared to be the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, but also an inseparable constituent part of Ukraine. A new Crimean constitution, complying with provisions of the Ukrainian one, was adopted in 1998, before the 1954 transfer of Crimea, Sevastopol was elevated into a city of republican subordination of the Russian SFSR. Nevertheless, in practice it was governed as a part of Crimean Oblast. The Ukrainian Constitution of 1978 listed Sevastopol as one of its cities of republican subordination, three years later, the State Duma declared that Russia has a right to exercise sovereignty over Sevastopol, but this resolution went without any actual effect. An agreement was concluded in 1997 by the Russian and Ukrainian governments, amidst rising tension in the region as part of the Crimean crisis, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol held a referendum to join the Russian Federation. The referendum took place on 16 March 2014 with 97% of voters choosing to leave Ukraine and join Russia, for this purpose, the Autonomous Republic and Sevastopol joined together as a single united nation under the name of Republic of Crimea. This nation then was annexed by Russia where it was converted into a district under the name of Crimean Federal District. The European Union, United States, Canada and several other nations condemned the decision to hold a referendum, in addition, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People—the unofficial political association of the Crimean Tatars—called for a boycott of the referendum. Russia recognized the short-lived Republic of Crimea as a country shortly before concluding the treaty of accession. Russia claims the Republic of Crimea as a district, the Crimean Federal District, on the grounds of historical control of the area