1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
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
2.
Subdivisions of Russia
–
Russia is divided into several types and levels of subdivisions. Since March 18,2014, the Russian Federation consisted of eighty-five federal subjects that are constituent members of the Federation, however, two of these federal subjects—the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol—are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. All federal subjects are of equal rights in the sense that they have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council. They do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy, there are 6 types of federal subjects—22 republics,9 krais,46 oblasts,3 federal cities,1 autonomous oblast, and 4 autonomous okrugs. According to the Treaty, the Republic of Crimea is accepted as a subject with the status of a republic while the City of Sevastopol has received federal city status. Neither the Republic of Crimea nor the city of Sevastopol are politically recognized as parts of Russia by most countries and this was interpreted by the governments of the federal subjects as a sign that the matters of the administrative-territorial divisions became solely the responsibility of the federal subjects. As a result, the modern structures of the federal subjects vary significantly from one federal subject to another. Autonomous okrugs, while being under the jurisdiction of federal subject, are still constitutionally recognized as federal subjects on their own right. Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is an exception in that it is not administratively subordinated to any federal subject of Russia. Okrugs are usually former autonomous okrugs that lost their federal subject status due to a merger with another federal subject. According to the law, the units of the division are as follows, Municipal district. In practice, municipal districts are formed within the boundaries of existing administrative districts. In practice, urban okrugs are usually formed within the boundaries of existing cities of federal subject significance, intra-urban territory of a federal city, a part of a federal citys territory. In Moscow, these are called municipal formations, in St. Petersburg—municipal okrugs, towns, in Sevastopol, they are known as municipal okrugs and a town. Territories not included as a part of municipal formations are known as inter-settlement territories and this municipal formation type would typically be established within the borders of existing city districts. In June 2014, Chelyabinsky Urban Okrug became the first urban okrug to implement intra-urban divisions, all of the federal subjects are grouped into nine federal districts, each administered by an envoy appointed by the President of Russia. For economic and statistical purposes the federal subjects are grouped into twelve economic regions, economic regions and their parts sharing common economic trends are in turn grouped into economic zones and macrozones. In order for the Armed Forces to provide an efficient management of units, their training, and other operational activities
3.
Russia
–
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
4.
Federal subjects of Russia
–
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
5.
Krasnodar Krai
–
Krasnodar Krai is a federal subject of Russia, located in the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Krasnodar and it had a population of 5,226,647. The krai is sometimes referred to as Kuban, a term describing a region of southern Russia. The Republic of Adygea is completely encircled by the krai territory, the krais Taman Peninsula is situated between the Sea of Azov in the north and the Black Sea in the south. In the west, the Kerch Strait separates the krai from the Crimean Peninsula, at its widest extent, the krai stretches for 327 kilometers from north to south and for 360 kilometers from east to west. The krai is split into two parts by the Kuban River, which gave its name to this entire geographic region. The northern part is a zone which shares continental climate patterns. The height of the mountains exceeds 3,000 meters, with Mount Tsakhvoa being the highest at 3,346 meters, Mount Fisht, at 2,867 meters, is the Great Caucasus westernmost peak with a glacier. The Black Sea coast stretches from the Kerch Strait to Adler and is shielded by Caucasus Mountains from the northern winds. Numerous small mountain rivers flow in the areas, often creating picturesque waterfalls. Lake Abrau, located in the region of Abrau-Dyurso, is the largest lake in the northeastern Caucasus region. Lake Ritsa is considered to be one of the most picturesque lakes in the region, in 631, Kubrat was founded on the Kuban State and the Great Bulgar Khans dynasty began. The territory of Krasnodar Region from the 8th to the 10th centuries was part of the Khazars, after the defeat of the Khazar Khanate in 965 Kievan prince Svyatoslav conquered the area, it came under the rule of Kievan Rus, and it then formed the Tmutarakan principality. Later, due to the claims of Byzantium at the end of the 11th century. In that period of history, Russian Circassians first appeared under the name Kasogs, for example, Rededi Prince Kasozhsky was mentioned in The Tale of Igors Campaign. In 1243-1438 the current territory of the Kuban was part of the Golden Horde, after the collapse of the latter, parts of Kuban were held under the Crimean Khanate, Circassia, and the Ottoman Empire, which dominated the region. The Tsardom of Russia began to challenge the protectorate of the Ottoman Empire in the area during the Russian-Turkish wars, in April 1783, by decree of Catherine II, right-bank Kuban and Taman Peninsula were annexed to the Russian Empire. During the campaign for control of the North Caucasus to Russia in 1829 pushed the Ottoman Empire, border was marked on the Black Sea coast
6.
Area
–
Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional figure or shape, or planar lamina, in the plane. Surface area is its analog on the surface of a three-dimensional object. It is the analog of the length of a curve or the volume of a solid. The area of a shape can be measured by comparing the shape to squares of a fixed size, in the International System of Units, the standard unit of area is the square metre, which is the area of a square whose sides are one metre long. A shape with an area of three square metres would have the area as three such squares. In mathematics, the square is defined to have area one. There are several formulas for the areas of simple shapes such as triangles, rectangles. Using these formulas, the area of any polygon can be found by dividing the polygon into triangles, for shapes with curved boundary, calculus is usually required to compute the area. Indeed, the problem of determining the area of plane figures was a motivation for the historical development of calculus. For a solid such as a sphere, cone, or cylinder. Formulas for the areas of simple shapes were computed by the ancient Greeks. Area plays an important role in modern mathematics, in addition to its obvious importance in geometry and calculus, area is related to the definition of determinants in linear algebra, and is a basic property of surfaces in differential geometry. In analysis, the area of a subset of the plane is defined using Lebesgue measure, in general, area in higher mathematics is seen as a special case of volume for two-dimensional regions. Area can be defined through the use of axioms, defining it as a function of a collection of certain plane figures to the set of real numbers and it can be proved that such a function exists. An approach to defining what is meant by area is through axioms, area can be defined as a function from a collection M of special kind of plane figures to the set of real numbers which satisfies the following properties, For all S in M, a ≥0. If S and T are in M then so are S ∪ T and S ∩ T, if S and T are in M with S ⊆ T then T − S is in M and a = a − a. If a set S is in M and S is congruent to T then T is also in M, every rectangle R is in M. If the rectangle has length h and breadth k then a = hk, let Q be a set enclosed between two step regions S and T
7.
Russian Census (2010)
–
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
8.
Population density
–
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume, it is a quantity of type number density. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and most of the time to humans and it is a key geographical term. Population density is population divided by land area or water volume. Low densities may cause a vortex and lead to further reduced fertility. This is called the Allee effect after the scientist who identified it, commonly this may be calculated for a county, city, country, another territory, or the entire world. The worlds population is around 7,000,000,000, therefore, the worldwide human population density is around 7,000,000,000 ÷510,000,000 =13.7 per km2. If only the Earths land area of 150,000,000 km2 is taken into account and this includes all continental and island land area, including Antarctica. If Antarctica is also excluded, then population density rises to over 50 people per km2, thus, this number by itself does not give any helpful measurement of human population density. Several of the most densely populated territories in the world are city-states, microstates, cities with high population densities are, by some, considered to be overpopulated, though this will depend on factors like quality of housing and infrastructure and access to resources. Most of the most densely populated cities are in Southeast Asia, though Cairo, for instance, Milwaukee has a greater population density when just the inner city is measured, and the surrounding suburbs excluded. Arithmetic density, The total number of people / area of land, physiological density, The total population / area of arable land. Agricultural density, The total rural population / area of arable land, residential density, The number of people living in an urban area / area of residential land. Urban density, The number of people inhabiting an urban area / total area of urban land, ecological optimum, The density of population that can be supported by the natural resources. S. States by population density Selected Current and Historic City, Ward & Neighborhood Density
9.
Time in Russia
–
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
10.
Geographical renaming
–
Geographical renaming is the changing of the name of a geographical feature or area. This can range from the change of a street name to a highly disputed change to the name of a country. Some names are changed locally but the new names are not recognised by other countries, other names may not be officially recognised but remain in common use. Many places have different names in different languages, and a change of language in official or general use has resulted in what is arguably a change of name. There are many reasons to undertake renaming, with political motivation being the cause, for example many places in the former Soviet Union. Sometimes a place reverts to its former name, one of the most common reasons for a country changing its name is newly acquired independence. When borders are changed, sometimes due to a splitting or two countries joining together, the names of the relevant areas can change. This, however, is more the creation of a different entity than an act of geographical renaming, often the older name will persist in colloquial expressions. For example, the known in English as Peking duck retained that name even when the Chinese capital changed its transliteration to Beijing. Names in non-Roman characters can also be spelled differently when Romanised in different European languages. China developed and adopted the pinyin romanisation system in February 1958 in place of previous systems such as the postal romanization, many Chinese geographical entities thus had their English names changed. Pinyin was adopted by the International Organization for Standardisation in 1982, the system is not used by North Korea. Transfer of a city between countries with different patterns of phonology can result in seeming changes of name. Changes can be so slight as Straßburg and Strasbourg, some are translations, Karlsbad became Karlovy Vary. When the formerly-German city of Danzig came under Polish rule, it known in English by its Polish name of Gdańsk. The pattern is far from uniform, and it takes time, decolonisation in India saw a trend to change the established English names of cities to the names in the local language. Since then, changes have included Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, for example, it changed Dihua to Ürümqi and Zhenxi to Barkol. It peacefully dissolved into the Czech and Slovak Republics in 1993, yugoslavia was originally Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, created by joining Kingdom of Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro and parts of Austro-Hungarian Empire inhabited by South Slavs
11.
Wikimedia Commons
–
Wikimedia Commons is an online repository of free-use images, sound, and other media files. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation, the repository contains over 38 million media files. In July 2013, the number of edits on Commons reached 100,000,000, the project was proposed by Erik Möller in March 2004 and launched on September 7,2004. The expression educational is to be according to its broad meaning of providing knowledge. Wikimedia Commons itself does not allow fair use or uploads under non-free licenses, for this reason, Wikimedia Commons always hosts freely licensed media and deletes copyright violations. The default language for Commons is English, but registered users can customize their interface to use any other user interface translations. Many content pages, in particular policy pages and portals, have also translated into various languages. Files on Wikimedia Commons are categorized using MediaWikis category system, in addition, they are often collected on individual topical gallery pages. While the project was proposed to also contain free text files. In 2012, BuzzFeed described Wikimedia Commons as littered with dicks, in 2010, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger reported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI for hosting sexualized images of children known as lolicon. Wales responded to the backlash from the Commons community by voluntarily relinquishing some site privileges, over time, additional functionality has been developed to interface Wikimedia Commons with the other Wikimedia projects. Specialized uploading tools and scripts such as Commonist have been created to simplify the process of uploading large numbers of files. In order to free content photos uploaded to Flickr, users can participate in a defunct collaborative external review process. The site has three mechanisms for recognizing quality works, one is known as Featured pictures, where works are nominated and other community members vote to accept or reject the nomination. This process began in November 2004, another process known as Quality images began in June 2006, and has a simpler nomination process comparable to Featured pictures. Quality images only accepts works created by Wikimedia users, whereas Featured pictures additionally accepts nominations of works by third parties such as NASA, the three mentioned processes select a slight part from the total number of files. However, Commons collects files of all quality levels, from the most professional level across simple documental, files with specific defects can be tagged for improvement and warning or even proposed for deletion but there exists no process of systematic rating of all files. The site held its inaugural Picture of the Year competition, for 2006, all images that were made a Featured picture during 2006 were eligible, and voted on by eligible Wikimedia users during two rounds of voting
12.
Russian language
–
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
13.
Black Sea
–
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
14.
Georgia (country)
–
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
15.
Abkhazia
–
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
16.
Caucasus Mountains
–
The Caucasus Mountains are a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region. The Caucasus Mountains include the Greater Caucasus in the north and Lesser Caucasus in the south, the Greater Caucasus runs west-northwest to east-southeast, from the Caucasian Natural Reserve in the vicinity of Sochi on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea nearly to Baku on the Caspian Sea. The Lesser Caucasus runs parallel to the Greater about 100 km south, the Greater and Lesser Caucasus ranges are connected by the Likhi Range, and to the west and east of the Likhi Range lie the Colchis Plain and the Kur-Araz Lowland. The Meskheti Range is a part of the Lesser Caucasus system, in the southeast the Aras River separates the Lesser Caucasus from the Talysh Mountains which straddle the border of southeastern Azerbaijan and Iran. The highest peak in the Caucasus range is Mount Elbrus in the Greater Caucasus, Mountains near Sochi hosted part of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Geologically, the Caucasus Mountains belong to a system that extends from southeastern Europe into Asia, the Greater Caucasus Mountains are mainly composed of Cretaceous and Jurassic rocks with the Paleozoic and Precambrian rocks in the higher regions. Some volcanic formations are found throughout the range, on the other hand, the Lesser Caucasus Mountains are formed predominantly of the Paleogene rocks with a much smaller portion of the Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. The Caucasus Mountains formed largely as the result of a plate collision between the Arabian plate moving northwards with respect to the Eurasian plate. As this happened, the rocks that had been deposited in this basin from the Jurassic to the Miocene were folded to form the Greater Caucasus Mountains. This collision also caused the uplift and the Cenozoic volcanic activity in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, the entire region is regularly subjected to strong earthquakes from this activity. While the Greater Caucasus Mountains have a mainly folded sedimentary structure, the Javakheti Volcanic Plateau in Georgia and the surrounding volcanic ranges which extend well into central Armenia are some of the youngest features of the region. The Kazbek is no active, but the Elbrus erupted in postglacial times. Contemporary seismic activity is a prominent feature of the region, reflecting active faulting, clusters of seismicity occur in Dagestan and in northern Armenia. Many devastating earthquakes have been documented in historical times, including the Spitak earthquake in December 1988 which destroyed the Gyumri-Vanadzor region of Armenia, europes highest mountain is Mount Elbrus 5,642 m in the Caucasus Mountains. Elbrus is 832 m higher than Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps at 4,810 m, the Caucasus Mountains are defined as the continental divide between Asia and Europe for the region between the Black and Caspian Seas. The table below lists some of the highest peaks of the Caucasus, with the exception of Shkhara, the heights are taken from Soviet 1,50,000 mapping. There are higher and more prominent, but nameless, peaks than some of the peaks included below, the climate of the Caucasus varies both vertically and horizontally. Temperature generally decreases as elevation rises, average annual temperature in Sukhumi, Abkhazia at sea level is 15 °C while on the slopes of Mt. Kazbek at an elevation of 3,700 metres, average annual temperature falls to−6.1 °C
17.
Russian Census (2002)
–
Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, carried out on October 9 through October 16,2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics, the census data were collected as of midnight October 9,2002. The census was intended to collect statistical information about the resident population of Russian Federation. All detailed census tables are for the resident population, a sample of the participants were also asked more detailed questions about their economic and housing situation. Also, the census also counted two more groups of people, Russian citizens currently living abroad for more one year in connection with the employment with the federal government. Persons permanently residing abroad, but temporarily present in Russia, Foreign citizens present in Russia as employees of foreign diplomatic missions or international organizations, and members of their household, were excluded from the census altogether. The Census recorded the resident population of 145,166,731 persons and that included urban population of 106,429,000 and rural population of 38,738,000. The non-resident populations included, Russian citizens living abroad in connection with the government service,107,288. Census participants were asked what country they were citizens of,142,442,000 respondents reported being Russian citizens, among them,44,000 also had citizenship of another country. Among Russias resident population,1,025,413 foreign citizens and 429,881 stateless persons were counted,1,269,023 persons did not report their citizenship. Among the questions asked were Are you competent in the Russian language, and What other languages are you competent in. As the census manual explained, competence meant either the ability to speak, read and write a language, the questions did not distinguish native and non-native speakers, nor did they try to measure the degree of language competence. For small children, presumably, the answer was based on the language spoken by the parents. 142.6 million of the responders claimed competence in Russian, other widely reported languages are listed in the table below. 1.42 million responders did not provide language information, for a more detailed list, see List of languages of Russia. Demographics of Russia Russian Empire Census Soviet Census Official census home page Population of Chechnya, was the Census correct
18.
Resort town
–
A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area, sometimes the term resort town is used simply for a locale popular among tourists. The term can refer to either an incorporated or unincorporated contiguous area where the ratio of transient rooms. Generally, tourism is the main export in a resort town economy, shops and luxury boutiques selling locally themed souvenirs, motels, and unique restaurants often proliferate the downtown areas of a resort town. In the case of the United States, resort towns were created around the late 1800s, consistent, however, throughout many resort towns includes elements of ambitious architecture, romanticizing a location, and dependence on cheap labor. In addition, resort towns are popular with wealthy retirees and people wishing to purchase vacation homes, which typically drives up property values. Sometimes, resort towns can become due to the quick development of retirement. However, most of the employment available in towns are typically low paying. Many resort towns have spawned nearby bedroom communities where the majority of the resort workforce lives, local residents are generally receptive of the economic impacts of tourism. Increased economic activity in resort towns can also have effects on the countrys overall economic growth. Among the participants, 67% had lived in Antalya for over ten years, 66% had at least a high school degree, the results are as follows, Perceived impact on select economic impact items More recently, resort towns have come under greater scrutiny by local communities. Instances where resort towns are poorly managed have adverse effects on the local economy, one example is the uneven distribution of income and land ownership between local residents and businesses. This results in a preponderance of foreigners in the land market, the revenues amassed from tourism typically do not benefit the host country or the local communities. These funds are referred to as leakages, tourism has also been blamed for other negative economic impacts to local communities. Although resort towns usually boast more improved infrastructure than surrounding areas, reallocating government funds to subsidize infrastructure and tax breaks to firms shift available funding to local education and health services. In addition, resort towns typically do not have dynamic economies, economic dependence on tourism poses particular challenges to resort towns and its local residents given the seasonal nature of the job market in some areas. Local residents of resort towns face job insecurity, difficulties in obtaining training, medical-benefits, every resort town is unique and local governance should be viewed on a case-by-case basis. There are, however, several criteria for insuring the most effective governance models
19.
Caucasian Riviera
–
Caucasian Riviera is located along the eastern coast of the Black Sea under the Caucasus Mountains. It runs from Novorossiysk, Russia to Sarpi, Georgia, the area is divided into five regions, of which four are located in Georgia, and one is in Russia. Caucasian Riviera is 600 km long,350 km of which belongs to Russia and 250 km to Georgia, the coast is located on the same latitude as the French Riviera, the Italian Riviera, New York City and the Korean Peninsula. Caucasian Riviera was populated since ancient ages, the region was known as Colchis in Classical antiquity. It has become tourist destination in the late 19th century after its rise in popularity among Russian aristocrats, in Soviet times it has been called Soviet Riviera for its popularity as a tourist destination among the USSR population. After the break up of the Soviet Union Caucasian Riviera has lost its popularity because of the War in Abkhazia, today the Eastern coast of Black Sea witnesses its revival. Large significance may be given to Batumis renovations and 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, from Novorossiysk to Tuapse, average temperature in January is 3 °C, and during July its 23 °C. From the south of Tuapse the climate is humid subtropical because of the mountains rising above 1000 meters over the sea. The mountains dont let the humidity of the Black Sea move east which creates a climate with an average temperature of 5 °C in January. While in the north of Tuapse, average rainfall is 500 mm a year, in the south of Tuapse down to Adjara it is 2,800 mm, average sunshine is between 2200-2400 hours and only 12 days during summer are rainy. Economy is based on tourism, agriculture and transportation, tourist season lasts from middle May to middle October. The major touristic centers are located in Adjara, Abkhazia and Sochi, there are three ski areas near the coast. Agriculture is significant part of economy with variety of vegetables, cereals, tea growing is common in that area, and Caucasus is one of the northernmost areas of the world where tea is grown. Black Sea is also called dead sea because there is no life below 200 meters, important ports are Batumi, Poti, Sukhumi, Sochi, Tuapse and Novorossiysk
20.
Subtropics
–
The subtropics are geographic and climate zones located roughly between the tropic circle of latitude at 23.5 latitude and temperate latitudes. Subtropical climates are characterized by warm to hot summers and cool to mild winters with infrequent frost. Subtropical climates can occur at elevations within the tropics, such as in the southern end of the Mexican Plateau and in Vietnam. Six climate classifications use the term to define the various temperature. A great portion of the deserts are located within the subtropics. Within savanna regimes in the subtropics, a wet season is seen annually during the summer, within Mediterranean climate regimes, the wet season occurs during the winter. Areas bordering warm oceans are prone to heavy rainfall from tropical cyclones. Plants such as palms, citrus, mango, lychee, the tropics have been historically defined as lying between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, located at 23. 45° north and south latitude respectively. The poleward fringe of the subtropics is located at approximately 40° north and south latitude respectively, northern fringes of the type can go further north due to moderating effects of ocean streams, like in parts of Southern Europe due to heat transported by the Gulf Stream. Several methods have used to define the subtropical climate. In the Trewartha climate classification, a subtropical region should have at least eight months with a temperature greater than 10 °C. According to the Troll-Paffen climate classification, there exists one large subtropical zone named the warm-temperate subtropical zone. According to the E. Neef climate classification, the zone is divided into two parts, Rainy winters of the west sides and Eastern subtropical climate. According to the Wilhelm Lauer & Peter Frankenberg climate classification, the zone is divided into three parts, high-continental, continental, and maritime. According to the Siegmund/Frankenberg climate classification, subtropical is one of six zones in the world. Heating of the earth near the equator leads to large amounts of upward motion and convection along the trough or Intertropical convergence zone. The upper-level divergence over the near-equatorial trough leads to air rising and moving away from the equator aloft, as the air moves towards the Mid-Latitudes, it cools and sinks, which leads to subsidence near the 30th parallel of both hemispheres. This circulation is known as the Hadley cell and leads to the formation of the subtropical ridge, many of the worlds deserts are caused by these climatological high-pressure areas, located within the subtropics
21.
Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort
–
The Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort is an alpine ski resort in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located at the Aibga Ridge of the Western Caucasus along the Roza Khutor plateau near Krasnaya Polyana. Constructed from 2003 to 2011, it hosted the alpine skiing events for the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the resort is 50 kilometers east of the Black Sea at Sochi, the majority of the slopes at Rosa Khutor face northeast, with the backside slopes facing southwest. The lower base area of Roza Valley at the Mzymta River is at an elevation of 560 meters above sea level. The highest lift is the Caucasus Express gondola, which climbs to the summit of Roza Peak at 2,320 m, the main base area for skiing is at Roza Plateau at 1,170 m, a vertical drop of 1,150 m from the summit. Besedka, the area, is at 1,350 m and is the lower loading station of the Caucasus Express. At the eastern edge of the resort is Rosa Stadium, the area for the alpine racing events at 940 m. Rosa Khutor Alpine Ski Resort is the site of ten hotel projects with more than 1600 rooms, Rosa Khutor hosted World Cup alpine races in the downhill and super combined for both men and women in February 2012, two years ahead of the Olympics. The race courses were designed by 1972 Olympic gold medalist Bernhard Russi. The mens World Cup downhill started well below the summit at 2,045 meters and finished at 970 meters, with a drop of 1,075 meters. The maximum gradient is 84% at the top of the course, the 2012 downhill was won by Beat Feuz of Switzerland
22.
Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai
–
Krasnaya Polyana is an urban locality in Krasnopolyansky Settlement Okrug, which is under the administrative jurisdiction of Adlersky City District of the City of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The lift-served summit climbs to 2,320 meters, giving a drop of over a mile at 1,760 meters. The resort hosted the Alpine and Nordic events of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, having previously hosted World Cup alpine events from February 2012, two years earlier. The name Krasnaya Polyana was given by the Greek settlers in 1878 because of the overgrowth of fern. A hostile historian says it was named from the blood of the Ubykhs who died here in 1864, having spent several days in the village, he recorded his observations in a journal. Among other things, Tornau noted that the village was famous for its honey which was exported by the Sadz people to the Ottoman Empire, by the 1860s, the village was known as Kbaade and became populated with the Akhchipsou branch of the Sadz. In 1864, the area was the scene, significant in Circassian history, the area was conquered by four main Russian armies and the end of the prolonged Caucasian War declared. The area became a part of the Russian Empire and those residents who did not swear allegiance to the Empire were removed to the Ottoman Empire, the abandoned aul was replaced with the new settlement of Krasnaya Polyana in 1869. The new settlers were ethnically diverse, including not only Russians, but also Greeks from Stavropol and Estonians, a royal hunting lodge was erected in 1901, followed by the chalets of Counts Sheremetev and Bobrinsky, among other nobles and high-placed dignitaries. Although it was never visited by the Tsar, the village was renamed Romanovsk, a winding mountain road to Adler was inaugurated in 1898. Following the October Revolution of 1917, the exclusive retreat reverted to its name and status. The loss of ski areas in South Caucasus and Tian Shan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union increased Krasnaya Polyanas prestige, by the 21st century, the locality had emerged as one of the most sought after ski resorts in the country. This is the skiing area of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Krasnaya Polyana today offers many chalets, hotels, and restaurants and its reputation owes a lot to the development of heliskiing in the middle of the 1990s, which provides access to an important skiing domain. Amateurs can ski downhill through a not-too-dense birch forest, with a drop of 1,760 meters. The station at Rosa Khutor has four chairlifts and 12 kilometers of delimited tracks, as of 2006, the Alpika Service was being developed by the Gazprom. An electricity pylon looking like a snow leopard
23.
2014 Winter Olympics
–
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
24.
2014 Winter Paralympics
–
45 National Paralympic Committees participated in the Games, which marked the first time Russia ever hosted the Paralympics. The Games featured 72 medal events in five sports, and saw the debut of snowboarding at the Winter Paralympics, additionally, Russian skier Roman Petushkov won the most individual gold medals in Winter Paralympic history, with six golds across skiing and biathlon events. However, following the Games, the IPC discovered evidence that Russias performance may have been aided by a wider state-sponsored doping program. Following the second and final round of voting at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City, Guatemala on 4 July 2007, the city of Sochi, Russia was awarded the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. As with previous Paralympics, the 2014 Winter Paralympics used most of the venues that were used by the Olympics, situated within the Sochi Olympic Park. The Sochi Olympic Park was built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretin Valley, the venues are clustered around a central water basin with a synchronized fountain, allowing all indoor venues to be within walking distance. After Ray of Light overcame his struggle to adapt to a winter environment, the opening ceremony of the Games were held at Fisht Olympic Stadium on 7 March 2014. During the parade of nations, Ukraines athletes declined to participate in protest of the situation in Crimea, in his opening speech, IPC president Philip Craven praised Russia for finally fulfilling its dream of hosting the Paralympics after previously passing on the opportunity in 1980. He called upon spectators to have a mind, stating that the sport you witness here will change you. Not just for now, but forever, the Paralympic cauldron was jointly lit by Russian Paralympians Olesya Vladykina and Sergey Shilov. Athletes representing forty-five National Paralympic Committees competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, brazil, Turkey and Uzbekistan made their Winter Paralympic debut in Sochi, while Hungary and South Africa, who participated in Vancouver, did not send any athletes. Competitions in the 2014 Winter Paralympics were held in five Winter Paralympic sports, new for 2014 was the addition of snowboarding events, which were incorporated into the alpine skiing program. Alpine skiing Biathlon Cross-country skiing Ice sledge hockey Wheelchair curling The closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Paralympics was held on 16 March 2014 at Fisht Olympic Stadium, sochis Paralympic medal design was unveiled in May 2013 alongside its Olympic equivalent. The design incorporates a patchwork quilt of diamonds, some of which are translucent, containing designs that reflect Russias regions, channel 4 planned to broadcast more than 45 hours of coverage from Sochi. Australian coverage was provided by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, including live online streaming, however, aside from the opening ceremony, television coverage was limited to a daily half-hour highlights show. In the United States, NBC Sports acquired the rights to the 2014 and 2016 Paralympics in September 2013. The majority of its coverage was relegated to NBC Sports Network, but NBC aired highlights of the ceremony the following afternoon. Russia vowed troops would stay until the situation was normalised
25.
2018 FIFA World Cup
–
The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the mens national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, the final tournament will involve 32 national teams, which include 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities, the final will take place on 15 July in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium. The winners will qualify for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup, the bidding procedure to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest. During the bidding process, the three remaining non-UEFA nations gradually withdrew from the 2018 bids, and the UEFA nations were thus ruled out of the 2022 bid. As such, there were four bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, England, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium. The twenty-two-member FIFA Executive Committee convened in Zürich on 2 December 2010 to vote to select the hosts of both tournaments, Russia won the right to be the 2018 host in the second round of voting. The Spain/Portugal bid came second, and that from Belgium/Netherlands third, Englands bid to host its second tournament fell at the first hurdle. For the branding, a typeface called Dusha was created by Portuguese design agency Brandia Central in 2014, apart from Russia, who qualified automatically for the tournament as the hosts, all FIFA member associations were eligible to enter the qualification process. On 12 March 2015, prior to the start of qualification, Indonesia were suspended and then expelled before playing a single qualifying match, as part of punishment for government interference in the Football Association of Indonesia. The qualifying draw took place at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, qualifying matches for AFC and CONCACAF started in March 2015, prior to the qualifying draw. The allocation of slots for each confederation was decided to be unchanged by the FIFA Executive Committee on 30 May 2015 in Zürich, on 13 May 2016, Gibraltar and Kosovo became FIFA members and eligible for the World Cup qualifying. In October 2013, UEFA President Michel Platini proposed that the World Cup finals should be expanded from 32 to 40 teams starting from 2018, the format would have been the same, but in groups of five instead of four. This was in response to FIFA President Sepp Blatters comments that Africa and Asia deserved more spots in the World Cup finals at the expense of European and South American teams. Russia proposed the following host cities, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, and Yekaterinburg. All the cities are in or just outside European Russia to reduce time for the teams in the huge country. The bid evaluation report stated, The Russian bid proposes 13 host cities and 16 stadiums, three of the 16 stadiums would be renovated, and 13 would be newly constructed. In October 2011 Russia decreased the number of stadiums from 16 to 14, the final choice of host cities was announced on 29 September 2012
26.
Western Asia
–
Western Asia, West Asia, Southwestern Asia or Southwest Asia is the westernmost subregion of Asia. The concept is in limited use, as it overlaps with the Middle East. The term is used for the purposes of grouping countries in statistics. The total population of Western Asia is an estimated 300 million as of 2015, in an unrelated context, the term is also used in ancient history and archaeology to divide the Fertile Crescent into the Asiatic or Western Asian cultures as opposed to ancient Egypt. As a geographic concept, Western Asia almost always includes the Levant, Mesopotamia, the term is used pragmatically and has no correct or generally agreed-upon definition. In contrast to this definition, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in its 2015 yearbook also includes Armenia and Azerbaijan, unlike the UNIDO, the United Nations Statistics Division excludes Iran from Western Asia and include Turkey, Georgia, and Cyprus in the region. These four countries are listed in the European category of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, the Olympic Council of Asias multi-sport event West Asian Games are contested by athletes representing these thirteen countries. Among the regions sports organisations are the West Asia Basketball Association, West Asian Billiards and Snooker Federation, West Asian Football Federation, Western Asia was in use as a geographical term in the early 19th century, even before Near East became current as a geopolitical concept. Use of the term in the context of contemporary geopolitics or world economy appears to date from the 1960s, Western Asia is located directly south of Eastern Europe. The region is surrounded by seven major seas, the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. The Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts in eastern Iran naturally delimit the region somewhat from Asia itself, three major tectonic plates converge on Western Asia, including the African, Eurasian, and Arabian plates. The boundaries between the plates make up the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge, extending across North Africa, the Red Sea. The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate at the East Anatolian Fault, several major aquifers provide water to large portions of Western Asia. In Saudi Arabia, two large aquifers of Palaeozoic and Triassic origins are located beneath the Jabal Tuwayq mountains and areas west to the Red Sea. Cretaceous and Eocene-origin aquifers are located beneath large portions of central and eastern Saudi Arabia, including Wasia, flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km² across Western Asia for agriculture. Western Asia is primarily arid and semi-arid, and can be subject to drought, the region consists of grasslands, rangelands, deserts, and mountains. Water shortages are a problem in parts of West Asia, with rapidly growing populations increasing demands for water. Major rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates, provide sources for water to support agriculture
27.
Greater Caucasus
–
Greater Caucasus is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains. In the drier Eastern Caucasus, the mountains are mostly treeless, the watershed of the Caucasus is also considered the boundary between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The border of Russia with Georgia and Azerbaijan runs along the most of the Caucasus length, the Georgian Military Road and Trans-Caucasus Highway traverse this mountain range at altitudes of up to 3,000 metres. The border between Russia and Georgia still follows the watershed almost exactly, while Azerbaijan in its northeastern corner has five districts north of the watershed, mount Elbrus,5,642 m, 43°21′18″N 42°26′21″E is the highest mountain in Europe
28.
Moscow
–
Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
29.
Tuapsinsky District
–
Tuapsinsky District is an administrative district, one of the thirty-eight in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Tuapsinsky Municipal District and it is located in the south of the krai. The area of the district is 2,366 square kilometers and its administrative center is the town of Tuapse. Within the framework of administrative divisions, Tuapsinsky District is one of the thirty-eight in the krai, the town of Tuapse serves as its administrative center, despite being incorporated separately as an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the district is incorporated as Tuapsinsky Municipal District, Управление по взаимодействию с органами местного самоуправления Администрации Краснодарского края. Справочная информация №34. 01-707/13-03 от23 мая2013 г, Закон №745-КЗ от2 июля2004 г. Закона №1756-КЗ от3 июня2009 г «О внесении изменений в некоторые законодательные акты Краснодарского края об установлении границ муниципальных образований», Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Кубанские новости, №114,17 июля2004 г
30.
Apsheronsky District
–
Apsheronsky District is an administrative district, one of the thirty-eight in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Apsheronsky Municipal District and it is located in the south of the krai. The area of the district is 2,443.2 square kilometers and its administrative center is the town of Apsheronsk. The population of Apsheronsk accounts for 40. 7% of the total population. Apsheronsk narrow-gauge railway is the largest mountain railway of its type in Russia, Управление по взаимодействию с органами местного самоуправления Администрации Краснодарского края. Справочная информация №34. 01-707/13-03 от23 мая2013 г, Закон №747-КЗ от2 июля2004 г. Закона №1756-КЗ от3 июня2009 г «О внесении изменений в некоторые законодательные акты Краснодарского края об установлении границ муниципальных образований», Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Кубанские новости, №119,24 июля2004 г
31.
Maykopsky District
–
Maykopsky District is an administrative and a municipal district, one of the seven in the Republic of Adygea, Russia. The area of the district is 3,667.43 square kilometers and its administrative center is the rural locality of Tulsky. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the district was 58,439. The predecessor of this district was first established on December 28,1934 as a division of Azov-Black Sea Krai. It was renamed Tulsky on April 10,1936, when Azov-Black Sea Krai was divided into Krasnodar Krai and Rostov Oblast in September 1937, Tulsky District remained a part of the former. On February 21,1940, Maykopsky District was established within Adyghe Autonomous Oblast, within the framework of administrative divisions, Maykopsky District is one of the seven in the Republic of Adygea and has administrative jurisdiction over all of its fifty-seven rural localities. As a municipal division, the district is incorporated as Maykopsky Municipal District and its fifty-seven rural localities are incorporated into ten rural settlements within the municipal district. The settlement of Tulsky serves as the center of both the administrative and municipal district. Закон №171 от5 мая2000 г, «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Республики Адыгея», в ред. Закона №97 от6 июня2012 г, Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Советская Адыгея, №156-157,7 августа2004 г, Закон №283 от30 декабря2004 г. Закона №380 от30 декабря2014 г, Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Советская Адыгея, №2–5,12 января2005 г
32.
Adygea
–
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
33.
Mostovsky District
–
Mostovsky District is an administrative district, one of the thirty-eight in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Mostovsky Municipal District and it is located in the southeast of the krai. The area of the district is 3,750 square kilometers and its administrative center is the urban locality of Mostovskoy. The population of Mostovskoy accounts for 35. 2% of the total population. Управление по взаимодействию с органами местного самоуправления Администрации Краснодарского края, Справочная информация №34. 01-707/13-03 от23 мая2013 г. Закон №777-КЗ от16 сентября2004 г, Закона №1756-КЗ от3 июня2009 г «О внесении изменений в некоторые законодательные акты Краснодарского края об установлении границ муниципальных образований». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Кубанские новости, №152,18 сентября2004 г
34.
Short-beaked common dolphin
–
The short-beaked common dolphin is a species of common dolphin. There are more short-beaked common dolphins than any other species in the warm-temperate portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is also found in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas, the short-beaked common dolphin is also abundant in the Black Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Red Sea. They follow the stream up to Norwegian waters. Seldom do any short-beaked dolphin venture near the Arctic, the short-beaked common dolphin is a medium-sized dolphin, smaller than the more widely known bottlenose dolphin. Adults vary in length from five to eight feet and range in mass from 100 to 136 kilograms or 220.26 to 299 pounds, males are generally longer and heavier, with a sexual size dimorphism of 1.06. Mature males also have prominent postanal humps, the color pattern on the body is unusual. The back is dark and the belly is white, while on side is an hourglass pattern colored light grey, yellow or gold in front. It has a long, thin rostrum with 50–60 small, sharp, juvenile dolphins have a more muted appearance and become more distinguishable when they mature. The short-beaked common dolphin is a member of common dolphin genus, Delphinus, within the dolphin family, until the mid-1990s, the different forms within Delphinus were not recognized as separate species, but were all considered members of the species D. delphis. Currently, there are two recognized species of Delphinus, the common dolphin and the long-beaked common dolphin. The short-beaked common dolphin is generally smaller than the common dolphin and has a shorter rostrum. Differentiation among the variety can be attributed to ocean temperature, chlorophyll concentration. Short-beaked common dolphins can live in aggregations of hundreds or even thousands of dolphins and they sometimes associate with other dolphin species, such as pilot whales. They have also been observed bow riding on baleen whales, and it is a fast swimmer, and breaching behavior and aerial acrobatics are common with this species. They are very social animals and engage in most necessary activities such as traveling, eating and they usually associate in groups that can consist of 1000s to 100, 000s of individuals. When some individuals are sick, others in the group assist them by using their fins to keep them afloat so they survive. The short-beaked common dolphin has a diet consisting of many species of fish
35.
Kiteboarding
–
Kiteboarding is a surface water sport combining aspects of wakeboarding, snowboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, skateboarding and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing is a style of kiteboarding specific to wave riding, which utilizes standard surfboards or boards shaped specifically for the purpose, there are different styles of kiteboarding, including freestyle, freeride, downwinders, speed, course racing, wakestyle, jumping and kitesurfing in the waves. In 2012, the number of kitesurfers was estimated by the ISAF, the global market for kite gear sales is worth US $250 million. In the 1800s, George Pocock used kites of increased size to propel carts on land and ships on the water, both carts and boats were able to turn and sail upwind. The kites could be flown for sustained periods, the intention was to establish kitepower as an alternative to horsepower, partly to avoid the hated horse tax that was levied at that time. In 1978, Ian Days FlexiFoil kite-powered Tornado catamaran exceeded 40 km/h, in October 1977 Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise received the first patent for KiteSurfing. Although this patent did not result in any commercial interest, Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise could be considered as the originator of KiteSurfing, through the 1980s, there were occasionally successful attempts to combine kites with canoes, ice skates, snow skis, water skis and roller skates. Strasilla and his Swiss friend Andrea Kuhn used this invention also in combination with surfboards and snowboards, grasskies, one of his patents describes in 1979 the first use of an inflatable kite design for kitesurfing. In 1990, practical kite buggying was pioneered by Peter Lynn at Argyle Park in Ashburton, Lynn coupled a three-wheeled buggy with a forerunner of the modern parafoil kite. Kite buggying proved to be very popular worldwide, with over 14,000 buggies sold up to 1999, the development of modern-day kitesurfing by the Roeselers in the USA and the Legaignoux in France carried on in parallel to buggying. The KiteSki was commercially available in 1994, the kite had a rudimentary water launch capability and could go upwind. In 1995, Cory Roeseler visited Peter Lynn at New Zealands Lake Clearwater in the Ashburton Alpine Lakes area, demonstrating speed, balance, in the late 1990s, Corys ski evolved to a single board similar to a surfboard. Bruno Legaignoux has continued to improve kite designs, including developing the bow kite design, in 1997, specialized kite boards were developed by Raphaël Salles and Laurent Ness. By the end of 1998 kitesurfing had become a sport, distributed and taught through a handful group of shops. The first competition was held on Maui in September 1998 and won by Flash Austin, starting in 1999, kitesurfing became a mainstream sport with the entry of key windsurfing manufacturers namely Naish and Neil Pryde. Single direction boards derived from windsurfing and surfing designs became the dominant form of kiteboard, from 2001 onwards, twin-tip bi-directional boards became more popular for most flat water riders, with directional boards still in use for surf conditions. In May 2012, the racing style of kitesurfing was announced as a sport for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Kitesurfing was named as an event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires
36.
Lazarevskoye Microdistrict
–
Lazarevskoye is a microdistrict of Lazarevsky City District of the city of Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It was a settlement before 1961, when it was merged into Sochi. The microdistrict is located on the shore of the Black Sea at the mouth of the Psezuapse River and it was founded in 1869 as the village of Lazarevka in place of the former Lazarevskoye Fortress, which existed in 1839–1854. The fortress was named after Admiral Mikhail Lazarev, later the name of the village was changed to Lazarevskoye. On July 12,1949, it was granted resort settlement status, on February 11,1961, it was merged into the city of Sochi and ceased to exist as an independent entity. Lazarevskaya railway station on the Tuapse-Adler line is located on the territory of the microdistrict, Lazarevskoye is a popular place for beach tourism. There are two waterparks and a dolphinarium
37.
Dagomys
–
Dagomys, is a microdistrict of Sochi, Russia, known for its resorts, vacation spots and tea plantations. It was developed as a resort since before the Russian Revolution, a modern hotel complex was opened there in 1982. The name of microdistrict came from the indigenous and the first dwellers of the area the Circassians or Adyghe they preferred to call their selves. In the 14th-17th centuries, the area was dominated by one of the Adyghe tribes, the Shapsugs, Russian settlements in the area began with a military outpost, which later grew into several villages. Those villages were first populated by the soldiers and thus carried the names of the corresponding military units, such as 1st regiment, 2nd regiment. The soldiers were joined by migrants from all over Russia. Armenians built separate villages in the mountains near Dagomys and named them Nor Luys, Lower Armenian Hobzu, Upper-Armenian Loo, the most valuable land near the sea was purchased by the government officials, ministers, prominent landowners and bankers. A plot of 2,500 hectares and a farm at the mouth of the river Dagomys was owned by the family of the Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. The associated peasants lived in a settlement which later became the modern Dagomys. Only about 300 people lived there in the early 20th century and this royal settlement was managed by Prince Uspensky. Some settlers attempted to grow tea, which was then an expensive, the early attempts in the 1870s and 1880s failed because of the cold climate, and the first success was achieved in the early 1900s by the Ukrainian peasant Judas Antonovich Koshman. Koshman previously worked for a tea factory in Adjara, a south to Sochi on the Black Sea coast. That tea was known in Russia but its taste was unpopular, in 1901, Koshman brought seeds of tea plants from Adjara to Solokhaul – a village near Dagomys – and developed a brand which was not only resistant to cold but also had a rich taste. The first successful plantation is dated to 1905 and this new tea later became the distinct brand of Krasnodarsky Tea, which is the most prominent Russia-grown tea and is one of the northernmost teas in the world. The house of Koshman still stands in Solokhaul along with the tea bushes planted by his hands, in 1930, an intensive development of resorts was started in Sochi, and thus a furniture factory was built in Dagomys. There were also two tourist camps and several small sanatoriums, prominent buildings appeared there only in the 1970s when the Yugoslav firm Mavrovo raised two hotels, Dagomys and Olympic. These hotels soon became a popular tourist destination and location of conferences, such as the 38th Pugwash Conferences on Science, Dagomys is located between Sochi and Loo,12 kilometres from the center of Sochi. It was noticed long ago that the summers are colder here than in coastal areas
38.
Tsentralny City District, Sochi
–
Tsentralny City District is one of four city districts of the city of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Sometimes referred to as Sochi proper, it borders Lazarevsky City District in the west and Khostinsky City District in the north, in the southwest, it is bounded by the Black Sea. It is the core, historic, and most populous city district of Sochi, the Friendship Tree and the Friendship Tree Garden Museum, in the Subtropical Botanical Garden St. It is capped by a 7-meter bronze statue of Sochis patron saint, Sochi Art Museum occupies a large building with a four-columned portico, completed in 1939. Its Neoclassical design is by Ivan Zholtovsky, Sochi Arboretum, a large botanical garden with tropical trees from many countries and the Mayors Alley—the line of palm-trees planted by the mayors of different cities of the world. Hall of Organ and Chamber Music, centrally located, it conducts organ, symphony, chamber-ensemble, choral, and vocal music concerts. The park is popular with tourists and local residents alike and it has a variety of attractions, including an outcrop of funny statues and a glade of friendship where magnolia trees were planted by every Soviet cosmonaut, among other notables. Управление по взаимодействию с органами местного самоуправления Администрации Краснодарского края, Справочная информация №34. 01-707/13-03 от23 мая2013 г. Решение №89 от14 июля2009 г, «Об утверждении генерального плана городского округа города Сочи». Вступил в силу со дня опубликования
39.
Khosta Microdistrict
–
Khosta is a microdistrict in Khostinsky City District in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, primarily known as a spa and a resort on the Black Sea coast. Khosta is located in the mouth of the Khosta River, between the center of Sochi and Adler, the area is served by the Khosta railway station. In the Middle Ages, Genoa supported a colony at the location of modern Khosta, eventually the area was taken by the Ottoman Empire, and the settlement was known as Khamysh. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29 it was occupied by the Russian Empire, in 1891—1892 the coastal road between Novorossiysk and Batumi was constructed, and first settlers appeared in Khosta. On May 15,1899, Khosta was granted town status, at the time, it belonged to Black Sea Governorate with the center in Novorossiysk. By 1914, Khosta had a population of 1,500 inhabitants, a factory. Soviet Power was declared in Khosta in February 1918, followed by the advance of the army of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, in February 1919, they were driven back by the Volunteer Army under command of Anton Denikin. Between January and May 1920, the Red Army recaptured the area, in 1933, it was decided to totally reconstruct the coastal area and to create a large number of spa resorts. To this end, in October 1934 Khosta was subordinated to the city of Sochi, in the 1950s and the 1960s there was large-scale construction in Khosta. The economy of Khosta is based on its importance as a spa, the railway that connects Adler and Sochi by following the coast has a station in Khosta. Suburban trains from Sochi and from Krasnaya Polyana stop there, the M27 Highway connecting Novorossiysk with Adler crosses Khosta. The microdistrict is served by the bus system of the city of Sochi, even though the history of Khosta goes back to the 19th century, there are very few pre-1930 buildings. Those that survived include the Transfiguration Church and a number of pre-1917 dachas, near surroundings of Khosta are popular holiday destinations. Khosta Fortress, or rather the ruins thereof, perched on the top of a 100-meter high cliff within six kilometers from the sea coast, the fortress stands on the grounds of an ancient grove of yews and boxwood, which may be up to 30 mya old. The largest yews attain a height of 50 meters, one is estimated to be 2,000 years old, the grove covers an area of 301 ha and has been affiliated with the Caucasus Zapovednik since 1931 and is the World Heritage Site as a part of the Zapovednik. The Akhun massif comprises Greater Akhun Mtn, lesser Akhun Mtn. and Eagle Bluff. Greater Akhun is crowned by a Neo-Romanesque limestone tower that offers glimpses of Pitsunda, there is also a chain of twenty karst caves in the massif. Khostalestes kochetkovi, a species discovered in the mountains north of Khosta, is named after Khosta
40.
Matsesta Microdistrict
–
Matsesta is a microdistrict in Khostinsky City District in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, primarily known as a spa and a resort on the Black Sea coast. Matsesta is located in the mouth of the Matsesta River, half way between the center of Sochi and Adler, Matsesta is located in the Matsesta River valley and consists of four parts. Novaya Matsesta is located at the coast, Srednyaya Matsesta is upstream the river, verkhnyaya Matsesta is located uphill from Srednyaya Matsesta. The sulphur springs in Matsesta were first mentioned in literature in 1841 and it was repeatedly proposed to found a spa here, until in 1901 the decision was taken by the authorities. The spa was opened on September 15,1902, and Matsesta developed as a settlement serving the sulhur baths and it quickly developed as a resort in the 1900s. At the time, Matsesta belonged to Black Sea Governorate with the center in Novorossiysk, Soviet Power was declared in Matsesta in February 1918, followed by the advance of the army of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, which in July 1918 occupied the whole coast up to Tuapse. In February 1919, they were back by the Volunteer Army under command of Anton Denikin. Between January and May 1920, the Red Army recaptured the area, in 1933, it was decided to totally reconstruct the coastal area and to create a large number of spa resorts. To this end, in October 1934 Matsesta was subordinated to the city of Sochi, Khostinsky City District was established in 1951. Joseph Stalin had a house in Matsesta, where he typically spent summers. The economy of Matsesta is based on tourism and on balneotherapy. The area is served by the Matsesta railway station, there is frequent suburban service between Sochi railway station and Adler railway station. The M27 Highway connecting Novorossiysk with Adler passes through Matsesta, the highway serves as the bypass road for the center of Sochi, and it joins the coast next to Matsesta. South of Matsesta, it follows the coast, there is also a road up the Matsesta River valley. Matsesta hosts a part of all resorts in Sochi. Some of those have been built in the 1930s and considered as examples of early Soviet architecture. There is an aquarium in Novaya Matsesta
41.
Adler Microdistrict
–
Adler is a resort on the Black Sea coast located in the mouth of the Mzymta River. It used to be a town but is now a microdistrict within Adlersky City District of Sochi, Krasnodar Krai and it hosts a major railway station on the North Caucasus railway, which became the terminus after the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict broke the railway. Svyatoy Dukh fortress was founded here by Russians in 1837, however, the region was inhabited long before the Russian arrival. Since ancient times, a Sadz Abkhazian village, named Liesh, had located there. In the 12th century, the Genoese founded a factory here, during that time this land belonged to the Sadz princess Aredba, who had a good station there. Turks called this place Artlar or Artı, however, another theory postulates that the name comes from the brig Adler. Adler is one of the most popular Russian resorts and it has a pebbly and narrow beach, backed by the railway in some places. There are Russian Orthodox churches of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit, there are also the Adlersky District History Museum and the South Cultures park in Adler
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
listen)) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Black Sea coast near the border between Georgia/Abkhazia and Russia. The Greater Sochi area, which includes territories and localities subordinated to Sochi proper, has a total area of 3,526 square kilometers (1,361 sq mi)[4] and sprawls for 145 kilometers (90 mi)[11] along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains.[citation needed] The area of the city proper is 176.77 square kilometers (68.25 sq mi).[4] According to the 2010 Census, the city had a permanent population of 343,334,[5] up from 328,809 recorded in the 2002 Census,[12] making it Russia's largest resort city. Being part of the Caucasian Riviera, it is one of the very few places in Russia with a subtropical climate, with warm to hot summers and mild winters.
_1913.jpg)
102.jpg)
.jpg)
