The phenomenon of Eurasia: two parts of the world on one continent

Ideas about the border between Europe and Asia began to form over three thousand years: ever since the description of the lands that were part of Egypt, Greece, Ancient Rome and their neighboring territories began. With the development of navigation, after the first voyages around the world and the Great Geographical Discoveries of the 15th-17th centuries, humanity developed general ideas about the continents, continents and parts of the world that represent the landmass of the Earth. At the same time, until the beginning of the 21st century, researchers do not have a consensus on the number of continents on Earth, and also, what are Europe and Asia - just different parts of the world or different continents?

By the end of the 18th century, scientists seemed to have come to a consensus that there were seven continents on Earth: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia and six parts of the world, since North and South America constitute a single part of the world - America. However, after the research of A. Humboldt (1915), many scientists unite Europe and Asia into one continent, Eurasia, and identify only six continents on Earth (Alexandrovskaya et al., 1963). An intermediate position was occupied by S.V. Kalesnik (1955) and his followers, who believed that it was possible to adhere to both points of view, either way. At the same time, the development of earth sciences did not allow the most active researchers to come to terms with the uncertainty that had arisen. In search of truth, P.S. Voronov (1968) drew attention to the need for a correct interpretation of the very concept of “mainland” and “continent”. Understanding continents and oceans as tectonic structures of the first order (Mikhailov, 1958; Khain, 1964), P.S. Voronov proves that there really is a structural division between Europe and Asia, which indicates the autonomy of Europe and Asia as independent tectonic formations. Voronov writes: “Humboldt, who “closed” Europe as an independent continent during his famous journey and gave birth to the synthetic continent of Eurasia, could not, of course, still know that he had caused his neglect The low-mountain Urals, like the Caucasus, fix the location systems of deep faults cutting the entire continental crust from top to bottom. But, unlike Humboldt, we now know this circumstance well and therefore, of course, we are obliged to draw the appropriate logical conclusions.” Thus, P.S. Voronov came to the conclusion that the Urals and the Caucasus unite the independent continents of Europe and Asia into a single landmass.

Another point of view on Eurasia and its components is summarized in the monograph by employees of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Geomorphological Regimes of Eurasia” (2006). The authors come to the conclusion “that Eurasia is a single, complex continent that has been assembled for a long time and contradictorily, and that the border between Europe and Asia, no matter how it is drawn - along deep faults (Voronov, 1968), or along the boundaries of other tectonic structures of the first order, according to certain historical-geographical, ethnographic, political characteristics - geomorphologically very conditional and uncertain (Timofeev, 2006, pp. 3−4). At the same time, the authors agree that the dividing line between Europe and Asia runs through the Urals and the Caucasus. The authors of the monograph conclude that “throughout the entire geological and geomorphological history, Eurasia has experienced epochs (regimes) of the continent’s disintegration, more precisely, its fragmentation into continental and marine areas and epochs (regimes) of their connection. The last trend - the mode of connection, gathering into a single continent, was especially clearly manifested at the newest stage, when instead of Laurasia, which had previously disintegrated, a new Eurasian continent began to be created" (Bronguleev, Timofeev, 2006, p. 371). The authors acknowledge that in the gathering of Eurasia as a single continent, the most important role was played by two main centers: Asian and European. This confirms the relative autonomy of the two subcontinents of Asia and Europe.

Thus, there are no major contradictions in the stated views on the structure of Eurasia. Both recognize that there is a border between Europe and Asia, the only problem is how global it is.

Of course, scientists of the ancient world and the Renaissance did not know anything about the existence of tectonic structures and one can only follow P.S. Voronov “to express admiration for the amazing intuition of humanity, which... stood out at the dawn of history as independent units” (1968, p. 45 ) Europe and Asia.

The main stages in the development of ideas about the border between Europe and Asia

From Herodotus to Lomonosov . The history of the issue of the border between Europe and Asia begins in ancient times. A detailed overview of historical ideas about the border between Europe and Asia was given in the work of A.B. Ditmar (1958). Without going into details, we note that even the Phoenicians, 9-8 centuries BC, distinguished three parts of the world on Earth: Europe (from the Phoenician “ereb” sunset, west), Asia (Greek Asia, from the Assyrian and Phoenician “ asu" sunrise, east) and Libya - the only part of Africa known at that time. These three parts of the world in the Middle Ages were called the “Old World”, and America and Australia, discovered in the 16th-18th centuries, were called the “New World”. Initially, the ancient Greeks drew the border between Europe and Asia along the Pontus (Black Sea). Later, the Romans pushed the border to Maeotis (Sea of ​​Azov) to the Kerch Strait and the Tanais (Don) River. These ideas about the border were reflected in the works of Herodotus, Polybius, Strabo, Pomponius Mel, and Claudius Ptolemy. The authority of Ptolemy, who reflected Europe and Asia on his maps, contributed to the fact that the border along the Sea of ​​Azov and the Don remained unshakable until the 18th century (Mekhovsky, Herberstein, Barbarini, Kluver, etc.). We find similar ideas about the border along the Don in Kozma Indikoplov (VI century), Martin Belsky (1550) and Gerardus Mercator (XVII century). The view of the Don River as a natural border between Europe and Asia was widespread in Russian sources, for example, in the famous translated and compilation publications in Muscovite Rus' called “Cosmography”, published in the 17th century until 1682−1688. (Lebedev 1949). The border on the Don is even present in M.V. Lomonosov’s treatise “On the Layers of the Earth” (1757−1759). Although by this time other ideas had appeared.

Tatishchev and Stralenberg: who is first? The border along the Don “lasted” for many centuries, but already in medieval Arab sources the eastern border of Europe was Itil (Volga) and Kama. The French cartographer Guillaume Delisle, who published the World Atlas (1700−1714), drew the eastern border of Europe along the Ob. And the famous traveler, member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Johann Georg Gmelin in his book “Reise durch Sibirien von dem Jahr 1733 bis 1743” (Gmelin, 1751−1752) substantiates the eastern border of Europe along the Yenisei. The same point of view was shared by the French geographer E. Reclus, the author of the multi-volume work “Earth and People. General geography" (1876−1894).

For the first time in world scientific literature, the idea of ​​drawing the border between Europe and Asia along the watershed of the Ural Mountains was substantiated by the Swedish scientist Philipp Johann Stralenberg in the book “The Northern and Eastern Parts of Europe and Asia” in 1730. However, Stralenberg’s priority is disputed by V.N. Tatishchev in his work “General Geographical Description of All Siberia,” written in 1736 and published only in 1950 (Tatishchev, 1950). Tatishchev claims that it was he who expressed the point in 1720, while in Tobolsk view that the border between Europe and Asia is the watershed running through the Ural Mountains. In his work, Tatishchev rejects all the old ideas on this matter: Herodotus - along the Tanais-Don, the ancient Arabs - along the Volga and Kama, Delisle along the Ob. He writes: “... all of them are not suitable, but for the best natural separation of these two parts of the world, these mountains ... according to the ancient Riphean, Tatar Ural, in Russian called the Belt, I believe” (Tatishchev, 1950, p. 50).

In 1745, when compiling the “Russian Lexicon”, he described the eastern borders of Europe as follows: “It is very decent and natural to draw the border from the narrowness of Vaygach along the Great Belt and Yaik down through the Caspian Sea to the Kuma River or the Tauris Mountains” (i.e. the Caucasus) (ibid., p. 156). Further, Tatishchev gives many arguments in favor of such a division, talking about the differences in the fish population of the rivers of the western and eastern slopes of the Urals, about the growth of oak and hazel to the west of the Ural watershed and their absence in Siberia. Of course, the works of V.N. Tatishchev provide the most convincing evidence in favor of drawing the border between Europe and Asia along the Ural ridge. However, despite the great authority of the scientist, his works could not have much influence on the formation of scientific ideas about the border between the two parts of the world, since they were published more than two and a half centuries later.

To this it should be added that the border options proposed by F.I. Stralenberg and V.N. Tatishchev coincide only in its Ural part. At Stralenberg, the border from the Southern Urals turned to General Syrt, the Samara River, the Volga to Kamyshin and further along the Don.

The scientific recognition of the Ural Range as a natural border between Europe and Asia was reflected in the works of I.P. Falk (1824), F.A. Polunin (1773), S.I. Pleshcheev (1793). This position was substantiated especially carefully by G.E. Shchurovsky (1841). But all these studies concerned the Polar, Northern, Middle and partially Southern Urals. There are many versions of how to draw the border south of Miass and Zlatoust and, especially, on its southeastern section. P.S. Pallas (1773) drew the border from the middle reaches of the Ural River along the southern slopes of the General Syrt, Volga, Ergeni and the valley of the Manych River, attributing the entire Caspian lowland to Asia. G.F. Miller (1750) and F.A. Polunin (1773) drew the border along the Don, Volga, Kama, Belaya and further along the Ural ridge. In the well-known geography textbooks of S.I. Pleshcheev (1793) and I.F. Gakman (1787), the southeastern section of the border is drawn along the Emba River.

N.A. Severtsov also disagrees with the option of the border along the Ural River: “In natural history terms, both banks of the Urals are the same. It does not delimit anything, but simply flows along the Kyrgyz steppe” (quoted from: Beysenova, 1979, p. 155).

Is there such a limit? Endless disputes and numerous options for drawing the border between Europe and Asia have led to proposals to abandon attempts to clarify this issue altogether. This idea was first expressed by A. Humboldt, who believed that the border between Europe and Asia does not exist, because Europe is part of Asia (1850, Russian edition 1915). It is also appropriate to recall the words of D.I. Mendeleev (1906) that “the separation of Europe from Asia in all respects is artificial and will smooth out over time and probably even disappear.”

The famous French geographer Pierre Gouroux tried to put an end to the centuries-old dispute in his book “Asia” (1956). Here is a quote from his book:

“What are the borders of Asia from Europe? At the beginning of the Mesozoic era, a depression appeared between the Ob and the Gulf of Oman, which at various periods of its history either rose above sea level or was flooded by it. Could the border between Europe and Asia pass along the West Siberian Lowland, on the site of this ancient depression? And in what exact place of this lowland?” P. Guru also doubts that the ancient Ural barrier can serve as an intercontinental border. Attaching the border between Europe and Asia exclusively historical and cultural significance, Guru writes that “the demographic, economic and political development of the USSR is weakening the significance of the border every day...”. South of the Urals up to the Caspian Sea, the Guru did not see any boundaries at all that could serve as the border between Europe and Asia. The French geographer also considered all options for drawing the border in the Caucasus region illusory. As a result, he concludes: “Europe is an Asian peninsula, and Asia is an artificial concept... Northern Asia is very different from the rest of Asia; its borders with Europe are very conditional and are gradually disappearing” (Guru, 1956, p. 13).

Commenting on these thoughts of the French geographer, we can say: no matter what we call Europe, either raising its status to an independent continent (Voronov, 1968), or lowering it to an Asian peninsula, it is impossible to abolish the traditional historical concept, which has existed for several millennia and is the cultural heritage of all peoples of the globe. But even the “peninsula” has a border separating it from the main landmass, so searches and refinements continue.

The idea of ​​a united Eurasia without Europe and Asia was developed in the article by W. Parker (Parker, 1960) “Europe: How Far?” Based on a review of historical and geographical sources, from ancient times to the present day, the scientist draws a conclusion repeating the conclusion of A. Humboldt (1850): there are not two continents of Europe and Asia, but there is one - Eurasia. Parker first puts forward the idea of ​​dividing Eurasia into six subcontinents: Europe, USSR, China, India, Southeast Asia, and Southwest Asia. As we can see, the boundaries between subcontinents are drawn along the state boundaries of either individual countries or their groups.

Thus, in the middle of the 20th century, the debate about the border between Europe and Asia flared up with renewed vigor. Publications by P. Guru (1956) and W. Parker (1960) showed that this problem still remained relevant for European science. But what about the USSR? After all, it was on the territory of the world’s largest country that all the numerous variants of the disputed border were located. Moreover, only in 1950 were the works of V.N. Tatishchev published, whose version of drawing the border had been prevalent for more than 200 years. It should be noted that the 50-60 years of the last century saw the peak of activity of domestic scientists to clarify the main Eurasian boundary. The Moscow branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR became the center for discussion of this problem. From among the numerous speeches of Soviet geographers, it is necessary to highlight three: Yu.K.Efremova (1958), V.I.Prokaev (1960) and E.M.Murzaev (1963), the analysis of which will be discussed in more detail.

Looking for the only option . The question of the border between Europe and Asia became the subject of discussion at a meeting of the school and physical geography department of the Moscow branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR on April 3, 1958. An analysis of the results of this meeting was made in the press by Yu.K. Efremov, who formulated the agenda of the meeting as follows: “The Educational and Pedagogical Publishing House of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR addressed the Moscow branch of the Geographical Society with a request to express an opinion on clarifying the physical-geographical border of Europe with Asia. This question was raised in order to achieve proper stabilization in textbooks, reference books and teaching aids. The existing discrepancy creates a number of difficulties: inconsistency in calculating the areas of parts of the world, difficulties in arranging maps and distinguishing the material of textbooks devoted, on the one hand, to Europe or the European part of the USSR, and on the other, to Asia or the Asian part of the Union. The most “eternal” questions that lead to “disagreements” are the following: whether the Caucasus belongs to Europe or Asia; which peak is the highest in Europe, Mont Blanc or Elbrus; if the Caucasus is Asia, then where is its northern border; how to separate Europe from Asia in the Urals and especially to the south of it: along which river, along the Urals or along the Emba?” (1958, p.144).

Reflecting on the formation of the concepts of “Europe” and “Asia,” Efremov convinces readers that they are only cultural and historical in nature, and, therefore, there is no natural boundary between them. The author in his publication tried to reflect the collective opinion, which boiled down to the fact that neither the main watershed of the Urals nor the Main Range of the Caucasus can serve as a border between parts of the world. The participants of the meeting, judging by the article by Yu.K. Efremov, in the search for an optimal border option were interested in ensuring that the integrity of the territory was ensured when arranging maps and textbooks. For this purpose, the Urals were entirely assigned to Europe, and the Caucasus to Asia. However, let’s read paragraph 3 of the Resolution of the joint meeting of school and physical geography of the Moscow branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR:

3. Recommend drawing the border between Europe and Asia along the eastern base of the Urals and Mugodzhar, then along the Emba River, along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, along the Kuma-Manych depression and the Kerch Strait, leaving the Sea of ​​Azov within Europe.

firstly, it is not clear what the “eastern base of the Urals” is. If this is the eastern foot of the “newest Ural orogen”, i.e. mountains themselves, then this border dissects the Ural mountain-plain physical-geographical country, apparently cutting off the Trans-Ural peneplain to Siberia. In addition, in a number of areas over a very large area (Middle Urals, Southern Urals), the Ural ridge as such is absent, which means that its eastern base is also absent;

secondly, when drawing the border along the eastern base of the Mugodzhar, the authors of the recommendations do not specify which of the two parallel ridges is meant: the East Mugodzhar or the West Mugodzhar;

thirdly, the sources of the Emba River are located in the central part of Mugodzhar, and the ridge itself, together with its natural continuation - the Shoshkol ridge, stretches to the south, for more than 250 km, up to the northern cliffs of Ustyurt;

fourthly, the Emba River has not flowed into the Caspian Sea since 1939, i.e. the border will have to be drawn along the former riverbed;

fifthly, the Emba River valley cuts off a large section of the Caspian Lowland from Europe, which is part of the East European Plain;

sixthly, the position of the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, even in historical times, changed by tens of kilometers, and all of its northern shallow waters are a continuation of the Caspian low-lying plain;

seventhly, the border along the Kuma-Manych depression, just like the rest of the length, violates the physical-geographical unity and is not the northern border of the Caucasus.

All this suggests that even a collective discussion of one of the oldest and most controversial problems in geography with the participation of leading specialists from Moscow State University and other metropolitan universities did not lead to a positive solution.

The Ural physical geographer V.I. Prokaev responded to the decision of the Moscow branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR with his article (1960). In his message, he shows that the new version of the border, set out by Yu.K. Efremov, does not adhere to the declared principle of maintaining physical and geographical integrity. V.I. Prokaev provides in the article his own map of the physical-geographical countries of the USSR and shows how the border between Europe and Asia could look if it were drawn along landscape boundaries: the eastern border of the Ural country (lying entirely in Europe) and the north- the western border of the Turanian country (classified as Asia), into which he included the entire Caspian lowland. Noting the merits of this version of the border, V.I. Prokaev does not propose it as a border between Europe and Asia: “it diverges too much from the traditional, familiar border for everyone” (1960, p. 363). The Ural landscape scientist considered it unacceptable to use traditional regions as units of physical-geographical zoning and physical-geographical characteristics.

Prokaev admits that “the concepts of “Europe” and “Asia”, like any widespread and generally accepted ones..., can hardly be “abolished” (1960, p. 365). He proposes not to resolve the border issue, but to confine himself to “in the necessary cases, presenting its history.” But he immediately declares that “a uniform solution to the issue is desirable” (ibid., p. 365). As the main option for the traditional border between Europe and Asia, he proposes the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the watershed of the Greater Caucasus and the Kerch Strait.

A detailed analysis of the options for the border between Europe and Asia is carried out in his work by E.M. Murzaev (1963). In the area of ​​the Caucasian Isthmus, it has four options, and between the Urals and the Caspian Sea - three. In fact, there are many more of them. An undoubted achievement is the appearance of the option along Mugodzhary and Ustyurt, but it is not clear how it was proposed to draw the border from the Southern Urals to Mugodzhary, as well as from Ustyurt to the Caspian Sea? Summarizing the works of his predecessors, E.M. Murzaev concludes that if we operate with physical-geographical data and proceed from an analysis of natural conditions, it is impossible to draw clear boundaries between parts of the world from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean.

Of particular value are Murzaev's arguments about the impossibility of drawing a demarcation line based on historical, anthropological, ethnographic or linguistic boundaries. He writes: “Of course, the history, languages, and cultures of the peoples of Asia and Europe are very different, deeply original and specific. But there are no “Asian” languages, no single “Asian” anthropological type, no single “Asian” culture, no “Asian” type of economy. It is impossible to draw a border between Europe and Asia based on any linguistic or ethnographic criteria; but we can talk about the spread of Indo-European, Turkic, Mongolian, Finno-Ugric peoples, widely settled both in Asia and in Europe and sometimes even forming separate closed areas lying at a far distance from the main massif. Such areas are formed, for example, by the Hungarians in the center of Europe or the Turkic-speaking peoples of the Volga region (Chuvash, Tatars, Bashkirs) and the Mongol-speaking Kalmyks in the Caspian lowland in Eastern Europe. And the Iranian-speaking people - Ossetians, live in the North Caucasus. In Siberia, to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, Slavic peoples, mainly Russians, widely settled” (1963, pp. 112−113).

Based on previous schemes and using their elements, Murzaev proposes two main options for the Euro-Asian border: 1) along political-administrative boundaries, 2) along physical-geographical boundaries. On the Caucasian Isthmus, the border completely coincides with the modern state border of Georgia and Azerbaijan. The entire Caspian Sea belongs to Asia. Further, according to Murzaev, the Euro-Asian border goes along the state border of Russia with Kazakhstan to the Chelyabinsk region. When E.M. Murzaev drew the border, there was no Ural Federal District, which, according to his scheme, lies entirely in Asia along with the Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen regions, Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets districts. The Kara Sea ends up entirely in Asia, and Novaya Zemlya is in Europe. Of course, this approach is very convenient for statistical research. However, this border is temporary: especially between the regions of the Ural and Volga federal districts. With the expected consolidation of the subjects of the federation, the borders between the Sverdlovsk region and the Perm region, between Bashkiria and the Chelyabinsk region may change or disappear, and the Orenburg region may be generally divided between neighboring subjects (Chibilev, 2007).

Murzaev builds the second version of the Euro-Asian border, as he puts it, “from the principle of complete preservation of natural boundaries” using a four-part formula: Caucasus - Caspian Sea - Ural River - Ural Range. But the Ural ridge ends somewhere between the Ural and Sakmara rivers. The Euro-Asian border leaves the axial part of the Ural mountain system and descends south along the middle and lower reaches of the Ural River. At the same time, in the far north of the Ural ridge, or more precisely, after its end with Mount Konstantinov Kamen, Murzaev does not use the very noticeable canyon of the Kara River and Kara Bay as a boundary.

The article by E.M. Murzaev was written on the eve of the 20th International Geographical Congress in London in 1964. Understanding the debatability of his own proposals, the author writes that “it is necessary to make a certain decision emanating from authoritative bodies, which should be brought to the attention of ... the Congress ... as the only one” (1963, p. 119).

Ural - from start to finish

Over the more than three thousand year history of research, various researchers have used the following types of boundaries as the border between Europe and Asia:

cultural (historical, ethnographic, linguistic, etc.);

administrative and political, incl. river valleys as lines of border fortifications;

landscape and orographic, incl. axial lines of the main ridge;

hydrological: valleys of the largest rivers as natural boundaries.

Analysis of these types of boundaries indicates that the main factor influencing the formation of ideas about the border between Europe and Asia are cultural and administrative-political boundaries, with the change of which the border of Europe has repeatedly shifted, mainly in the eastern direction. However, this could not happen indefinitely. Therefore, in the first half of the 18th century, when the borders of the Russian Empire not only advanced to the Pacific Ocean, but also began to receive cartographic reflection in the southeast direction within the Trans-Volga and Caspian regions, the Ural Mountains and the Yaik River, renamed in 1775 by Decree of Catherine II into the Ural River.

In conditions where the cultural boundaries between European and Asian peoples have become blurred, and administrative and political boundaries have been repeatedly redrawn, we propose to use only the most important natural boundaries to form modern ideas about the border between Europe and Asia. At the same time, the Ural River, which has long lost its role as a line of border fortifications of the Russian Empire, can be considered as a natural-historical object that temporarily served as the border between Europe and Asia. So, as a boundary between Europe and Asia we can use: firstly, orographic boundaries; secondly, the main watersheds; thirdly, the valleys of large rivers.

An analysis of numerous options for the Euro-Asian border between the Caspian Sea and the Arctic Ocean indicates that the Ural Range occupies a key place in them. This is due to the fact that the Urals are the only mountain formation in Eurasia elongated along the meridian, which violates the general picture of the sublatitudinal orographic structure of the continent. The Urals and the Caspian Sea depression, somewhat shifted to the west, have a common submerian strike, and a sublatitudinal or diagonal strike, which is unusual for Europe and Asia. According to P.S. Voronov (1968), it is the Ural ridge that emphasizes the independence of Europe and Asia as separate continents, “accidentally (!) united geologically recently.” Hence the presence of an orographic boundary (or meridional zone) between the western and eastern parts of Eurasia. Obviously, many, almost all border researchers from Tatishchev and Stralenberg to modern scientists have seen and see this. But you can see it in different ways. If the northern end of the Ural meridional system, ending on the coast of the Kara Sea, is seen by almost everyone, then in the south, long before the southern end of the folded mountain structure, the border is drawn from the Urals to the Yaik-Ural River, then to the Belaya Kama, then to Sakmara , then to Samara, then they lead along the General Syrt - the Volga-Ural watershed to the Volga, etc.

Back in the middle of the 19th century, A. Humboldt (1843), and then N.A. Severtsov (Geographical..., 1860) were interested in the connections of the Urals with Ustyurt through Mugodzhary. Humboldt, in a special chapter “The Ural Mountain System” (1915), wrote that the Ural Mountains are the largest Asian ridge. He considered the mountains on Novaya Zemlya to be its northern continuation, and not only Mugodzhary, but also the elevated Ustyurt plateau to be its southern continuation. And if the genetic connection of the mountains of Novaya Zemlya with the Ural Mountains was confirmed, then Humboldt’s ideas about Ustyurt as a continuation of the Urals turned out to be erroneous. Humboldt’s mistake is repeated by N.A. Severtsov in the article “Does Ustyurt constitute a continuation of the Ural ridge?” (1862). Neither Humboldt nor Severtsov note in their works the junction of the Ural Mountains system with Ustyurt, but they intuitively look for their continuation in this direction. It is now well known that the system of the Ural Mountains ends in the south with the Shoshkakol ridge, the southern end of which, in the area of ​​the Sharkuduk pass, abuts the ledges of the Shagyray plateau, which is a continuation of the cliffs of Northern Ustyurt. Thus, if we begin to draw the border between Europe and Asia from the northern end of the Ural Range on the Kara Sea, then it should end at the southern end of this mountain system, i.e. at the foot of Ustyurt. The conclusions of the majority of participants in the almost three-century discussion boil down to the fact that the Euro-Asian border should be drawn along noticeable natural boundaries. After the end of the Ural Mountains, there is no more noticeable, spectacular and readable line on all maps from the Urals to the Caspian Sea than the northern foot of the Ustyurt plateau, which passes into the northern foot of the Mangyshlak Mountains (Northern Aktau ridge).

It is in this direction - along the southeastern border of the East European (Russian) Plain or the northern foot of Ustyurt and the Northern Aktau ridge to the Mangyshlak Bay - that it is proposed to draw the border between Europe and Asia in the section between the southern tip of the Urals and the Caspian Sea.

Further, we join those researchers who draw the Euro-Asian border from the Tyubkaragan Peninsula along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, crossing its waters at the latitude of the Absheron Peninsula and along the Main Caucasus Ridge to the Kerch Strait.

Clarification of the Euro-Asian border of local significance.

Along the entire border between Europe and Asia, local scientists, local historians, tourists and travelers from other regions are making attempts to record, clarify, and change its position on the ground, at the intersections of transport highways.

In the Arctic, in the area of ​​the Yugorsky Peninsula and the northern tip of the Ural mountain system, a cape on the shore of the Yugorsky Shar Strait claims to be installed as a border marker (the obelisk was installed in 1973 by polar station employees traveling by boat from Arkhangelsk to Dikson). In addition, a border marker was installed in the village of Ust-Kara on the right bank of the Kara Bay. Both of these points are within Nenets district of Arkhangelsk region .

On the border Komi Republic And Yamalo-Nenets National District An obelisk “Europe-Asia” was installed near the Polyarny Ural station. It is located at the watershed point between the rivers Yelets (Pechora basin) and Sob (Obi basin). In the Middle Ages, the most famous route (Eletsky Pass) through Kamen-Ural to Siberia ran here.

The least discrepancies in defining the border between Europe and Asia exist on the border of the Komi Republic, on the one hand, Yamalo-Nenets And Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous okrugs on the other. In particular, a sign was installed here near Mount Neroika on the gas pipeline going to Vuktyl, when crossing the pass.

On the territory of the Perm Territory, the first sign of the Euro-Asian border when moving from north to south is installed at its extreme northern point, on the watershed of the rivers Vishera (Volga basin), Lozva (Obi basin) and Unya (Pechora basin). Then it coincides with the administrative border along the watershed to the Kazansky Kamen mountain, from where it goes into the territory of the Sverdlovsk region through Konzhakovsky and Kosvinsky Kamen to the town of Lyalinsky Kamen. Then it again passes through the Perm Territory, the main landmarks are the towns of Magdalinsky Kamen and the town of Kolpaki, crossing the highway from the town of Chusovoy to the town of Kachkanar. The border leaves the territory of the region near the Uralsky Ridge station on the Gornozavodskaya railway.

In no other region of the Urals has the problem of drawing the Euro-Asian border caused and continues to cause so many disputes and points of view as in Sverdlovsk region and in the very Yekaterinburg . By the way, the very first “Europe-Asia” sign in the Urals was installed in 1837 on the former Siberian Highway near the city of Pervouralsk, on Mount Berezovaya. Among the other oldest border obelisks, one can note the tower-chapel near the village of Kedrovka on the Kushva-Serebryan highway, built in 1868, and the obelisk pillar at the Khrebet Uralsky station on the Gornozavodskaya railway, installed in 1878. During the 20th century, at least 30 different border obelisks were installed on the territory of the Sverdlovsk region. In 2002, a special scientific and practical seminar was held in Yekaterinburg on the problem of the border, for which detailed reports were prepared by E.G. Animitsa (2002), Zh.P. Arkhipova (2002), V.G. Kapustin (2002), L S. Kropotova (2002), S. V. Titlinova (2002), etc.

In the same 2002, another All-Russian scientific and practical conference was held in Yekaterinburg “Ekaterinburg: from a fortress factory to the Eurasian capital”, which adopted a resolution that provides justification for drawing the border within a “certain strip” “along the watershed of the mountain strip of the Middle Urals and eastern foothills." This formulation completely confused Ekaterinburg local historians, allowing Euro-Asian border markers to be placed as tourist brands closer to one or another city, including almost within the city limits of the Ural capital.

Within the Chelyabinsk region, local historians mark the border between Europe and Asia in two areas. The first of them is from the border of the Sverdlovsk region through Kyshtym, Taganay and the pass on the Urenga ridge between Zlatoust and Miass. One of the signs was installed in 1892 according to the design of N.G. Garin-Mikhailovsky near the Urzhumka railway station in memory of the completion of construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in this area.

The second section of the border is completely connected with the Ural River: from the border with Bashkiria to the border with the Orenburg region. In the 18th-19th centuries, a fortress line ran along the Ural River along the eastern border of the Orenburg province, consisting of the fortresses of Verkhnouralskaya, Magnitnaya, Kizilskaya, Urtazymskaya, Tanalykskaya, Orskaya and others.

By the 30s of the 19th century, this border line lost its significance, since the border separating the Orenburg province and the lands of the Orenburg Cossack army from the Kyrgyz-Kaisak (Kazakh) nomads moved far to the east. However, geographical markers marking the border between Europe and Asia were installed on the Ural River in Verkhneuralsk and Magnitogorsk. Their presence in these cities can also be considered appropriate if the Euro-Asian border is drawn along the Irendyk ridge, parallel to which the Ural River flows 15–35 km to the east.

In the territory Bashkiria the source of the Ural River is located; according to some versions, it is to this point that the Euro-Asian border descends from the Uraltau ridge and then follows the Ural-Yaik river to the Caspian Sea. To consolidate this border in the Uchalinsky district, near the bridge near the village of Novobairamgulovo on the Uchaly-Beloretsk highway, two obelisks “Europe” and “Asia” were installed in 1968. During low water, the width of the river under the bridge is 1.5-2 m with a depth of about 10 cm. It is unlikely that such a watercourse can be considered a worthy natural boundary that would mark the border of parts of the world. At the same time, the Irendyk ridge, starting from the Krykty ridge and traced in the form of a mountain range (Vishnevaya Mountain, Zhiltau Mountains) to the Orskie Gate gorge on the Ural River, is the most noticeable boundary of the meridional strike and continuation of the main axis of the Ural Mountains within Bashkiria. The watershed line along the Irendyk ridge runs parallel to the Ural River valley 15–35 km to the west. Orographically, it is more clearly expressed than the axial part of the Middle Urals west of Yekaterinburg.

In the Orenburg region, local historians and tourists identify the Euro-Asian border exclusively with the Ural River. In modern times, the right bank of the river was called “Samara”, the left - “Bukhara”. The exclusive role of Orenburg as a city on the border of Europe and Asia was figuratively outlined by the Orenburg governor N.A. Kryzhanovsky in his speech in 1868 at the opening of the Orenburg department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society: “Geographers accept the ridge of the Ural Mountains and the course of the Ural River as the border between Europe and Asia. Without paying any attention to the opinion of learned geographers in Europe and even in Russia, some believe that Asia begins immediately beyond the Volga, that is, beyond its flow from Kazan to Astrakhan. Cities of Orenburg, Ufa, etc. are revered as Asian cities... This opinion regarding the part of the Orenburg region, on this side of the Urals lying, must have been formed from two reasons: the distance of the region from the centers of the Empire and the diversity of the population, or, rather, the presence of a large Mohammedan population... In everything else, which actually influences on the historical life of the people, in the form of nature, in the soil, in the main folk food and in the climate, our region, I’m talking about the part of it that lies on this side of the Urals, by all rights, belongs to European Russia. You, gentlemen, members of the Geographical Department, will have to prove this idea so that in Russia our region will be appreciated and honored by joining Europe. ... The physical geography of the steppe has nothing in common with the physical geography of the Orenburg region on this side of the Urals. As much natural wealth is visible here, so much poverty is there. There is so much hope for the future, there is so much hopelessness in everything, there is so much life, there is so much petrified deadness. ... All this was expressed by me in order to more clearly express where the actual border lies between Europe, capable of civilized life, and Asia, doomed in this regard to dead hopelessness” (1870, pp. 13−30). In our opinion, the Orenburg governor exaggerated his colors in his speech. But this was a call of the times, a kind of attempt to accelerate the Europeanization of the right-bank part of the region with the provincial center and to isolate itself from Asia. Obelisks marking the “Europe-Asia” border were installed on the banks of the Urals in Orsk and Orenburg. In the regional center you can travel from Europe to Asia across the Ural River on a cable car.

Historically, the city of Orsk, founded in 1735 as the Orenburg fortress, has much more reason to be considered a city on the border of Europe and Asia. Ultimately, it was Orsk-Orenburg, and not the modern Neplyuev Orenburg, that was conceived by Peter I and implemented by the author of the project I.K. Kirilov as the “Key and Gate” to Asia. And the Ural River is directly related to the Euro-Asian border precisely in the Orskie Gate gorge, through which the legendary river cuts through the Ural ridge from Asia to Europe.

Within Kazakhstan, claims to the identification of the Euro-Asian border were expressed by the cities of Uralsk and Guryev, where corresponding signs were installed on the banks of the Ural River (the old Cossack river Yaik, Kazakh name Zhaiyk). At the same time, according to many options, incl. recommended by the 1964 International Geographical Congress in London, a significant part of the border runs through the Aktobe region. In this region of Kazakhstan, few people remember that the Euro-Asian border runs through its entire territory. One can only quote the Aktobe geologist R.A. Segedin, who writes: “It is the Mugalzharsky ( Mugodzhary– A.Ch.) the mountains and the Shoshkakol ridge serve as a natural continuation of the boundary stretching along the Ural ridge separating Europe and Asia, and the highest point of the pass along which the trans-Kazakhstan ( Orenburg-Tashkent– A.Ch.) the railway line crosses the Mugalzharsky ridge (between the stations Mugalzharskaya and Birshagyr ( Berchogur- A.Ch.), fully deserves to have a symbolic obelisk “Europe-Asia” installed on it, similar to those that have long existed on the more northern passes of the Ural Mountains” (Segedin, 2002, p. 7).

Residents living on the banks of the Emba River have not expressed their attitude towards the hypothetical Euro-Asian border, which is often drawn along this waterway lost in the sands and salt marshes of the Caspian deserts. In addition, below the city of Kulsary Atyrau (Guryev region) this river does not have a permanent channel, and it very rarely, only in high-flow years, carries water through estuaries and spills to the Caspian Sea.

Even 180 years ago, during his famous journey through Russia, Alexander Humboldt expressed the idea that the borders of Europe and Asia, especially along the Urals, do not exist. Since then, many prominent scientists have expressed thoughts about the “withering away” of the Euro-Asian border, and also that this issue is not a scientific problem at all. However, the concepts of “Europe” and “Asia” cannot be abolished, because they represent the most important objects and attributes of world science, culture and fundamental components of geographical ideas. The development of humanity in time and space has long erased the territorial boundaries of the Ecumene and civilizations associated with parts of the world. However, one can be sure that the border between Europe and Asia along the Ural Mountains, perhaps in different but similar versions, will exist as long as modern civilization with its science and culture exists.

It is noteworthy that from the Yugyd Va National Park in the Komi Republic, the Euro-Asian border passes through such federal protected areas as the Pechoro-Ilychsky, Vishersky nature reserves in the Perm Territory, Denezhkin Kamen, Visimsky in the Sverdlovsk region, National Park "Taganay" in the Chelyabinsk region. In close proximity to the border of Europe and Asia there are the Basegi Nature Reserve in the Perm Territory, the Oleni Ruchyi and Chusovaya River natural parks (Sverdlovsk Region), the Ilmensky Nature Reserve, the Zyuratkul National Park, and the Turgoyak Nature Park (Chelyabinsk Region). ), South Ural and Bashkir reserves (Bashkortostan), one of the sections of the Orenburg state reserve, Aituarskaya steppe (Orenburg region).

Further development of a network of nature reserves and national parks in the polar regions of the Urals, as well as in Mugodzhary in Kazakhstan, will lead to the formation of a unique landscape series of natural reserves stretching more than 2,500 km from the Arctic tundra to the Central Asian desert. In this regard, a transboundary system of natural heritage sites can be created in the Greater Urals, which is very promising for the development of environmental and extreme tourism.

Russian Geographical Society, Alexander Chibilev

Social comments Cackle

It is clearly written that the border between Europe and Asia runs directly along the Ural ridge and down to the Caucasus. This fact draws even more attention to the mountains, which are already full of secrets and mysteries.

Directly in the mountains there are border pillars that signal that Europe is on one side and Asia is on the other. However, the pillars were placed very poorly. The fact is that they do not entirely correspond to historical data.

Different approaches to defining boundaries

In addition, when comparing several sources, we can come to the conclusion that regarding the Caucasus there is generally no consensus on where the border lies. The most common opinion is that it runs along the main watersheds of the ridge. Other sources indicate that the border runs along the northern slope. By the way, if you look at the atlas of Soviet times, then the Euro-Asian border runs directly along the border of the USSR.

This attitude towards the passage of the border has led to disputes regarding the territories of Asia and Europe, which for some scientific circles is almost a primary task. They are still arguing whether Mont Blanc and Elbrus should be classified as Asia or Europe.

Leading scientists claim that it is impossible to draw the border between parts of the world with an accuracy of a kilometer. The point is that there are no sharp transitions between them. If we approach it from the point of view of climate differences, there is no difference, the same applies to vegetation, wildlife and soil structure.

The only thing you can rely on is the structure of the earth's surface, which reflects geology. This is precisely what leading geographers relied on in their time, trying to draw the border between Asia and Europe. They took the Urals and the Caucasus as a basis.

Conditional and real border

A natural question arises here: how to draw the border in the mountains? It is known that the width of the Ural Mountains is about 150 kilometers, the Caucasus Mountains are even wider. That is why the border was drawn along the main watersheds, which are located in the mountains. That is, the border is completely arbitrary and cannot be considered accurate, even if counted in kilometers. However, subsequently a competent decision was made, according to which the modern border has clearer contours.

For an ordinary resident, the answer to the question: “Where is the border between Europe and Asia?” can be given as follows: “Across the Urals and the Caucasus.” He will be quite pleased with such an answer. What about cartographers? After all, it was possible to draw the borders of Europe along the Ural River both on the left and on the right. There are many similar examples that can be given. For this reason, in scientific circles it was decided to consider the border to pass along the eastern slope of the Urals and Mugodzhar. Afterwards it goes along the Emba River, to the northern shore of the Caspian Sea to
Kerch Strait.

That is, recently the entire Urals is part of Europe, and the Caucasus is part of Asia. As for the Sea of ​​Azov, it is “European”.

The Europe-Asia border is the border between Europe and Asia, running along the eastern base of the Ural Mountains and Mugodzhar, then along the Emba River. along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, along the Kumo Manych depression and the Kerch Strait. The total length of the border along... ... Wikipedia

The border between Europe and Asia crosses the western and southwestern parts of the municipality of Yekaterinburg. The border is interpreted not only as a geographical concept, but also has pronounced historical and cultural aspects.... ... Ekaterinburg (encyclopedia)

Noun, g., used. often Morphology: (no) what? borders, what? border, (I see) what? border, what? border, about what? about the border; pl. What? boundaries, (no) what? boundaries, what? borders, (I see) what? boundaries, what? borders, about what? about borders 1. Border… … Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary

Y; and. 1. Conditional dividing line between territories; frontier State city Morskaya city. Here the city passes between countries, regions, land plots. G. between Europe and Asia. G. forests and steppes. Designate, change, cross the border. Count … encyclopedic Dictionary

border- s; and. see also into the borders, within the borders, beyond the border, beyond the borders, beyond the borders, from beyond the borders 1) Conventional dividing line between territories ... Dictionary of many expressions

This term has other meanings, see Asia (meanings). Asia on the world map Asia is the largest part of the world, together with Europe it forms the continent of Eurasia... Wikipedia

City of Orenburg Flag Coat of Arms ... Wikipedia

The Ural Mountains stretch from north to south for many thousands of kilometers, dividing two parts of the world - Europe and Asia. And along their entire length there are border pillars erected by people to emphasize the exclusivity of these places. Some stand exactly on the geographical border, others - a little to the side, in “convenient” places, some are “official”, others are erected by enthusiasts, others are built in honor of an event - each has its own history.

The tradition, which arose in the century before last, continues to this day. New markers appear almost every year, and not only in the Urals: there are still several options for determining the border between Europe and Asia, and it is almost impossible to come to any one correct one.

We have tried to collect the most complete and detailed list of markers, signs and obelisks “Europe-Asia”. It turned out to be only 64, but in reality there are even more.

Let's start with signs near Yekaterinburg and gradually move away from the city. The marks are divided by region: Sverdlovsk region, Perm region, Chelyabinsk region, Bashkiria, Orenburg region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Komi, Stavropol Territory, Rostov region, Kazakhstan and Turkey.

Sverdlovsk region

On the territory of the Sverdlovsk region we counted 34 Europe-Asia obelisks.

No. 1 Obelisk on Mount Berezovaya The first “Europe-Asia” pillar in the Urals appeared in the spring of 1837 on the former Siberian Highway near the city of Pervouralsk, on Mount Berezovaya. The sign was installed after Mount Berezovaya was included in the single Ural watershed line. It was a sharp tetrahedral wooden pyramid with the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia”. Mining officials tried for the sake of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II, who traveled with the poet V.A. Zhukovsky across Russia, the Urals and Siberia and was supposed to pass here that year.

Thirty-six years later, in 1873, the wooden pillar was replaced with a marble obelisk with a stone pedestal. At the top of the pyramid was a gilded double-headed eagle. The reconstruction was timed to coincide with the passage through the pass of another representative of the imperial family - Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich returning from a trip around the world.

After the October Revolution, the obelisk, as a symbol of royal power, was destroyed. Now in the place where he stood there are two new obelisks. The first one was erected in 1926 - without the eagle, and not marble, but lined with granite (it is number 3 on our list).

In 2008, another new obelisk was opened on the site of the old monument, again with an eagle. It still stands there to this day. This is an impressive 25-meter marble column in the spirit of the Alexandrian Pillar. The area around is landscaped, there are gazebos and flower beds, a bench for lovers and a metal tree for locks that seal the bonds of love.

How to get there:
We are driving along the P242 highway Ekaterinburg-Perm (Novomoskovsky tract). Approximately 25 km after leaving Yekaterinburg, turn right into the village of Novoalekseevskoye. Drive along the main road, then at the T-shaped intersection turn left in the direction of Pervouralsk. Drive straight, after 8 km the Europe-Asia border will be on the right.

Coordinates of the obelisk on Mount Berezovaya: 56°52"13.0"N 60°02"52.0"E

No. 2 Obelisk on the Novo-Moskovsky tract
This obelisk was installed in 2004 according to the design of sculptor Konstantin Grunberg. Its shape symbolizes the intertwined letters E and A, and at the base there are stones from the easternmost and westernmost points of Eurasia - Cape Dezhnev and Cape Roca.

This is where tourists and wedding processions most often come. Everyone definitely takes a photo with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia. In fact, in this case you will actually be entirely in Asia - the sign is located far from the real border.

This obelisk is located closest to Yekaterinburg, at 17 km of the Novomoskovsky tract, along which it is easiest and get there. The obelisk will be to the right of the route.

No. 3 Obelisk near Pervouralsk On the road to Pervouralsk, a little below the obelisk on Berezovaya, there is another “Europe-Asia” border pillar. The very first marble obelisk looked about the same. Next to it there is a source with spring water, where residents of both Pervouralsk and Yekaterinburg often go.

How to get there: We drive along the Novomoskovsky tract, turn right directly onto the road to Pervouralsk. The obelisk will soon appear on the right hand.

No. 4 Europe-Asia sign at the Cape Verde stop
In 2015, at the Green Cape stop on the Novomoskovsky tract, a large Ural stone appeared - magnetite from the Pervouralsky mine, from Mount Magnitka near Volchikha. It was installed by members of the Ural Society of Natural History Lovers.

In 2019, another stone was installed nearby, and the inscription “Asia Europe” was attached between them. The sign is located exactly on the geographical border of Europe and Asia.

How to get there: along the Novomoskovsky tract to the 32nd kilometer, the sign will be on the left before the yellow overpass.

No. 5 Obelisk at Vershina station
Installed in 1957 during preparation for the VI World Festival of Youth and Students. This is how young people who traveled to Moscow along the Trans-Siberian Railway from Southeast Asia and the Far East learned where Asia ends and Europe begins.

Vershina station belongs to the Sverdlovsk Railway, located near Pervouralsk, you can get there from Yekaterinburg.

No. 6 Obelisk near the village of Kurganovo This sign is much further east than many others. It is located near Yekaterinburg, on the other side of the first four, on Polevskoye Highway, 2 km from the village of Kurganovo.

The sign was installed in June 1986 in the year of the 250th anniversary of the scientific substantiation of the border between Europe and Asia by V.N. Tatishchev. The location for the obelisk was chosen with the assistance of members of the Yekaterinburg branch of the Russian Geographical Society.

Get there getting there is very simple: we drive from Yekaterinburg to Polevskaya (route R-355), pass Mountain Shield, the sign will be on the right hand in front of Kurganovo.

No. 7 Obelisk at Mramorskaya station The black and white pillar at the Mramorskaya railway station was installed in 2004 to replace the destroyed old obelisk.

At the top of the pillar there are signs “Europe” and “Asia”, between them there is the inscription “Ural”, symbolizing the border, and on top there is a figurine of a sable with an arrow from the old coat of arms of the Sverdlovsk region.

No. 8 Obelisk in the village of Mramorskoye
A small homemade obelisk made of marble was installed in 2005 by V. G. Chesnokov and V. P. Vilisov. The obelisk consists of two rectangular marble slabs, with the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia” carved on the top one.

No. 9 Gazebo near Polevsky
A carved wooden gazebo with a table, on the supporting pillars of which the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia” are carved. It was installed in 2001 by the Polevskaya forestry enterprise. Located on the road between the city of Polevskoy and the village of Stantsionny-Polevskoy, at the fork near the collective gardens.

The gazebo is located far from the official geographical border of Europe and Asia. The border runs along the watershed of the Ob and Volga basins, which is located much to the east.

No. 10 Sign on the road Diagon Ford-Asbestos The striped pole was installed in 2007 by members of the Voyager club on the initiative of one of the members, Kirill Vyalykh.

It is located east of Polevsky, on the old logging road from the village of Kosoy Brod to Asbest. You won’t be able to drive straight to the sign in a regular car, only in an SUV, or walk the last couple of kilometers.

No. 11 Obelisk Europe-Asia on the road Revda-Degtyarsk Installed in 1984 for the 250th anniversary of the city of Revda. Made by the Degtyarsky Mining Administration according to the design of the artist L. G. Menshatov and the architect Z. A. Pulyaevskaya.

No. 12 Obelisk on Mount Kamennaya “Owl” was installed in the 1980s by Revda schoolchildren on Mount Kamennaya, on the pass of the Revdinsko-Ufaleysky ridge. It is interesting that its pedestal is a withered trunk of a real tree - it would be impossible to dig a pillar into solid rock.

No. 13 Sign “Pigeons” on Mount Kotel
The sign was installed in May 2011 by tourists from Yekaterinburg and Novouralsk. Project by P. Ushakov and A. Lebedkina. Kissing doves symbolize love and friendship between two continents.

Five signs (No. 14-18) were installed near Novouralsk at different times. Thanks to Ella Podgornova for information about them.

No. 14 Pillar near the village of Pochinok - “Savchukovsky”
The pillar was installed in 1966 on the road through Bilimbay to Murzinka under the leadership of the director of the UEIP A. I. Savchuk. It is located between the villages of Pochinok and Taraskovo on a clearly visible pass over the Bunarsky ridge (at this point the road crosses a wide clearing and a power line).

The installation location does not coincide with the main Ural watershed: the road crosses the watershed closer to Taraskovo.

The obelisk was made of steel sheet at one of the Novouralsk enterprises. It was originally decorated with the coats of arms of the Soviet Union on each side and the inscriptions "Europe" and "Asia" in cast form.

No. 15 Obelisk in the Novouralsk area - “Shitikovsky”
In March 1985, activists of the Kedr tourist club erected a sign of the Europe-Asia border on Mount Perevalnaya along the old road from Verkh-Neyvinsk to the village of Palniki, at the sources of the rivers Tagil, Bunarka (Obi basin) and Shishim (Volga basin).

The obelisk was made by the Degtyarsky Mining Administration according to the design of Boris Shitikov and is a four-meter stele with a sundial. Tourists M. Chernyakin, V. Evstakhov, V. Mikhailov, A. Boltushin took an active part. The guys from the Neiva teenage tourist club provided great assistance in the installation.

Unfortunately, one day the sign fell, and when they raised it, they could not set the clock to the sun, because of this, now it does not show the exact time.

No. 16 Obelisk Europe-Asia on Mount Medvezhka near Murzinka station The obelisk is a metal lattice structure in the shape of a sharp triangular pyramid. The pyramid is crowned with a sharp spire with a multi-rayed star like the lightning rod of the Nevyansk Tower.

The height of the structure is about 4 m. The front edge of the obelisk faces south, on it is the inscription “Bear 499 m”, on the right “Cape Verde 2006”, on the left: “Conceived by V. A. Lomov and son Sergei.” The author of the sign is Vladimir Lomov. The sign was installed in November 2006 with the support of the staff of the Cape Verde sanatorium.

No. 17 Sign on the old Bilimbaevskaya road
A marble obelisk with the inscription “The Europe-Asia sign will be installed here in honor of the builders of the city” was installed on the western slope of Mount Medvezhka near Novouralsk, on the road to ZILovsky Gardens.

The head of the former builders' tourist club, Viktor Mikhailov, planned to erect a grandiose sign, but, alas, did not have time to do this, and the temporary obelisk turned into a permanent one.

No. 18 Obelisk near the Aleksandrovsky mine - “Voroninsky” The sign appeared in October 2016. It was installed near the Aleksandrovsky mine and is dedicated to ore explorers and miners, as evidenced by the inscription on one of the faces. The area at the foot of the stele is lined with local minerals. The author and implementer of the idea is a teacher at the Mining University, local historian, mineralogist Oleg Voronin.

No. 19 Sign on the road from Karpushikha to the Old Stone rock
The most modest and inconspicuous sign of all is simply a wooden post with a sign on which a cross and the words “Europe and Asia” are carved.

Later, three more signs appeared below: “Europe”, “Asia” and “Merry Mountains” - this is the name of the ridge along which the watershed passes, and therefore the border of parts of the world. They were added by Andrey Pichugin and Igor Pavlyukov.

No. 20 Sign at Mount Bilimbay A wooden sign with the name of the Merry Mountains ridge was installed in 2011 by Nizhny Tagil local historian Andrey Pichugin together with his friend Valery Rogozhin. The two blue triangles at the top symbolize the Ural Mountains.

The pillar stands on the eastern slope of Mount Bilimbai at the side of the logging road from Chernoistochinsk to Bolshie Galashki.

No. 21 Sign at Mount Belaya In 2013, local historian Andrei Pichugin and his namesake Alexander Pichugin installed another wooden sign “Europe-Asia Merry Mountains” - in the saddle between the Belaya and Poperechnaya mountains, where the road from the village of Uralets connects to the timber road from Chernoistochinsk to Bolshie Galashki.

No. 22 Sign at the Visimsky Nature Reserve
The sign was installed in the fall of 2018 in the protective zone of the Visimsky Biosphere Reserve on the initiative of its employees. It is a flat shield mounted between two wooden pillars, with signs “Europe” and “Asia” in five languages.

The sign is located 20 km west of Kirovgrad, on the road from Kirovgrad to Bolshiye Galashki after the bridge over the Tagil River, between the sources of the Sulem and Lomovka rivers. It was installed a little east of the real border of Europe and Asia, in a picturesque place overlooking Mount Ezhovaya.

No. 23.24 Obelisk near the village of Uralets and the Asia-Europe bus stop
The obelisk is located on the pass over the Vesyolye Gory ridge near the village of Uralets, not far from Mount Belaya. Dedicated to the first successes of Soviet cosmonautics. The sign was installed in 1960 or 1961 in place of an old wooden post.

The obelisk was made by workers of a mechanical plant in the village of Uralets according to the design of V.P. Krasavchenko. A 6 m high square column is crowned with a model of the globe. Previously, satellites and the Vostok ship revolved around it in steel orbits.
Across the road from the obelisk there is an Asia-Europe bus stop.

Sign and stop coordinates: 57°40"38.0″N 59°41"58.5″E

No. 25 Europe-Asia pillar at Elizavetinsky
On the old Visimsky highway from Nizhny Tagil to Visimo-Utkinsk, near the village of Elizavetinskoye, there is a Europe-Asia sign - a wooden pole with carved indicators of the parts of the world.

The details of the origin of the sign are not known exactly. According to some sources, the sign was established in 1957 by the spouses M.E. and V.F. Lyapunov, according to others - in 1977 by the forester of the Chernoistochinsky hunting estate.

No. 26 Obelisk on the Big Ural pass near the village of Sinegorsky
The pillar is located at the Bolshoy Ural pass on the Serebryansky tract, 2 km from the village of Sinegorsky. It was installed in 1967 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Great October Revolution by workers of the Sinegorsky timber industry enterprise. The author of the project is A. A. Schmidt.

The basis of the structure is a welded sheet steel stele 9 meters high. On the upper edge of the stele there is a metal sickle and hammer. The sign was silver; in recent years it has been painted blue.

No. 27 Obelisk in Kushva near the village of Kedrovka
This is one of the very first obelisks of Europe-Asia. The memorial sign was erected in 1868 with the money of gold miners on the pass near Mount Kedrovka. Made in the form of a cast iron chapel. Once the domes were gilded, and on the spire there was a double-headed eagle. The inscription on one side: “In memory of the crossing of the Urals by His Imperial Highness the Sovereign Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich on August 3, 1868.”

During the civil war, the obelisk was badly damaged; in the 1970s, it was restored by tourists from the Nizhne-Saldinsky plant. The obelisk is located on the Kushva-Serebryanka road, 4 km from the village of Kedrovka.

No. 28 Obelisk near the village of Baranchinsky Installed on a logging road west of the village of Baranchinsky in the Kushvinsky district, south of Mount Kedrovka.

Cast from cast iron at the Baranchinsky Electromechanical Plant according to the design of A. Nikitin in 1996.

No. 29 Obelisk at Khrebet-Uralsky station
The marble obelisk was installed on the platform of the Khrebet-Uralsky station in 2003 in honor of the 125th anniversary of the Sverdlovsk Railway.

The village of Khrebet-Uralsky is located near the border with the Perm Territory. The watershed is located a couple of kilometers west of the obelisk, at the source of the Tura River.

No. 30 Signs at 276 km of the Gornozavodskaya railway
Identical metal triangular pyramids were installed in 1878 during the construction of the railway on both sides of the track.

The ribs of the pyramids are made from railroad tracks. Before the revolution, the chambers at the top of the obelisks had kerosene lanterns that were lit at night.

No. 31 Sign near the village of Pavda A simple black and white pillar stands at the fork of three forest roads - to Pavda, Kytlym and Rastyos. At its foot lies a stone where coins are thrown for good luck.

No. 32 Pillar at Kazan Stone Another striped pillar “Europe-Asia” stands on the border of the Sverdlovsk region and the Perm region on the road from Severouralsk to the Zhigalan waterfalls, at the foot of the Kazan stone. Possibly destroyed.

No. 33 Obelisk near the village of Kytlym The village of Kytlym is located in the north of the Sverdlovsk region, west of Serov. 8 km from Kytlym, on the road to Verkhnyaya Kosva, there is another Europe-Asia obelisk. It was installed in 1981 by workers of the Yuzhno-Zaozersk mine.

The lower part of the obelisk is a thick steel pipe. The upper part is a flat triangular metal figure, reminiscent of an arrow pointer.

No. 34 Sign on the pass over Popovsky Uval Installed at an altitude of 774 m on the road from Ivdel to the Sibirevsky mine. The pillar has two faces - on one side there is a European face, on the other an Asian one.

No. 36 Sign at Mount Kolpaki
The obelisk itself was destroyed in the 2000s, now only the pedestal remains. Located on the road from the village. Fishing to the north, at the Medvedka-Kosya fork.

The signs at this place are generally unlucky; they are constantly being broken. Before the revolution, there was an elegant metal pyramid here. In 1973, during a gathering of tourists on Tyopla Gora, another sign was installed here. In 1985 - another one, a rocket model made from scrap metal. The photo with the girls dates back to the early 2000s - the rocket no longer existed.

No. 37 Sign on the border of the Sverdlovsk region, Perm region and the Komi Republic, on Mount Saklaimsori-Chakhl The place where Europe, Asia, the Komi Republic, the Perm Territory and the Sverdlovsk region meet, and also the border of the basins of three great rivers - the Ob, Pechora and Volga.

The sign was installed on July 25, 1997 on the initiative of Gennady Igumnov, who at that time held the position of governor of the Perm region. On the pillar there is an inscription: “Governor Igumnov as a keepsake for posterity.”

No. 39,40,41 Road signs in Magnitogorsk

In addition to the obelisk, Magnitogorsk has road signs marking the border between Europe and Asia.

The city has four bridges across the Urals, which are called “crossings” here, because they connect entire parts of the world. In addition to the Central one mentioned in the previous paragraph, there are also Northern, Southern and Magnitny (aka Cossack crossing). There are road signs on every bridge, except the shortest one, the Northern one. Is it true, judging by Google panoramas, there were no longer signs at the Southern Crossing in 2018, but there is a possibility that they will be returned.

Coordinates: Central passage 53°25"20.0"N 59°00"35.5"E ;
Magnetic transition 53°22"40.4"N 59°00"18.3"E;
Southern passage 53°23"53.4"N 59°00"05.5"E

No. 42 Road sign on the Europe-Asia bridge in the village of Kizilskoye
Kizilskoye is located 90 km from Magnitogorsk. Signs are installed on both sides of the bridge over the Ural River.

No. 43 Obelisk on the pass over the Ural-Tau ridge near Zlatoust A stainless steel stele on a high stone base appeared on the M5 Ural federal highway between Zlatoust and Miass at the pass over the Ural-Tau ridge in 1987. The author of the layout is the architect S. Pobeguts.

The inscriptions with the names of parts of the world are located “in reverse”: on the European side of the stele there is the inscription “Asia”, and on the Asian side - “Europe”. The sign works like a road sign - the driver sees the name of the part of the world he is entering.

No. 44 Obelisk in Verkhneuralsk
In 2006, on the Ural River on the outskirts of Verkhneuralsk, in the place where the Verkhneyaitskaya fortress was located, a geographical sign was installed marking the Europe-Asia border.

No. 45 Obelisk near Urzhumka station
Another obelisk between Zlatoust and Miass is located at the Urzhumka railway station, half a kilometer east of it.

This is one of the very first signs marking the border between Europe and Asia. It appeared in 1892 along with the station, the opening was timed to coincide with the completion of construction of this section of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The author of the project is engineer and writer N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky.

The obelisk is a tetrahedral prism topped by a pointed pyramid, with a protruding belt on which Europe and Asia are written. The monument is made of local Ural granite. It is under state protection as an object of cultural heritage of regional significance.

No. 46 Obelisk in the area of ​​Kyshtym
To the south of Kyshtym stretches the Dog Mountains ridge, at the pass through which there is a 5-meter granite pyramid, symbolizing the border of Europe and Asia. At the base of the pyramid there is a spring, from where a stream flows down to the Asian side.

In 2012, the granite pyramid was replaced with a metal one with a stone base. The sign is located on the road Slyudorudnik - Bolshiye Egusty, 2.5 km from Egusty.

No. 48 Old obelisks on the Ural River
Near the village of Novobairamgulovo, on the Uchaly-Beloretsk highway, there are two more obelisks “Europe” and “Asia”: on both sides of the former road bridge across the Urals.

These obelisks are located 300 meters south of the new signs. They were built in 1968 according to a sketch by the artist D. M. Adigamov and architect U. F. Zainikeev. Obelisks are flat steles topped with images of a hammer and sickle, and in their lower part there is a globe. The bridge where they stood is now destroyed.

No. 49 Sign at the source of the Ural River
The sign “The Ural River Begins Here” was installed in 1973 by an amateur group. The cast-iron bridge across the source and the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia” appeared much later.

No. 51 Steles on the White Bridge
The Europe-Asia pedestrian bridge over the Ural River, or White Bridge, is one of the main attractions of Orenburg. In the middle of the bridge, on both sides, there are two shiny square steles; they appeared relatively recently.

No. 52 Sign in Orsk on the Upper Bridge
Orsk is another city that is divided by the Ural River into European and Asian parts.

On both sides of the large road bridge across the Urals there are signs with the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia”.

No. 54 Gas pipeline “Northern Lights” in the Subpolar Urals
The sign was put up by gas workers. It is located on the road running along the Northern Lights gas pipeline from the village of Vuktyl to the central base of the Yugyd-va natural park.

No. 56 Easternmost point of Europe
The location of the point was determined in 2003 by members of the Russian-Belarusian expedition, and at the same time they installed a memorial sign (pictured), which was later broken by local residents. This point had no official status.

In 2019, geologists from the Ural Mining University, in particular Firat Nurmukhametov, together with the editor-in-chief of the Ural Pathfinder Maxim Firsov, re-determined the coordinates of the point - they turned out to be 800 meters away from the old ones. They want to put up a new sign here and make this place popular for tourists, like the other three extreme points of Europe: Norway, Portugal and Spain.

The point is located on the border of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic, not far from Lake Maloe Shchuchye.

No. 59 Sign north of Mount Yanyghachechahl
Small homemade wooden sign. Located in the Subpolar Urals at an altitude of 709 m north of Ivdel, near Mount Yanyghachechahl.

No. 63 Gazebos in Atyrau
On both sides of the bridge over the Ural River there are gazebos with the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia”.

Coordinates: 47°06"18.0″N 51°54"53.1″E

Türkiye

No. 64 Bridge of Martyrs July 15 in Istanbul
Istanbul is another transcontinental city, it is divided into European and Asian parts by the Bosphorus Strait. Europe and Asia are connected by three suspension bridges across the Bosphorus.

The 15 July Martyrs' Bridge (until 2016 - the "Bosphorus Bridge") is the first of three. It was built in 1973 based on a design by Russian engineer Oleg Aleksandrovich Kerensky. On both sides of the bridge there are signs “Welcome to Europe/Asia”.

Coordinates: 41°02"51.0″N 29°01"56.0″E

Read us in

The issue of defining the border between Europe and Asia dates back to antiquity. And the very fact of the separation of Europe is determined primarily by history. Even the Phoenicians, many centuries BC, distinguished three parts of the world on Earth: Europe, Asia and Libya (the only part of Africa known at that time). In the Middle Ages, these three parts of the world began to be called the “Old World”, and America and Australia, discovered in the 16th-17th centuries, were called the “New World”.

In ancient times, they did not know that Europe and Asia constitute one continent, without continuous maritime borders. At the suggestion of E. Suess, in 1883 this single continent was named Eurasia. Ideas about the border between Europe and Asia have changed significantly over time. The ancient Greeks carried it along the Black Sea. Later, the Romans “shifted” the border to Tanais (Don River) and Meotis (Sea of ​​Azov). In the Middle Ages, Arab scientists moved it even further east - to the Itil (Volga) and Kama rivers.

In the 17th century, the Russians began to draw the border along the Urals - Kamen, as it was then called. The earliest written source indicating such a border is the Esipov Chronicle of 1636:

“Between the states of Russia and the Siberian lands there will lie a very high Stone... like a city wall... From this same Stone many rivers flowed, flowed to the Russian kingdom, and flowed into the Siberian land.”

Opening of the obelisk Europe - Asia near Kedrovka

In 1730, the Swedish scientist Philipp Johann von Strahlenberg first substantiated in world scientific literature the idea of ​​drawing a border between Europe and Asia. Later in 1736 V.N. Tatishchev claimed that it was he who suggested this idea to Stralenberg.

Big Ural Pass

The stela is located on the Bolshoi Ural pass along the Serebryansky tract near the village of Sinegorsky (you can see it on the way to the Blue Mountains). Installed in 1967 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Great October Revolution by workers of the Sinegorsky timber industry enterprise. Author of the project A.A. Schmidt. The basis of the structure is a stele made of sheet steel 9 meters high. It is crowned with a hammer and sickle.

Uralets

Installed at a pass on the Nizhny Tagil – Ust-Utka road near the village of Uralets (Sverdlovsk region). In front of the obelisk there is a turn to the Belaya Mountain ski slope. Appeared in 1961 in honor of Yuri Gagarin's space flight. A square column 6 meters high is crowned with a model of the globe. In the original version, satellites and the Vostok ship “rotated” around the ball in steel “orbits”. The author of the project is V.P. Krasavchenko. The obelisk was erected by workers of a mechanical plant in the village of Uralets.

Merry Mountains

Mountain Birch

This obelisk was opened in 2008 near Pervouralsk (Sverdlovsk region). At this place in 1837 the very first sign “Europe - Asia” was installed. The modern monument is impressive in its scale. At the heart of the monument is a high 30-meter pillar, which is crowned by a double-headed eagle. The road along the border of Europe and Asia is crossed by a pedestrian crossing. A popular place among newlyweds in Pervouralsk. The area around is landscaped, there are gazebos, benches, and a “wishing tree.”

Not far away, on the northern slope of Mount Berezovaya, near the railway passing here at the Vershina station, there is another obelisk. It was built during preparation for the VI World Festival of Youth and Students, which took place in Moscow in 1957.

Pervouralsk

Installed near the road that leads from the Perm highway to the city of Pervouralsk. This obelisk was previously located on Mount Berezovaya in the place of the one described above, and was moved in 2008. There is a small spring nearby.

Ekaterinburg, 17th km of the Novo-Moskovsky tract

Opened in August 2004. Created according to the design of the architect Konstantin Grunberg. It is a wide marble pedestal with an observation deck and a metal stele. Along the edges of the monument there are stones from the extreme points of Europe and Asia - from Cape Roca and Cape Dezhnev. Tourist groups stop here and newlyweds come. The location of the obelisk was controversial at one time, since the watershed lies to the west.

Revda – Degtyarsk

It is located on the pass of the Revda – Degtyarsk road (away from the main watershed). Height - 7 m. In the past, it was crowned with a steel sphere in the form of a ball with a diameter of 1.3 m. Installed in 1984 - for the 250th anniversary of Revda. Made by the Degtyarsky Mining Department according to the design of the artist L.G. Menshatov and architect Z.A. Pulyaevskaya. Currently abandoned and in poor condition.

Mount Kamennaya

An obelisk in the form of a metal eagle owl figure was installed by students of school No. 21 in the city of Revda on Mount Kamennaya in the Revdinsko-Ufaleysky ridge (Sverdlovsk region) in the 1980s.

Kurganovo

This obelisk stands to the right of the Polevskaya highway in front of the village of Kurganovo (Sverdlovsk region). Made according to the design of the young artist of the Seversky Pipe Plant S.P. Yushkova. Opened in June 1986 by decision of the Polevsky City Executive Committee. There are two inscriptions on the monument: one says that the easternmost border of Europe in the Middle Urals passes here, and the other says that the sign was erected in the year of the 250th anniversary of the scientific substantiation of the border between Europe and Asia by V.N. Tatishchev.

Mramorskaya station

Urzhumka station

This obelisk is notable for the fact that it stands on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Installed near the Urzhumka station (Chelyabinsk region) in 1892 as a sign of the completion of the construction of a section of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The border post is made of hewn granite “bricks”, which were used in lining roadside structures. The author of the project is engineer and writer N.G. Garin-Mikhailovsky.

Novobayramgulovo

The obelisks were installed near the bridge over the Ural River on the Uchaly-Beloretsk road between the village of Uralsk and the village of Novobayramgulovo (Republic of Bashkortostan).

Verkhneuralsk

In 2006, near the Ural River in the city of Verkhneuralsk (Chelyabinsk region), on the site where the Verkhneyaitskaya fortress was once located, a geographical sign was installed marking the Europe-Asia border.

Magnitogorsk

Installed in 1979 in the city of Magnitogorsk (Chelyabinsk region) on the right bank of the Ural River at the entrance to the Central Bridge. Built in honor of the 50th anniversary of the city according to the design of the architect V.N. Bohuna. The obelisk consists of two massive cubes with a symbolic image of the Earth, divided into two parts with the letters “E” and “A”. On the bridge itself there are 4 steles symbolizing the border between Europe and Asia. In the center of the bridge there is a road sign "Europe-Asia".

Kizilskoye

Road sign on the bridge over the Ural River in the village of Kizilskoye (Chelyabinsk region).

Orenburg. Pedestrian bridge

Column with the letters "Europe" and "Asia" on a pedestrian bridge over the Ural River in the city of Orenburg.

References:

Arkhipova N.P. Natural attractions of Yekaterinburg and its environs. – Ekaterinburg, 2001.