The other day I was asked at what altitude above sea level are the Crimean cities of Yalta, Alushta and Simferopol. At first I wanted to brush this question aside, but curiosity prompted me to check what the Internet was writing on this topic. It turned out that it is almost impossible to find references to the height of most cities of the former Union on the Internet. Struck by this fact, I decided to correct the situation.
To begin with, I went to Wikipedia and made inquiries about what altitude above sea level is and from which sea it should be calculated. Here's what they write there:
Height above sea level- a coordinate in three-dimensional space (the other two are latitude and longitude), showing at what level relative to the sea level taken as zero this or that object is located.
Baltic height system(BSV) is a system of absolute altitudes adopted in the USSR in 1977, which is counted from the ground zero in Kronstadt. The heights of reference geodetic points are measured from this mark, which are marked on the ground with various geodetic signs and plotted on maps. Currently, BSV is used in Russia and a number of other CIS countries.
In theory, everything is clear - you need to take a detailed topographic map and see what heights are indicated there. But where can I get this card?
The first thing that came to mind was to look into OziExplorer. This is a special program for working with GPS (satellite navigator). One of its functions allows you to determine the height simply by pointing the cursor at a place on the map. With her help, I easily found out that Alushta is located at altitudes from 0 to 130 meters above sea level. Yalta - from 0 to 200 meters, Sevastopol - from 0 to 100, Simferopol - on average 250 meters above sea level.
However, this method is not very universal. After all, the question still remains: “where can I get a map?”, this time digitized. I had maps of Crimea, but things didn’t work out with the rest of the world...
The answer literally lay on the surface, that is, on the Internet. This is not the first year that the service has been operating there. Google Earth- a kind of digital globe glued together from photographs of the earth’s surface from a “cosmic” height. There certainly should be a height detection function. I downloaded the Google Earth distribution (free version), installed it and started exploring the menu. There were no altimeters there. Strange... Maybe I should read the certificate? I didn't find it either :(
Almost in despair, I suddenly noticed numbers running quickly at the bottom of the screen. Eureka!!! This was the altimeter.
To celebrate, I began to run around the map and measure the height of all the cities in a row.
The height of Yekaterinburg above sea level is 250 meters.
The height of Moscow above sea level is 130 meters.
Saratov - 40
Makhachkala - 15
Krasnoyarsk - 140
Perm - 150
Chelyabinsk - 250
Ufa - 125
Kazan - 90
Nizhny Novgorod - 70
Ivanovo - 130
Yaroslavl - 98
Voronezh - 104
St. Petersburg - 13
Arkhangelsk - 7
Novgorod - 28
Murom - 105
Altitude above sea level of some cities in Ukraine:
The height of Kyiv above sea level is from 90 (the level of the Dnieper) to 190 (the famous Dnieper steeps) meters.
Kharkov - 122
Chernivtsi - 240
Khmelnitsky - 299
Ternopil - 336
Vinnitsa - 294
Cherkasy - 80
Krivoy Rog - 85
Zaporozhye - 75
Kherson - 50
Donetsk - 241
Dnepropetrovsk - 68
Sumy - 125
Poltava - 150
Chernigov - 117
In the western part of Ukraine I was interested in the heights of such settlements:
Lviv - 270
Ivano-Frankivsk - 343
Uzhgorod - 187
Mukachevo - 181
Rakhiv - 430
Yasinya - 650
Yablunytsky pass - 930
I hope you understand that all the data obtained is not very accurate. Google Earth is not a professional tool with guaranteed accuracy and reliably known errors. She has completely different goals.
In addition, the term “city height above sea level” itself is very conditional. After all, a city is not a point, but a huge object, different areas of which have different heights.
Which federal district does the city of Yalta belong to?
Yalta is part of the federal district: Crimean.The Federal District is an enlarged territory consisting of several constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
In what region is the city of Yalta located?
The city of Yalta is part of the Republic of Crimea region.A characteristic of a region or a subject of a country is the integrity and interconnection of its constituent elements, including cities and other settlements that are part of the region.
The region of the Republic of Crimea is an administrative unit of the state of Russia.
Population of the city of Yalta.
The population of the city of Yalta is 79,457 people.Year of foundation of Yalta.
Year of foundation of the city of Yalta: 1154.In what time zone is the city of Yalta located?
The city of Yalta is located in the administrative time zone: UTC+3. Thus, you can determine the time difference in the city of Yalta, relative to the time zone in your city.Telephone code of the city of Yalta
Telephone code of the city of Yalta: +7 3654. In order to call the city of Yalta from a mobile phone, you need to dial the code: +7 3654 and then the subscriber’s number directly.Yalta on the map is located in the southern part of Crimea, from Foros in the west and all the way to Krasnokamenka in the east. This city is the recognized resort capital of the peninsula, an important passenger and commercial port.
History of the name
The city of Yalta, according to the most common version, got its name from the Greek word “Yalos”, which translates as “shore”. This settlement was first mentioned in 1154. The lines about the Polovtsian city on the Black Sea coast came from the pen of the Arab historian Al-Idrisia.
Yalta on the map. Physiographic characteristics
The city is located in the southern part of the Crimean Peninsula. It occupies the shore of the Yalta Bay in the Black Sea. On the territory of the city there are the hills of Darsan and Glory. On the land side, Yalta is surrounded by a semi-circle of the Crimean Mountains.
A general resort attraction is the Vorontsovsky and Livadiysky parks, located on the territory of Greater Yalta (the latter includes the city itself, Alupka and many villages). First of all, they impress with their impressive size. Unique decorative foreign plants were widely used in their creation.
Climate Features
Where is the city of Yalta located? Approximately at the same geographic latitude as the popular Italian resorts of Genoa and Ravenna. Approximately 2,250 hours a year the city is caressed by the warm sun. Such chic Mediterranean resorts as San Remo, Nice and Cannes can boast a similar indicator. The city of Yalta (Crimea) has a temperate climate, similar to the Mediterranean subtropical one. Winters here are rainy and mild, springs are cool, summers are long and hot, and autumns are warm and long (the so-called velvet season).
Yalta on the map of Crimea is located in the embrace of the warm sea and mountains, which play the role of reliable protectors from cold winds. This geographical feature provides favorable conditions for vacationers.
Yalta (Crimea) is famous, first of all, for its recreational resources. Such reserves as “Cape Martyan”, Crimean Natural and Yalta Mountain Forest provide the therapeutic and climatic value of the resort.
Beaches
Yalta (photos of the city are presented in the article) is famous for its magnificent beaches. However, not so long ago they were subject to gradual destruction under the influence of landslides. People began to purposefully improve beaches only a few decades ago. Thus, the construction of retaining walls was organized, digging trenches in the seabed and filling them with stones. With the help of floating cranes, hundred-ton buoys were installed, and millions of cubic meters of crushed stone were placed between them. As a result, people have learned to create artificial beaches even in areas that were previously considered completely unsuitable for recreation.
Fauna, flora
The Yalta Nature Reserve is a unique place where approximately two thousand species of a wide variety of plants grow. Juniper-oak forests and bushes cover the slopes of the city. The most common species are Scots and Crimean pine, as well as juniper, and downy, maple, hornbeam, beech, cedar, dogwood, pear and rowan.
The forests on the southern coast are of extremely important water and soil protection importance, therefore they are recognized as protected areas and are carefully protected.
The fauna of the southern Crimean coast has an island character and is similar in type to the Mediterranean. In this territory you can see red deer, roe deer, stone marten, badger, teleut squirrel, wild boar, weasel, fox, hare, hedgehog, shrew, bat.
Ecological situation
First of all, let’s highlight a number of existing problems:
- At least nine hundred units per hour (sometimes this figure reaches 1,600 units) constitutes the traffic load on the main highways of Yalta in the summer during the daytime. As for the winter period, boiler houses are considered the main source of harmful emissions into the atmosphere, the condition of the treatment systems of which has left much to be desired for many years.
- The maximum concentration on the highways of Simferopol reaches six maximum permissible concentrations (maximum permissible concentration), and on the roads of Yalta - three, which may be due to the use of low-quality fuel.
- As experts have established, in Yalta the concentration of benzopyrene is almost twice as high as the optimal one. This fact allows us to assert that the environmental situation in the city is unsatisfactory.
- In March 2012, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development allocated ten million hryvnia to modernize the Yalta sewerage system in order to stop the discharge of runoff into the waters of the Black Sea. However, as of 2013, the city's wastewater treatment plants are still in very poor condition. For this reason, the waters adjacent to the port beaches are periodically polluted with sewage.
- April 2012 was marked by widespread discussion of the problem of poor cleaning of city streets. Local residents independently organized cleanup days to clean Yalta of garbage. In September of the same year, such events resumed because local authorities were unable to maintain cleanliness in the city.
A little history
The remains of settlements of the ancient inhabitants of the Crimean territories - the Taurians - were found by archaeologists near Simeiz, on Cape Ai-Todor and in some other places. The artifacts have been dated to around the fourth to fifth centuries BC. The Taurus were pirates, fishermen, farmers, hunters and cattle breeders. Their lifestyle can be described as semi-sedentary.
According to legend, Yalta is a city founded by Greek sailors. It is believed that they wandered for a long time across the endless expanses of the Black Sea, and after they saw the long-awaited shore, they exclaimed: “Yalos!” (that’s how the word “shore” sounds in Greek). Since then, these lands have been called that way. On maps and documents of the 14th century. the city is referred to as Yalita, Gialita, Kallita and Etalita.
Is Yalta Russia or Ukraine? Currently it belongs to the Russian Federation, but in the summer of 1475 the city, like the whole of Crimea, was captured by the Ottoman Turks. The southern coast was included in the Ottoman Empire. In the second half of the fifteenth century, a powerful earthquake occurred that destroyed Yalta. Only seventy years later did Armenians and Greeks begin to settle in the devastated area. Historians believe that it was during that period that the name still used today was assigned to the city.
Is Yalta Russia or Ukraine? Back in 1783, Crimea became part of the Russian Empire. This happened as a consequence of the process of mass resettlement of Crimean Christians in the Azov region in 1778 and the emigration of Crimean Tatars to Turkey. At that time, Yalta was a small desert fishing village.
Nineteenth century
The Governor-General of the Novorossiysk lands - Count Vorontsov - in 1823 provided two hundred acres of Yalta land, subject to the cultivation of vineyards, gardens and construction. The newly-made wealthy owners, thanks to the hard work of their serfs, built luxurious villas, palaces, mansions, and laid out huge industrial gardens and vineyards on this territory. In addition, at this time magnificent parks appeared, which to this day delight the eyes of local residents and tourists: Gurzufsky, Massandra, Alupkinsky, Livadia and others.
The city of Yalta gradually grew. A map of the area allowed Vorontsov to understand that this inconspicuous settlement, thanks to its unique topography and convenient bay, could become an important city for Russia.
Important transformations
The year 1838 was marked by the formation of the Yalta district. The once deserted village acquired the status of a city. A year earlier, Count Vorontsov ordered the construction of a gravel road that connected Yalta with Simferopol and Alushta. In 1848, the city gained direct road connections with Sevastopol.
Destruction and restoration
During the war of 1853-1856. The whole of Crimea was seriously damaged. Yalta (a map of the city at that time helps to understand the nature and scale of the destruction) was no exception. Over time, the city was restored, moreover, they began to talk about it as an excellent resort. Dr. Dmitriev and Professor Botkin noted that the Yalta climate is healing. It was for this reason that Emperor Alexander the Third issued a decree on the construction of two palaces in the city - Livadia and Massandra.
Private construction also did not stand still. Thus, one of the richest people in Russia - Prince Yusupov - built a palace in Koreiz, Count Milyutin - in Simeiz, Naryshkin - in Miskhor.
In 1886, according to the instructions of Alexander III, the construction of a powerful stone pier, as well as a sewer system, began. Another important implemented project of that period was the Yalta embankment. In 1898, construction of the city water supply was completed.
As a result, by the end of the nineteenth century, many knew where Yalta was on the map, since the city was already known as a wonderful resort. The interest of those in power was also fueled by the fact that in the 1860s Livadia, near Yalta, became the southern residence of the Tsar’s family.
The twentieth century
Is Yalta Russia or Ukraine? Russia. And at the beginning of the last century, many representatives of the imperial nobility considered it their duty to have a palace or at least a dacha on the southern coast of Crimea.
By 1914, the city already had two gymnasiums and a commercial school, two clubs, four paid clubs, libraries and the same number of cinemas.
The position of Yalta changed significantly after the end of two revolutions - the February and October. According to Lenin's decree, luxurious mansions and palaces were given over to the use of the people. In addition, new health resorts were actively built. The Dolossy sanatorium was the first to open its doors. This happened in 1928.
And again the war...
During the Great Patriotic War, German troops occupied Crimea. Anti-Nazi activities were launched in Yalta. The occupiers organized a Jewish ghetto in the city. 4,500 Yalta residents were herded there. All of them were later shot near Massandra. In the period from 1941 to 1944, Yalta was mercilessly bombed by enemy aircraft. The city was liberated from the invaders in April 1944.
Is Yalta Russia or Ukraine? From 1954 to 2014, the city was part of the Ukrainian lands, but currently it is part of the Russian Federation.
Recent history
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, reconstruction of most of the Yalta coast began. As a result, the condition of the beaches, which today receive more than one thousand people a year, has significantly improved, and Massandrovsky was even awarded the Blue Flag. In 2003, reconstruction work on the city embankment was completed. Since then, it has been not only a shopping street, but also a place of mass celebrations. In 2009, a memorial chapel was erected on the same embankment, which was later consecrated in the name of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. It was built in honor of the memory of all the innocents killed during the hard times, during the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars. It is noteworthy that the memorial is located not far from the wooden chapel of St. Alexander Nevsky, demolished in 1932, erected in memory of Alexander the Second, who died at the hands of terrorists.
On March 18, 2014, Crimea (including Yalta) became part of the Russian Federation. This happened on the basis of a popular referendum held two days earlier, as well as an agreement between the authorities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea.
It’s not for nothing that residents of Yalta proudly call their hometown an open-air museum. Created as a holiday destination for Russian nobles, this once tiny settlement is now a popular resort. Tourists from many countries are happy to soak up the local beaches under the gentle Yalta sun.