Important chronological events in the history of Crimea 1300-800 BC – Cimmerians, nomadic warrior people, lived on the banks of the Cimmerian Bosporus, modern Kerch Strait. 800 – 600 BC – In the ancient world the tribes of forest mountains of Crimea become known as “Tauris”. 600 – 300 BC – The Scythians, war nomads from the steppes of […]
Russia against an alliance of European powers The Crimean War took place from October 1853 to February 1856. It was a conflict which involved Russia against an alliance of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, Sardinia and the Austrian Empire. The Crimean War was fought mostly in the Crimean Peninsula. It began as Russia pursued an […]
The Ruins of Chersonesos Chersonesos was a Greek colony founded around 200 to 300 BC. It is located in the south west of the Crimean Peninsula in the outskirts of the city of Sevastopol, in the bay now called Quarantine. The word Chersonesos derived from the Greek word “Hersonissos” meaning “peninsula”. Chersonesos had a democratic […]
Despite all the ethnic diversity of the Peninsula there has always been one people, the Crimean Tartars. In 1944 about 200,000 of them were expelled by Stalin and relocated in Central Asia republics, mostly Uzbekistan. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union Crimean Tartars have been returning home in large numbers. Three waves of […]
Crimean Tartar Dancers in a traditional dance. According to the latest census in 2001 the population of Crimea was 2,024,056 and the population of Sevastopol 377,153 which brings the total population of the Crimean Peninsula to 2,401,209. The estimated 2013 population for the peninsula is 1,967,119 inhabitants. The Crimean population has been consistently decreasing […]
Catherine the Great was determined to expand the Russian Empire’s hegemony. Russian-Turkish War A decisive moment in the fate of Crimea was the outcome of the Russian-Turkish War that lasted from 1768 to 1774. Russians had been destabilizing Crimean tartars for years and an overstretched and weakened Ottoman Empire was easily defeated by Russian forces. […]
