Ural

The border of Europe and Asia near Yekaterinburg

The Urals is at the junction of Europe and Asia and is the border between these parts of the world . The “stone belt” of the Urals and the elevated plains of the Urals adjacent to it extend from the shores of the Arctic Ocean in the north to semi-desert regions of Kazakhstan in the south: for more than 2500 km they separate the East European and West Siberian plains .

Conventionally, the Urals as a mountain system is divided into: ^[1]

• Mugodzhary
• Southern Urals
• Middle Urals
• North Ural
• Subpolar Urals
• Polar Ural
• Pai Hoi

Historically and economically, the Urals and Trans -Urals are closely connected with the Urals - territories adjacent to it from the west and east. The totality of the western territories can also be called the Urals (the long Ural region belongs to the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area ). The subjects of the Russian Federation are located in the Urals, as well as in the Urals and Trans-Urals: the Republic of Bashkortostan , Sverdlovsk , Chelyabinsk , Kurgan , Orenburg Regions, Udmurtia and the Perm Territory , which make up the Ural Economic Region , the eastern parts of the Komi Republic and the Arkhangelsk Region ( Nenets Autonomous District ), which are included in the Northern economic region , and the western part of the Tyumen region , which is part of the West Siberian economic region . In Kazakhstan, Aktobe and Kostanai regions can be attributed geographically to the Urals. Sometimes, to designate the administrative-territorial units of the Russian Federation, one way or another related to the Urals, the concept of the Big Urals is also used ^{[2] [3]} . The administrative Ural Federal District of the Russian Federation (Ural Federal District) includes the Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk Regions, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug . The administrative center of the Ural Federal District and the Sverdlovsk Region is called the city of Yekaterinburg “the capital of the Urals” and “the capital of the Middle Urals”.

The bulk of the Urals is in the UTC + 5 time zone. The difference with Moscow time is 2 hours.

There are many versions of the origin of the toponym "Ural". An analysis of the language contacts of the first Russian settlers in the region indicates that the toponym was most likely learned from the Bashkir language ^[4] . Indeed, of all the autochthonous peoples of the Urals, this name has long existed only among the Bashkirs. , and is supported at the level of the language, legends and traditions of this people (epos “ Ural-batyr ”). Other indigenous peoples of the Urals ( Khanty , Mansi , Udmurts , Komi ) have other traditional names for the Ural Mountains, assimilating the name “Ural” only in the 19th-20th centuries from the Russian language . E. M. Murzaev reports that the Russians recognized this name as Uraltau from the Bashkirs in the middle of the 16th century, passing it as Araltova or Oraltova Gora. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the name of the mountain is associated with the Turkic “Aral” (island) or with “Uralmak” (to encircle, enclose). He reports that the Bashkirs called the Urals only a dividing ridge, even when it belonged to low mountains ^[5] .

In the Bashkir language, the toponym "Ural" is recognized as very ancient, probably dating back to the pre-Turkic state. It should be associated with the head. үр ~ other Turk. * ör "height, elevation" ^[6] .

Legends

"Ural" in Bashkir - belt. There is a Bashkir tale of a giant who wore a belt with deep pockets. He hid in them all his wealth. The belt was huge. Once the giant stretched it, and the belt lay across the earth. From the cold Kara Sea in the north to the sandy shores of the southern Caspian Sea. So the Ural Range was formed.

In Greek books written two thousand years ago, one can read about the distant "Riphean mountains", where gloomy vultures guard countless golden treasures ^[7] .

The Bashkir folk epos “ Ural-Batyr ” tells of the ancestors of the peoples of the Urals who survived the Flood , the conflict that arose and the subsequent struggle of the Urals with their older brother Shulgan, who chose the path of evil and settled their descendants of the surrounding lands. The main toponyms of the Southern Urals are directly related to the events of the epic. The conflict of life, mercy and the natural principle “the strong eats the weak” (the strongest survives), the topic of the search for Living Water and the personified Death for its subsequent destruction, for the sake of eternal life, the idea of ​​selfless service to people, equality and self-sacrifice for the benefit of others are considered.

The Ural Mountains consist of low ranges and massifs. The highest of them, rising above 1200-1500 m, are located in the Subpolar (Mount Narodnaya - 1895 m), Northern (Mount Telposiz - 1617 m) and Southern (Mount Yamantau - 1640 m) Urals. Massifs of the Middle Urals are much lower, usually not higher than 600-650 m ^[8] . The western and eastern foothills of the Urals and the foothills of the plains are often dissected by deep river valleys. In the Urals and in the Urals there are many rivers and lakes; the sources of the Pechora and Ural rivers are located. On the rivers created several hundred ponds and reservoirs. The Ural Mountains are old (originated in the Late Paleozoic ) and are located in the area of Hercynian folding ^[9] .

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  city ​​of Manaraga

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  Subpolar Urals

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  Iremel city

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  Ignatievskaya cave

Climate

The climate of the Urals is typical mountain; Precipitation is distributed unevenly not only in regions, but also within each region. West Siberian Plain - a territory with a harsh continental climate; in the meridional direction, its continentality increases much less sharply than on the Russian Plain . The climate of the mountainous regions of Western Siberia is less continental than the climate of the West Siberian Plain.

Within the same zone on the plains of the Urals and Trans-Urals, natural conditions are noticeably different. This is because the Ural Mountains serve as a kind of climatic barrier. More rainfall to the west of them, the climate is more humid and mild; to the east, that is, beyond the Urals, there is less rainfall, the climate is drier, with pronounced continental features.

Fauna

Several centuries ago, the animal world was richer than it is now. Plowing, hunting , deforestation supplanted and destroyed the habitats of many animals. Wild horses , saigas , bustards , and streptos disappeared . Herds of deer migrated deep into the tundra . But rodents ( hamsters , field mice ) spread on the plowed lands. In the north you can meet the inhabitants of the tundra - reindeer , and in the south of the typical inhabitants of the steppes - marmot- baibaks , shrews , snakes and lizards . Forests are inhabited by predators: brown bears , wolves , wolverines , foxes , sables , ermines , lynxes . Ungulates ( moose , deer , roe deer , etc.) and birds of various species, such as eagles or bullfinches (in winter), are found in them. Along the river valleys there are otters and beavers. Acclimatization of sika deer was successfully carried out in the Ilmensky reserve , muskrats , beavers , red deer , muskrat , raccoon dogs , American mink , and Barguzin sable were also settled.

Flora

Differences in landscapes are noticeable when climbing. In the Southern Urals, for example, the path to the peaks of the largest ridge Zigalga begins with the intersection of a strip of hills and ravines at the foot, densely overgrown with bushes and grasses. Then the road goes through pine , birch and aspen forests, among which grassy glades flicker. Fir and fir rise above the palisade. Dead wood is almost invisible - it burns out during frequent forest fires . In shallow places there may be swamps . The peaks are covered with stone placers, moss and grass. Rare and stunted spruce, crooked birches that come across here, do not resemble the landscape at the foot, with colorful carpets of grass and shrubs. Fires at high altitude are already powerless, so the blockages from fallen trees block the path now and then. The summit of Mount Yamantau (1640 m) is a relatively flat area, but it is almost impregnable due to a pile of old trunks.

Natural resources

Of the natural resources of the Urals, its mineral resources are of paramount importance. Back in the 16th century, deposits of rock salt and sandstone containing copper were known on the western edge of the Urals. In the 17th century, quite numerous iron deposits became known and ironworks appeared, with the construction of one of which began the history of the "capital of the Urals" of the city of Yekaterinburg .

In the mountains, placers of gold and deposits of platinum were found, on the eastern slope - precious stones . From generation to generation, skill has been handed down to search for ore, to smel metal, to make weapons and artwork from it, to process gems. In the Urals, numerous deposits of high-quality iron ores ( Magnitnaya , Vysokaya , Blagodat , Kachkanar mountains), copper ores ( Mednogorsk , Karabash , Sibai , Gai ), rare non-ferrous metals, gold, silver, platinum, the country's best bauxite, stone and potassium salts are known. ( Solikamsk , Berezniki , Berezovskoye, Vazhenskoye, Il'etskoye). There are oil (Ishimbay), natural gas (Orenburg), coal , asbestos , precious and semiprecious stones in the Urals.

The resources of the Ural nature include forest resources. Southern and Middle Urals provide the opportunity for agriculture.

Rivers and Lakes

The rivers belong to the basins of the Arctic Ocean (on the western slope - Pechora with Usa , on the eastern - Tobol , Tavda , Iset , Tura , Lozva , Northern Sosva , belonging to the Ob system) and the Caspian Sea ( Kama with Chusova and Bela ; Ural River ).

The Urals has long been the largest mining and metallurgical base of the Russian state. Active industrial development of the Urals began under Peter I , who was in Yekaterinburg in 1886-1917. there was a monument as "the founder of mining in the Urals" ^[10] . The Ural " mining business " gave rise to a special socio-cultural community, which the famous Uralist writer Aleksey Ivanov called the "mining civilization." “ Gornozavodskaya Ural ” is the modern name for the association of museums and cultural sites of Nizhny Tagil . The Urals as a resource base played a key role during the Second World War - this, in particular, reflects the modern official motto of the Sverdlovsk Region - “The support edge of the state” (a line from a poem by Twardowski ).

The hydropower potential of the Ural rivers is significant and not fully developed ( Pavlovskaya , Yumaguzinskaya , Shirokovskaya , Iriklinskaya and several small hydropower plants operate).

Largest cities

Largest cities of the Urals (with a population of more than 250,000 people):

• Yekaterinburg (1483 thousand people.)
• Chelyabinsk (1201 thousand people.)
• Ufa ^{[11] [12]} (1121 thousand people.)
• Perm (1054 thousand people.)
• Izhevsk (649 thousand people.)
• Orenburg (565 thousand people.)
• Magnitogorsk (413 thousand people.)
• Nizhny Tagil (352 thousand people.)
• Sterlitamak ^[13] (278 thousand people.)

The contribution of the Urals to the art and culture of Russia is peculiar. From the XIV — XVI centuries famous Bashkir folk song "Ural" . Bashkir national hero Salavat Yulaev is known as the author of poems and songs, in particular, the texts “ Ural ” and “ My Ural ” are attributed to him.

The foundation on which the Ural arts and crafts grew up is industry. Ural stone-cutting art is a unique kind of Russian decorative and applied art. Ural is the center of domestic industrial processing of marble . The Urals is also known for the industrial production of various cast-iron household items, as well as for its artistic casting ( Kaslinsky casting ). At the beginning of the 18th century, cast-iron pots, boilers, and cast-iron dampers for stoves were cast at a plant in Yekaterinburg . Later, iron casting began to be applied more widely, including in architecture and industry. Damascus steel production was revived, and metallurgy of alloy steels was born.

The most famous Ural writers are Sergey Aksakov , Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak and Pavel Bazhov (for the first time he completed the literary processing of the Ural tales: “ Malachite Box ”, “Stone Flower”, “Silver Hoof”, “Mistress of the Copper Mountain” and many others).

Ural artists such as Alexei Denisov-Uralsky , Vitaliy Volovich , Alexei Kazantsev, Misha Brusilovsky , Yuri Filonenko, Valerian Bakharev, Gennady Mosin and many others also contributed to the art and culture of Russia.

The sculptor and honored artist of the RSFSR Vitaly Zaikov created the monument "The Tale of the Urals ", installed on the Railway Station Square in Chelyabinsk . The monument depicts the mighty giant blacksmith, symbolizing the mining industry. Zaykov also created other sculptures installed in different places of the Urals.

Having studied at Ural State University , documentary writer Alexei Ivanov at the beginning of the 21st century created a series of works devoted to the history and culture of the Urals. The main cycle of texts is called " The Ridge of Russia " (a metaphorical image of the Ural Mountains), on the basis of which, together with the famous journalist Leonid Parfyonov , a series of documentaries of the same name was created.

The center of the Ural autonomy is the Sverdlovsk region . Since 1993, regional political movements have been constantly created here: Transformation of the Urals , MAY, and since 2011, the Bazhov Society.

• Ural era
• Ural mountains

• Arkhipova N.P., Yastrebov E.V. How the Ural Mountains were discovered: Essays on the history of the discovery and study of the nature of the Urals . - Chelyabinsk: South Ural Book Publishing House, 1982.
• Rychkov A.V. 12 Travels in the Middle Urals . - Dir: Kid and Carlson, 2008 .-- 50 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9900756-1-0 . Archived February 23, 2014.
• Murzaev E.M. Dictionary of Popular Geographic Terms. 1st ed. - M., Thought, 1984.
• Murzaev E. M. Turkic geographical names. - M., Vost. lit., 1996.
• Aleshin B. M., Ivanov Yu. K., Kovalchuk A. I., Koroteev V. A., Prokin V. A. Mineral deposits of the Urals . - Yekaterinburg: Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences , 1999. - 184 p.
• Урал // Большая советская энциклопедия : [в 30 т.] / гл. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.