The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

located at the eastern end of the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

. This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman Peninsula between the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. Most of the peninsula is located within the Lenine Raion.

Names

Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

, the area was known as the "Rough Peninsula" (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Χερσόνησος Τραχεία, ). In Slavic languages, its pronunciation does not vary by much: , ''Kerchenskyi Pivostriv''; , ''Kerich Yarymadasy''; , ''Kyerchyenskii Polu'ostrov''.

Geography

The Kerch Peninsula is almost completely surrounded by water and only to the west connects with the rest of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

by the Isthmus of Ak-Monay which is only wide (from the southern end of the

Arabat Spit The Arabat Spit (; ; ) or Arabat Arrow is a spit (landform), barrier spit that separates the large, shallow, salty Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. The spit runs between the Henichesk Strait in the north and the north-eastern shores of Crim ...

to the town of Primorsky (Khafuz),

Feodosiya Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into w ...

). On elevated portions of the isthmus, named after the village of Kamianske (former ''Aq-Monai''), are seen both of the surrounding seas. The widest portion of the Kerch Peninsula is between the Kazan-Tip Cape (north) and Chauda Cape (south), that are apart. The length of Kerch Peninsula is over , from the western portion of Aqmanai Isthmus to the Fonar Cape. The total area of the peninsula is , which is just over 10% of the total area of the

Crimean peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

. The southern coast of the Kerch peninsula is washed by the

and the Bay of Feodosia, to the east as a natural border serves the Strait of Kerch, while the northern shores are part of the coastline of the

, Kazantip Bay, and Bay of Arabat. Away to the northwest from the peninsula runs another isthmus known as the

(locally Arabat arrow) which separates Sivash (the Rotten Sea) from Azov Sea. Other prominent features of the peninsula are Mount Mithridat located in the east at the shores of the Strait of Kerch and the Ararat Mountain () located just west of the Kerch city, both of which are part of the northeastern elevated region. At the southeastern portion of peninsula are located mountains Sosman and Kharuchu-Oba. The highest mountain on the peninsula is Pikhbopai that is part of the Mithridat crest and tall. The Kerch Peninsula, as well as surrounding areas such as

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and the Caspian Sea region (which encompasses the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

) are home to many

mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or Slurry, slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true Igneous rock, igneous volcanoes as th ...

es. These mud volcanoes are important for the region's oil industry.

Capes

;Black Sea * Chauda * Opuk * Takhil ;Sea of Azov * Malyi * Fonar * Khroni * Zyuk * Chahany * Kazan-Tip * Kiten * Krasny Kut

Lakes, rivers, bays

Beside the above-mentioned bays there are also Mysova bay and Tatarska bay, both located around the Kazan-Tip Cape making it look as a small peninsula. * Uzunlarske Lake * Kachyk lake * Koyashskoye Salt Lake * Tobechytske Lake * Aqtas Lake

Nature preserves

On the territory of the peninsula are located several natural preserves (

zapovednik A zapovednik is an established term on the Post-Soviet states, territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which is kept "forever wild". It is the highest degree of environmental protection for the assigned areas, which are strictly ...

s): * Opuksky Nature Reserve, the only place in Ukraine where rosy starlings nest * Kazan-Tip Natural Preserve * Ostanine floodplains, a state

zakaznik ''Zakaznik'' (, transliterated: ''zakaznik, zakazniki''; , transliterated: ''zakaznyk'', ''zakaznyky''; Belarusian: заказнік, заказнікі, transliterated: zakaznik, zakazniki) is a type of protected area in former Soviet republics ...

near settlement Ostanine

Historical sites

* Turkish wall, a defensive wall that stretches across the peninsula from Bay of Kazan-Tip to the lake of Koyashs'ke

References

External links

*
Kerch Peninsula
at the

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

*
More detailed description of the peninsula by Arkadi Tebelev
*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20101209041233/http://asinfo.com.ua/crimea/crimea_map.php Several maps of the region {{Authority control Landforms of Crimea Peninsulas of Russia Peninsulas of Ukraine