  |
Tourist Map (44KB); Russia Destinations (main page)
The Urals or Ural Mountains are the heart of Eurasia. This is where Eastern Europe and Northern Asia are connected and divided by a chain of mountains stretching for 1,500 miles (2,400 km) north and south from the Arctic tundra to the deserts of the Caspian Sea. The polar section is covered by tundra, and the northern section, a rocky treeless range, has the highest peaks, Naroda and Telpos-Iz. The central Urals are also known as the Ore Urals and have many low passes. The southern section is known as the Mugodzar Hills, consists of several high, parallel ridges that rise to 5,377 feet (1,639 meters) in the Yaman-Tau. This region is drained by the Ural and Kama Rivers into the Caspian Sea.
The Urals is the second most populated area in the country and is made up primarily of Russians, with some Bashkirs, Tatars, Udmurts, and Komi-Permyaks. Known to medieval Russians as the Stone Belt, the Urals were first reached in the early 12th century by colonists and fur traders from Novgorod. But major developments happened only in the late 16th century after rich ore and cooper deposits were found in Southern part of Urals. The first ironworks were established in the 1630s.. In the late 18th and early 19th century the Urals become a center of iron production in Russia and Soviet Union. Read more about Urals here...
|
