Sevastopol
Sevastopol (/ˌsɛvəˈstoʊpəl,səˈvæstəpoʊl/ [a]) is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base throughout its history. Since the city's founding in 1783 it has been a major base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet, and it was previously a closed city during the Cold War. As of January 2021, the city of Sevastopol, largely concentrated around Sevastopol Bay and with a total area of 864 square kilometres (334 sq mi), had a population of 429,922, while the larger conglomerate of surrounding towns and rural communities boosts the total population of the area to 509,992.[2]
Sevastopol, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and under the Ukrainian legal framework the city enjoys special status. However, de facto it is administered by Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014 and regards Sevastopol as a federal city. The city's population has an ethnic Russian majority, with a substantial minority of Ukrainians.
Sevastopol's unique naval and maritime features have been the basis for a robust economy. The city enjoys mild winters and moderate warm summers, characteristics that help make it a popular seaside resort and tourist destination, mainly for visitors from the former Soviet republics. The city is also an important centre for marine biology research. In particular, the military has studied and trained dolphins in the city for military use since the 1960s.[3]
The name of Sevastopolis was originally chosen in the same etymological trend as other cities in the Crimean peninsula; it was intended to express its ancient Greek origins. It is a compound of the Greek adjective, σεβαστός (sebastós, Byzantine Greek pronunciation: [sevasˈtos]; 'venerable') and the noun πόλις (pólis, 'city'). Σεβαστός is the traditional Greek equivalent (see Sebastian) of the Roman honorific Augustus, originally given to the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Augustus and later awarded as a title to his successors.
Despite its Greek origin, the name is not from Ancient Greek times. The city was probably named after Empress ("Augusta") Catherine II of the Russian Empire who founded Sevastopol in 1783. She visited the city in 1787, accompanied by Joseph II, the Emperor of Austria, and other foreign dignitaries.
In the west of the city, there are well-preserved ruins of the ancient Greek port city of Chersonesos, founded in the 5th[4] century BC by settlers from Heraclea Pontica. This name means "peninsula", reflecting its immediate location. It is not related to the ancient Greek name for the Crimean Peninsula as a whole: Chersonēsos Taurikē ("the Taurian Peninsula").
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/"Soldier_and_Sailor"_Memorial_to_Heroic_Defenders_of_Sevastopol.jpg/440px-"Soldier_and_Sailor"_Memorial_to_Heroic_Defenders_of_Sevastopol.jpg)
.jpg/440px-2012-09-09_Памятник_затопленным_кораблям_в_Севастополе_(1).jpg)
.jpg){kind=link}