Simferopol

Vocabulary

bank	берег ( реки )
boundary	граница, межа ( between )
collapse	крах, крушение, провал, развал
consumer goods industry	промышленность, выпускающая предметы потребления
deport	депортировать, высылать, ссылать; выдворять ( from; to )
edifice	дом, здание, сооружение, строение
exile	изгнание; ссылка; высылка из страны, депортация
food processing industry	пищевая промышленность
hollow	впадина, углубление
Jew	еврей, иудей
liberate	освобождать (от - from): выпускать на свободу, на волю; освобождать территорию ( от врагов )
machine-tool	станок
massacre	резня; бойня, избиение
multistorey building	многоэтажное здание
outer	внешний
remnant	остаток; остатки
reserves	резервные части
ridge	гребень горы; горный хребет; горная цепь; водораздел
suburb	окраина, пригород
vast	обширный, громадный
vicinity	окрестности; округа: район

Simferopol the administrative, industrial and cultural centre of the Crimean Region, is situated in a vast hollow between the Outer and Inner Ridges of the Crimean Mountains, on the banks of the Salghir River.

A famous archeological site known as Scythian Neapol, the remnants of an ancient capital of the Crimean Scythians, is located within the city’s boundaries.

Later the Crimean Tatar town of Aqmescit was located in the area of modern Simferopol.

Russians renamed the city Simferopol in 1784 after the conquest of Crimea by Catherine II of Russia. In Greek Sympheropolis means "the city of usefulness". In 1802 Simferopol became the administrative "center of the Taurida Governorate. During the Crimean War of 1854-1856 Russian army reserves and a hospital were located in the city. More than 30,000 Russian soldiers were buried in the vicinity of the city.

In the 20th century Simferopol once again was affected by wars in the region. At the end of the Russian Civil War, the headquarters of General Pyotr Wrangel, leader of the anti-Bolshevik White Army, were located there. On November 13, 1920 the Red Army captured the city and on October 18, 1921, Simferopol became the capital of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

During the World War II Simferopol was occupied by the German army between November 1, 1941 and April 13, 1944. Germans perpetrated one of the largest war-time massacres in Simferopol, killing in total over 22,000 locals mostly Russians, Jews, Krymchaks, and Gypsies. The Soviets liberated Simferopol in April, 1944. And on May 18 the Crimean Tatar population of the city with the whole Crimean Tatar nation was forcibly deported to Central Asia.

After the war, on April 26. 1954, Simferopol, together with the rest of Crimea, was

transferred from Russia to the Ukrainian SSR by Nikita Khrushchev

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Simferopol became the capital city of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within independent Ukraine. Today it has a population of 363,600 (as of 2004). Modern Simferopol has retained its nucleus with historically valuable buildings. Interesting public edifices constructed according to individual design are now being built in the centre. Large housing estates with multistorey buildings have sprung around it during the last decades. After Crimean Tatars returned from the exile in 1990s several new Crimean Tatar suburbs were erected.

The city has a railway station, serving millions of summer tourists each year, and the Simferopol Airport. The world's longest trolley bus line connects Simferopol to Yalta on Crimea's Black Sea coast.

Simferopol has a wider range of food-processing industries and makes wine, tobacco and cigarettes. There are also light engineering and consumer goods industries, producing machine-tools, television sets, clothing and footwear in Simferopol.

There are teacher-training, medical and agricultural institutes and several research establishments in Simferopol.

1. Read and learn the words of the vocabulary by heart

2. Read the text, translate it into Russian

3. Answer the questions.

1.Where is Simferopol situated?

2.What does the city mean in Greek?

3.When did Simferopol become an administrative center of the Taurida Governorate?

4.What is the population of the city?

5.Find some unknown facts about Simferopol and tell your story.

4. Retell the text.