The Isthmus of Perekop, literally Isthmus of the Trench ( uk, Перекопський перешийок; transliteration: ''Perekops'kyy pereshyyok''; russian: Перекопский перешеек; transliteration: ''Perekopskiy peresheek,'' crh, Or boynu, tr, Orkapı; ; transliteration: ''Taphros'') is the narrow, wide strip of land that connects the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a po ...

to the mainland of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The isthmus projects between the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean 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 bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

to the west and the

Sivash The Syvash or Sivash ( Russian and Ukrainian: ; , Cyrillic: Сываш, "dirt"), also known as the or (, ''Gniloye More''; , ''Hnyle More''; , Cyrillic: Чюрюк Денъиз), is a large area of shallow lagoons on the west coast of the Sea ...

to the east. The isthmus takes its name of "

Perekop Perekop (Ukrainian & Russian: Перекоп; ; ) is an urban-type settlement located on the Perekop Isthmus connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the fortress Or Qapi that served as the gateway to Crimea. ...

" from the Tatar fortress of

Or Qapi Or Qapi Fortress is a ruined fort located near the settlement of Perekop on the Perekop isthmus connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. History The Or Qapi fort was built in the 15th century by Mengli Girai and his ...

. The border between Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Kherson Oblast runs through the northern part of the isthmus. Since the Russian military annexation of Crimea in 2014, this is also the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

northern border of the Russian

Republic of Crimea The Republic of Crimea, translit. ''Respublika Krym'' ; uk, Республіка Крим, translit. ''Respublika Krym'' ; crh, , is an unrecognized federal subject (republic) of Russia, located in the Crimean Peninsula. Its territory cor ...

. The cities of

, Armyansk, and

Krasnoperekopsk Krasnoperekopsk (russian: Краснопереко́пск, uk, Яни Капу, Краснопереко́пськ, crh, Yañı Qapı, Krasnoperekopsk) is a town of regional significance that was, following the 2014 annexation of Crimea, incorpo ...

are situated on the isthmus. The

North Crimean Canal The North Crimean Canal ( uk, Північно-Кримський канал, translit=Pivnichno-Krymskyi kanal, russian: Северо-Крымский канал, in the Soviet Union: North Crimean Canal of the Lenin's Komsomol of Ukraine) is a l ...

ran through the isthmus, supplying Crimea with fresh water from the

Dnieper River } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...

. Ukraine closed the canal in 2014, and the water supply was only partially replaced by other local and Russian sources. South of Perekop lie rich salt ores which remain very important commercially for the region.

Toponym

The name ''Taphros'' in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

means a dug-out trench, per a defensive trench dug between the Azov Sea and the Black Sea; there also appears to have been a town in the vicinity of the same name. The Crimean Tatar name of ''Or Qapı'' adopts the Greek in the

Crimean Tatar language Crimean Tatar () also called Crimean (), is a Kipchak Turkic language spoken in Crimea and the Crimean Tatar diasporas of Uzbekistan, Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as small communities in the United States and Canada. It should n ...

meaning ''Or'' "trench" and ''Qapı'' "gate," and ''Perekop'' in the

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

literally means a dug-out.

History

The strategic and commercial value of this area, together with the strategic value of being the gateway to Crimea, has made the isthmus the location of some particularly fierce battles. From antiquity through the Byzantine era the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

fortified the area, and so subsequently did the

Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...

. In the 15th century the area became a colony of the maritime

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

. In 1783 the area became a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, which made Perekop a county center of Tavriia

gubernia A governorate, gubernia, province, or government ( rus, губе́рния, p=ɡʊˈbʲɛrnʲɪjə, also romanized ; uk, губернія, huberniia), was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the empir ...

. In 1954, together with Crimea it was transferred to the

Ukrainian Soviet Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Republic (russian: Украинская Советская Республика, translit= Ukrainskaya Sovetskaya Respublika) was one of the earlier Soviet Ukrainian quasi-state formations (Ukrainian People's Republic of S ...

. In November 1920, during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, a battle was fought here between

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and the

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

troops of

Pyotr Wrangel Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...

, who was in control of the Crimea. The Red Army turned out victorious, but 140,000 civilians fled over the Black Sea to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the combined forces of German and Romanian troops under the command of

Erich von Manstein Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a German Field Marshal of the ''Wehrmacht'' during the Second World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes and ...

entered Crimea through the Isthmus of Perekop. The battle of the isthmus lasted five days from 24 September 1941 before the isthmus was secured by the Axis forces. On October 27 the Axis forces advanced further into Crimea, leading to the

Battle of Sevastopol A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. On 9 May 1944, the Red Army regained control of Crimea. On 2 March 2014, it was reported that Russian troops were digging trenches along the border between Crimea and Ukraine, which runs across the isthmus. Soon after, this became a de facto border between Russian-controlled Crimea and the rest of Ukraine.

References

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