According to encyclopedias, the Ural Mountains are a system that separates the East European and West Siberian plains. Its length exceeds 2000 km, and according to some reports, it is even more than 2500 km (taking into account the Mugodzhary ranges in the south and Pai-Khoi in the north). The width of the mountain system is 40-200 km.
general characteristics
The Ural Mountains are considered one of the oldest on our planet. That is why they are lower than the Andes or Tibet. The Urals are over 600 million years old. Over this rather long period, under the influence of rains, winds and landslides, the ridges managed to collapse significantly. The geographical position of the Urals is very specific, both politically and economically. But more about that below. This area is very rich in minerals, there are deposits of copper, titanium, magnesium, oil, coal, bauxite, etc. In total, scientists have about sixty of the most important ores and minerals.
Discovery story
According to official history, the Ural Mountains were discovered in ancient times. At the same time, scholars cite written references to them in Greek texts. They speak of the mountains of Ripaic (or Riphean), Imaus and Hyperborean. Today it is impossible to establish what part of the Urals the scientists of Rome and ancient Greece spoke, because their stories are abundantly intertwined with various tales, legends, and even frank fables. They themselves were never in these places, but heard about them from third parties. However, according to the traditions of the peoples living in the Urals, people settled on this territory long before the emergence of ancient Greece. Later, Arab sources will talk about the country of Ugra, where the people of the Jura live. Scientists also include descriptions of such countries as Bulgaria, Visa, Yajujiya, Majujiya and others in the Urals. All Arab sources say that these territories are inhabited by very ferocious people, therefore they are closed to travelers. In addition, they mention the harsh climate of these countries, which can also be interpreted in favor of the Urals. However, despite these facts, Arab merchants flew here like flies to honey, and this is due to the abundance of fur, as well as salt. These goods can be called the main currency of the Middle Ages; they were quoted no less than precious stones and gold. Russian sources claim that, starting from the 12-13th centuries, our pioneers appeared in these places, who gave the name of the stone to the local mountains. And starting from the 17th century, with the light hand of V. Tatishchev, the name Ural was assigned to them.
Europe or Asia
Now let's look at what are the features of the geographical location of the Urals. This ridge is the conditional border of Europe and Asia, the two largest structures of the earth's crust, as well as the largest freshwater basins. The geographical position of the Urals is truly unique, it can be compared with the Great Wall of China, only this wall was erected by nature itself. She divided peoples with opposing cultures: eastern and western mentalities. Although in this case it is difficult to determine what is primary. Either the “stone curtain” allowed two cultures to develop separately, protecting them from each other, or both peoples used to have a common history and philosophical values, and later the European part of the continent was influenced from the outside, and everything changed radically. All values ​​were turned upside down: white turned black and black turned white ... In this case, this ancient ridge saved the eastern peoples from an external enemy for the time being. However, in the world of globalization, no stone barrier can stop the “democratic values” and liberalism imposed by European culture. What does the advertisement say? If you don’t use Tide powder, then we’ll come to you? .. As you can see, the unique geographical location of the Urals has not only political and economic undertones, but also cultural ones.
Cradle of peoples
The Ural region in terms of the number of cities, population, as well as economic power is considered the second after the Central. The geographical position of the Urals contributed to the fact that it became a natural frontier for numerous migration waves. Thus, the Russian pioneers, moving east, tried to look for lowered areas with convenient passages in the Stone Belt, and the steppe peoples from the Asian part of the continent, striving west and encountering this natural barrier, were forced to bend around it from the south. And many of them even settled at the foot of the Ural Mountains. This explains the ethnic diversity of the region. The Urals has become the cradle of many nations. It is from here that the peoples of the Ural-Yukagir language family dispersed throughout all of northern Eurasia . Today, the Russian population prevails here - 80%, but the Bashkirs, Tatars, Udmurts, Chuvashs, Mordovians, Mari, Permian Komi, etc. also live in the Ural region.
Take a look at the map
The economic and geographical position of the Urals is unique, as it is located on the border of the economically developed (European) part of the continent and the raw (eastern). As a result, this region was entangled in a web of roads and railways, pipelines and power lines. All these highways connect the Urals with the Volga, Volga-Vyatka and West Siberian regions of our Motherland, as well as with Kazakhstan. It should be understood that the territory of the Ural Mountains and the Ural region do not quite coincide. Let's see what is meant by this. So, the mountain ranges of the Subpolar and Polar regions were not included in its composition, which cannot be said about the foothill plains of the Urals (this is the eastern edge of the East European Plain) and Zauralie (the western edge of the West Siberian Lowland).
All-Russian Forge
The Urals is considered one of the oldest mining regions of our planet. And this is not accidental, because deposits of semiprecious and precious stones, alexandrite and aquamarine, garnets and sapphires, emeralds and rubies, topazes and rock crystal, malachite and jasper are discovered here. The eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains, which are represented by igneous rocks, are very rich in various ore minerals. So, thanks to the open deposits of non-ferrous and ferrous metals, the industry of the Urals was laid and developed here. Copper, iron, chrome, nickel, cobalt, aluminum, zinc ores, platinum, gold - this is not a complete list of the natural pantry concentrated in these mountains. It should be noted that territorially the Ural Ridge is usually divided into five parts. Let us briefly consider each of them.
Geographical location of the Polar Urals
This part of the mountain range is located on the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic. The border of the regions runs along the main watershed, which is separated by the basins of the Ob (in the east) and Pechora (in the west). The runoff of the northern slopes falls on the Baydaratskaya Bay of the Arctic Ocean. Ranges with a height of 800-1200 m prevail in the Polar Urals, and individual peaks (Payer Mountain) reach 1500 m. Actually, this region originates from the low peak Konstantinov Kamen (only 492 m). In the southern direction, the mountains increase significantly - up to 1350 m. The maximum heights are concentrated in the southern part (about 65 ° N), the Peak Peak (1894 m) rises here - this is the highest point of the entire Urals.
From the same latitude, the Polar Urals expands significantly - up to 125 km - and breaks up into 5-6 parallel ridges. In the south of this region, the Saber mountain range (1425 m) advanced far west in the direction of Pechora.
Subpolar Urals
This area begins from the Saber massif, and ends with the Konzhakovsky Kamen peak, whose height is 1569 m. This entire stretch stretches strictly along the meridian of 59 ° C. sh., which determines its geographical location. Subpolar Urals consists mainly of two longitudinal ridges. East is a watershed; it is known as the Belt Stone. The western ridge is known for the two-headed Mount Telpos-Iz, or Stone of the Winds. Its height is 1617 m. Alpine landforms in the Subpolar Urals are not common, most of the peaks have a dome shape.
Geographical position of the Middle Urals
This area is characterized by the lowest peaks. It lies between 59 and 56 degrees north latitude. The strictly meridional strike of the mountain belt here is replaced by the southeast. Together with the South, the Middle Urals forms a gigantic arc, which is convex facing east, and surrounds the Ufa Plateau (eastern ledge of the Russian Platform). Its northern border is considered to be the Konzhakovsky Kamen and Kosvinsky Kamen mountains, and the utah mountain (Chelyabinsk region) is the southern border. On average, their height does not exceed 800 meters. From the west to the mountains of the Middle Urals adjoins the hilly Urals. In climatic terms, this region is more favorable for humans than Polar. The summer is longer and warmer here. The average temperature in July in the foothills is 16-18 °. The foothills of the mountains in the north are covered with southern taiga, and in the south - with forest-steppe.
Southern Urals
A feature of this region is that here the mountains have grown significantly again. For example, the peak of Iremel rises by 1582 m, and the height of Yamanatau - 1640 m. The geographical position of the Southern Urals is as follows: the ridge originates from the peak of Jurma in the north and extends to the latitudinal section of the Ural River in the south. The Uraltau watershed ridge is shifted eastward. The mid-mountain type of relief prevails here. In the east, the axial part passes into the Trans-Ural, lower and smoother plain. The climate here is warmer than in the middle. Dry summers with hot winds. The average temperature in July in the foothills is 20-22 °.
Finally
The specificity of the geographical location of the Urals lies in the fact that it is located at the turn of the Asian and European parts of our country. In addition, the features of the geological development of this ridge affected the exceptional wealth of its mineral resources. A great length, altitudinal zonation, the difference between the eastern and western parts of the Urals, different directions of economic development of this region determined a huge variety of economic and natural landscapes of the region.