Portal:Crimea/Intro
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Crimea [kraɪˈmiə] or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: Крим, Автономна Республіка Крим - Avtonomna Respublika Krym, Russian: Крым, Автономная Республика Крым - Avtonomnaya Respublika Krym, Crimean Tatar: Qırım, Qırım Muhtar Cumhuriyeti) is an autonomous republic of Ukraine on the northern coast of the Black Sea occupying a peninsula of the same name.
The total area of the republic is 26,200 km². It has a population of 1,994,300 inhabitants (2005). The capital of Crimea is the city of Simferopol.
It is the home of Crimean Tatars, an ethnic minority who now make up 13% of the population.
The name Crimea takes its origin in the name of a city of Qırım (today's Stary Krym) which served as a capital of the Crimean province of the Golden Horde. Qırım is Crimean Tatar for "my hill" (qır – hill, –ım – my). The ancient Greeks called Crimea Taurida (later Taurica).
