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Since 2014 it has been under thede facto control of Russia, whichannexed Crimea that year and regards Simferopol as the capital of theRepublic of Crimea.
Simferopol is an important political, economic and transport hub of the peninsula, and serves as the administrative centre of bothSimferopol Municipality and the surroundingSimferopol District. Its population was332,317 (2014 Census).[2]
The name Simferopol (Ukrainian:Сімферо́поль[s⁽ʲ⁾imfeˈrɔpolʲ]ⓘ; Russian:Симферо́поль[sʲɪmfʲɪˈropəlʲ]) comes fromSympheropoli (Greek:Συμφερόπολη,lit. 'city of common good'). The spellingSymferopil (Симферопіль) is also used.[3]
InCrimean Tatar, the name of the city isAqmescit (or in Cyrillic,Акъмесджит,lit. 'The white mosque', fromAq "white", andmescit "mosque"). Butaq does not refer to the colour of the mosque, but rather to its location in cosmology. The Turkic peoples give a colour designation to thecardinal points, and white is the west. Thus, the exact translation of the name of the town is "the Western Mosque."
In English, the name was often given as Akmechet or Ak-Mechet (e.g. in the 1911Encyclopædia Britannica).[4] This was a transliteration from the Russian spelling of Crimean Tatar wordАкмечет, Ак-Мечеть, wheremechet' (мечеть) is the Russian word for "mosque".
Archaeological evidence in theChokurcha cave [ru;uk] shows the presence of ancient people living in the territory of modern Simferopol. TheScythian Neapolis, known by its Greek name, is also located in the city, which is the remnants of an ancient capital of the CrimeanScythians who lived in the territory from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD.[5]
Later, theCrimean Tatars founded the town of Aqmescit. For some time, Aqmescit was the residence of theQalğa-Sultan, the second most important position in theCrimean Khanate after theKhan himself.[6] The area of the city once known as Aqmescit is today calledOld Simferopol.
Russian Empire
Ruins of Greek chapel near Simferopol andChatyr-Dag, pictured in 1810
In 1784 modern Ukrainian[citation needed] Simferopol was founded after the annexation of theCrimean Khanate to theRussian Empire byCatherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is inGreek, Συμφερόπολις (Simferopolis)[citation needed] and literally means "the city of usefulness." The tradition of Greek place names in newly acquired southern territories began with theGreek Plan of Russian EmpressCatherine the Great.[7] In 1802, Simferopol became the administrative centre of theTaurida Governorate. During theCrimean War of 1854–1856, theRussian Imperial Army reserves and a hospital were stationed in the city. After the war, more than 30,000 Russian soldiers were buried in the city's vicinity.
DuringWorld War II, Simferopol was occupied byNazi Germany from 1 November 1941 to 13 April 1944. RetreatingNKVD police shot a number of prisoners on 31 October 1941 in the NKVD building and the city's prison.[8] Germans perpetrated one of the largest war-time massacres in Simferopol, killing in total over 22,000 locals—mostlyJews,Russians,Krymchaks, andRomani.[9] On one occasion, starting 9 December 1941, theEinsatzkommando 11b, which was under the command ofWerner Braune, whose main unit and superior wereEinsatzgruppe D andOtto Ohlendorf, respectively, command killed an estimated 14,300 Simferopol residents, mostly Jewish.[10]
In April 1944 the Red Army liberated Simferopol. On 18 May 1944 the Crimean Tatar population of the city, along with the whole Crimean Tatar nation of Crimea, wasforcibly deported to Central Asia ascollective punishment for the perceived collaboration of Tatars with Nazi Germany.[11]
After the Crimean Tatars were allowed to return from exile in the 1990s, several new Crimean Tatar suburbs were constructed, as many more Tatars returned to the city compared to number exiled in 1944. Land ownership between the current residents and returning Crimean Tatars is a major area of conflict today with the Tatars requesting the return of lands seized after their deportation.[14]
Russian annexation
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Prior to the seizure of the city by Russia, a mass protest was organised by the city'sCrimean Tatars in support of Crimea remaining as part of Ukraine.[16]
Geography
The Simferopol Reservoir provides clean drinking water to the city.
Location
Simferopol is located in the south-centralCrimean Peninsula. The city lies on theSalhir River near the artificial Simferopol Reservoir, which provides the city with clean drinking water. The Simferopol Reservoir's earth dam is the biggest in Europe.
Climate
The city experiences ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen:Cfa),[17] near the boundary of thehumid continental climate (Köppen:Dfa).[17] The average temperature in January is 0.4 °C (32.7 °F) and 23 °C (73 °F) in July. The average rainfall is 501 millimetres (19.7 in) per year, and there is a total of 2,529 hours of sunshine per year.
Climate data for Simferopol (1991–2020, extremes 1886–present)
As the capital of Crimea, Simferopol houses its political structure including theSupreme Council of Crimea and the Council of Ministers. Simferopol is also the administrative centre of theSimferopol Raion (district), but is directly subordinate to the Crimean authorities rather than to the district authorities housed in the city itself.
Viktor Ageev became city mayor on 11 November 2010 and was then elected chairman of the Simferopol City Council on 29 September 2014.[22]
Igor Lukashyov was installed as the head of Simferopol City administration (i.e. local executive) after Russia annexed the region in 2014. He served in this position until his dismissal on 9 November 2018.[23]
Transportation
Simferopol has amajor railway station, which serves millions of tourists each year. In December 2014 Ukraine cut the railway line to Crimea at the border with mainland Ukraine (Kherson Oblast). Currently, the station serves only acommuter (regional) passenger train and the Moscow – Simferopol train every day.
The city has several main bus stations, with routes towards many cities, includingSevastopol,Kerch,Yalta, andYevpatoriya. TheCrimean Trolleybus connects Simferopol to the city ofYalta on CrimeanBlack Sea coast. The line is the longesttrolleybus line in the world with a total length of 86 kilometres (53 mi)[25] (since 2014 again 96 kilometres (60 mi)).
The streets of Simferopol have a rarehouse numbering – the odd numbers are on the right side of the road, looking in the direction in which the numbers increase.
At the last census in 2014, the population of Simferopol was 332,317, the highest of any city in the Republic of Crimea and second only to Sevastopol within the Crimean peninsula.
Economy
When it existed,Crimea Air had its head office on the grounds ofSimferopol Airport.[26] A new 19-gate terminal for the airport finished construction in 2018. The terminal was designed in the shape of a wave bySamoo Architects & Engineers, after their successful bid as part of an international competition.[27]
Industry
Simferopol is home to a number of industrial plants, including the following:
Fiolent (two locations), producer of power tools and other electrical systems
Simferopol chemical industry plants
PO Foton
SEM SElktroMash SELMZ
Plastotekhnika and else plastics related
Santekhprom SSTP
PEK PromElektroKontakt and PromSchitKontakt, ChPO Sfera IzmertelnPribor, SELTZ ElectroTechnical Plant
Pnevmatika, other pneumatics tires etc. related industry
Digital Valley (Tsifrovaya Dolina): silicon industry, computers, wafers and microelectronics, it, other related. It will located (most likely) near the airport for convenience.
Education
The largest collection of higher education institutions in Crimea is located in Simferopol. Among them is the largest university in Simferopol and Crimea, theTaurida V.Vernadsky National University, which was founded in 1917.[28]Crimea State Medical University named after S. I. Georgievsky, also located in Simferopol, is one of the most prominent medical schools of Ukraine. The Crimean Medical University is situated on the plot, where in 1855 a nursery garden was planted by the founder of the Nikita Botanical Gardens Ch.Ch.Steven (1781–1863). In 1863–66 a school for girls was built here and in 1931 a medical institute was opened. On the same plot P.Krzhizhanovsky built a three-storey hostel for medical students after the design in 1934. The building with clear geometric masses was completed in 1938. Anew federal university campus was opened 4 August 2014.
^"Simferopol".simferopol.ws (in Russian). Retrieved13 May 2008.
^Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2005, page 72
^"Simferopol Climate Normals 1991–2020".World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived fromthe original on 20 April 2025. Retrieved20 April 2025.
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