Arabat Spit
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.jpg)  Arabat Spit  Arabat Spit | |
 Interactive map of Arabat Spit | |
| Coordinates:45°42′N35°00′E / 45.700°N 35.000°E /45.700; 35.000 | |
| Location | Henichesk Raion,Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine/Russian Federation (disputed[nb 1]) |
TheArabat Spit (Ukrainian:Арабатська коса;Russian:Арабатская коса;Crimean Tatar:Arabat beli), orArabat Arrow (Russian:Арабатская стрелка), is abarrier spit that separates the large, shallow, saltySyvash lagoons from theSea of Azov. The spit runs between theHenichesk Strait in the north and the north-eastern shores ofCrimea in the south.[3] It is the largest of severalspits of the Sea of Azov.
The spit is commonly called the Arabat Arrow (Ukrainian:Арабатська стрілка,Arabatska strilka;Crimean Tatar:Arabat beli;Russian:Арабатская стрелка,Arabatskaya strelka) in Russia and Ukraine. It has been called an "arrow" since at least the middle of the 19th century.
TheArabat part of the name comes from theArabat Fortress, a 17th-century Turkish fort at the southern end of the spit. "Arabat" derives from either Arabic "rabat" meaning a "military post" or Arabic "rabad" meaning a "suburb".[4]
The Arabat Arrow is 112 km (70 mi) long,[5] and from 0.270 to 8 km (0.17 to 5.0 mi) wide.[6][7] Its surface area is 395 km2 (153 sq mi) and thus the average width is 3.5 km (2.2 mi). The spit is low and straight on the Azov Sea side, whereas its Sivash side is more convoluted. It contains two areas which are 7–8 km (4–5 mi) wide and have brown-clay hills. They are located 7.5 km (4.7 mi) and 32 km (20 mi) from the Henichesk Strait.[8][9]
The top layers of other parts of the spit are formed by sand and shells washed by the flows of the Azov Sea. Its vegetation mostly consists of various weed grasses,thorn,festuce grasses,spear grass,crambe,salsola,salicornia,Carex colchica,tamarisk,rose hip,liquorice, etc.[8][9]
Offshore water is shallow with the depth reaching 2 m (7 ft) only some 100–200 m (330–660 ft) from the shore.[10] Its temperature is around 0 °C (32 °F) in winter (near freezing), 10–15 °C (50–59 °F) in spring and autumn, and 25–30 °C (77–86 °F) in summer; air temperature is almost the same.[11]
The spit is very young and was created by sedimentation processes around 1100–1200 AD.[12]
TheArabatsky Reserve [uk] is located in the southern part of the spit and the adjacent area of Crimea, together with the adjacent aquatory.
The Arabat Arrow was wild until 1835 when a road and five stations at 25–30 km (16–19 mi) intervals were built along it for postal delivery. Later in the 19th century, 25 rural and 3 military settlements and one village named Arabat appeared on the spit. The rural population amounted to some 235 people whose occupation was mostly fishing, farming, and salt production. The latter activity is traditional for the region due to the vast areas of shallow and very saline water in theSivash lagoons. Salt production in the 19th century was about 24,000 tonnes per year (26,000 short tons per year) on the Arabat Arrow alone.[9]
During thedeportation of Crimean Tatars on May 18, 1944, most of theTatars were forcibly transported from Crimea to Central Asia in freight wagons. The Soviet authorities tried to drown the Crimean Tatars from the Arabat spit in the sea on a barge, and those who tried to swim ashore were shot.[13][unreliable source?]
Nowadays, the spit is a health resort and its Azov Sea side is used as a beach.
While the spit is geophysically part of the Crimean Peninsula, politically its northern half belongs toKherson Oblast,Ukraine, while its southern portion is located within the boundaries of theAutonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Since 2014, Russia has administered the peninsula as part of theRepublic of Crimea.[1][2] The entirety of the spit was occupied during Russia's annexation, although Russia withdrew its forces from the northern Kherson side in December 2014.[14] The entire spit came under Russian control on 25 February 2022, one day after Russia launched itsfull-scale invasion of Ukraine.[citation needed]
The rural communities ofHenicheska Hirka,Shchaslyvtseve andStrilkove are located in the northern section of the spit, within theKherson Oblast. The village ofSolyane [uk] is located in the southern part of the spit, administered as part of theRepublic of Crimea.
Arabat Spit is a popular place for summer vacation among Ukrainians because of the warm water of the Sea of Azov. There are a variety of hotels and guesthouses on the first line of the sea. Arabat Spit is popular amongkitesurfers andwindsurfers.
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