| Pontic–Caspian steppe | |
|---|---|
 The steppe inAzov-Syvash National Nature Park, Ukraine, with reintroduced horses. | |
 The steppe extends roughly from theDanube to theUral River. This map shows the region known as the Pontic Steppe, which is the biggest portion of the whole Pontic–Caspian Steppe. | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Palearctic |
| Biome | Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands |
| Borders | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 994,000 km2 (384,000 sq mi) |
| Countries | |
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ThePontic–Caspian Steppe is asteppe extending acrossEastern Europe toCentral Asia, formed by the Caspian and Pontic steppes. It stretches from the northern shores of theBlack Sea (thePontus Euxinus of antiquity) to the northern area around theCaspian Sea, where it ends at the Ural-Caspian narrowing, which joins it with theKazakh Steppe in Central Asia, making it a part of the largerEurasian Steppe. Geopolitically, the Pontic–Caspian Steppe extends from northeasternBulgaria and southeasternRomania throughMoldova, southern and easternUkraine, through theNorth Caucasus ofsouthern Russia, and into theLower Volga region where it straddles the border of southern Russia and westernKazakhstan. Biogeographically, it is a part of thePalearctic realm, and of thetemperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublandsbiome.
The area corresponds toCimmeria,Scythia, andSarmatia ofclassical antiquity. Across several millennia, numerous tribes ofnomadic horsemen used the steppe; many of them went on to conquer lands in the settled regions ofCentral and Eastern Europe,West Asia, andSouth Asia.
Inbiogeography, the term Ponto-Caspian region refers to the distinctive plant and animal life of these steppes, covering species that are native to the surrounding waters of the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and theAzov Sea. Genetic research has identified this region as the most probable place wherehorses were first domesticated.[1]TheKurgan hypothesis, the most prevalent theory inIndo-European studies, posits that the Pontic–Caspian steppe was the homeland of the speakers of theProto-Indo-European language.[2][3][4][5]
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The Pontic–Caspian steppe covers an area of 994,000 km2 (384,000 sq mi) ofCentral and Eastern Europe, that extends from northeasternBulgaria and southeasternRomania, throughMoldova, and southern and easternUkraine, through theNorthern Caucasus ofsouthern Russia, and into theLower Volga region of westernKazakhstan, to the east of theUral Mountains. The steppe is bounded by theEast European forest steppe to the north, a transitional zone of mixed grasslands andtemperate broadleaf and mixed forests.
To the south, the steppe extends to the Black Sea, except theCrimean and western Caucasus mountains' border with the sea, where theCrimean Submediterranean forest complex defines the southern edge of the steppes. The steppe extends to the western shore of the Caspian Sea in theDagestan region of Russia, but the drierCaspian lowland desert lies between the steppe and the northwestern and northern shores of the Caspian. TheKazakh Steppe bounds the steppe to the east.
The Ponto-Caspian seas are the remains of theTurgai Sea, an extension of theParatethys which extended south and east of the Urals and covering much of today'sWest Siberian Plain in theMesozoic andCenozoic.
Innumerable tribes, cultures, nations, kingdoms, empires, etc. had origins in Pontic Caspian Steppes including:
Innumerable tribes, cultures, nations, kingdoms, empires, etc. had origins in the Pontic Caspian Steppes including:
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