The Europe-Asia border is the border between Europe and Asia, running along the eastern base of the Ural Mountains and Mugodzhar, then along the Emba River. along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, along the Kumo Manych depression and the Kerch Strait. The total length of the border along... ... Wikipedia
The border between Europe and Asia crosses the western and southwestern parts of the municipality of Yekaterinburg. The border is interpreted not only as a geographical concept, but also has pronounced historical and cultural aspects.... ... Ekaterinburg (encyclopedia)
Noun, g., used. often Morphology: (no) what? borders, what? border, (I see) what? border, what? border, about what? about the border; pl. What? boundaries, (no) what? boundaries, what? borders, (I see) what? boundaries, what? borders, about what? about borders 1. Border… … Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary
Y; and. 1. Conditional dividing line between territories; frontier State city Morskaya city. Here the city passes between countries, regions, land plots. G. between Europe and Asia. G. forests and steppes. Designate, change, cross the border. Count … encyclopedic Dictionary
border- s; and. see also into the borders, within the borders, beyond the border, beyond the borders, beyond the borders, from beyond the borders 1) Conventional dividing line between territories ... Dictionary of many expressions
This term has other meanings, see Asia (meanings). Asia on the world map Asia is the largest part of the world, together with Europe it forms the Eurasian continent... Wikipedia
City of Orenburg Flag Coat of Arms ... Wikipedia
The Ural Mountains stretch from north to south for many thousands of kilometers, dividing two parts of the world - Europe and Asia. And along their entire length there are border pillars erected by people in order to emphasize the exclusivity of these places. Each of them was built in honor of an event, and each has its own history.
Let's start, perhaps, with those installed near Yekaterinburg. All of them are probably familiar to the townspeople.
No. 1 Obelisk on Mount Berezovaya
The first “Europe-Asia” pillar in the Urals was installed in the spring of 1837 on the former Siberian Highway near the city of Pervouralsk, on Mount Berezovaya. The sign was installed by the mountain authorities after Mount Berezovaya was included in the single Ural watershed line. It was a sharp tetrahedral wooden pyramid with the inscriptions: Europe and Asia. It was not for nothing that the officials of the mining department tried: that year they were expecting the passage of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II, who was traveling, accompanied by the poet V.A. Zhukovsky, across Russia, the Urals and Siberia.
In 1873, the wooden pillar was replaced with a marble obelisk mounted on a stone pedestal. At the top of the pyramid was a gilded double-headed eagle.
The reconstruction of the obelisk was timed to coincide with the passage through the pass of a representative of the imperial family, returning from the trip around the world of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. After the October Revolution, the obelisk, as a symbol of royal power, was destroyed. In 1926, a new one was erected in its place, but without the eagle, and not marble, but lined with granite.
In 2008, a new obelisk was opened on the site of the old monument (pictured above).
Now in the vicinity of the very first obelisk there are two pillars. The one that was discovered in 2008 is located on Mount Berezovaya, its coordinates are 56°52′13″ N. w. 60°02′52″ E. d. / 56.870278° n. w. 60.047778° E. d. (Google maps). The area around it is landscaped, there are gazebos and flower beds, and even a special bench for lovers and a metal tree for the locks that seal the bonds of love.
How to get there:
We are driving along the P242 highway Ekaterinburg-Perm (Novo-Moskovsky tract). Approximately 25 km after leaving Yekaterinburg, turn right into the village of Novoalekseevskoye. Drive along the main road, then at the T-shaped intersection turn left in the direction of Pervouralsk. Drive straight, after 8 km the Europe-Asia border will be on the right side
No. 2 Obelisk near Pervouralsk
Near Pervouralsk, a little below the first obelisk, there is another “Europe-Asia” border pillar. Next to it there is a source with spring water, where residents of both Pervouralsk and Yekaterinburg often go. Its coordinates are 56°52′04″ N. w.60°02′41.7″ h. d. / 56.867778° n. latitude 60.044917° e. d. (Google maps).
How to get there:
We drive along the same route as in the first case, only we don’t turn towards Novoalekseevsky, but turn right directly onto the road to Pervouralsk. The obelisk will soon appear on the right hand.
No. 3 Obelisk on the Novo-Moskovsky tract
This obelisk was installed in 2004; it is located closest to Yekaterinburg - at 17 km of the Novo-Moskovsky tract (respectively, get there You can get there along this road). This is where wedding processions traditionally come. Each couple ties a ribbon near the monument as a keepsake. Its coordinates are 56°49′55.7″ N. w.60°21′02.6″ h. d. / 56.832139° n. w. 60.350722° E. d. (Google maps).
Sign №14 is also located not far from Yekaterinburg, only on the other side of the first three. Below is how to find it.
№4 Orenburg Obelisk
A grandiose square column about 15 meters high, topped with a stainless alloy ball. It was installed in 1981 according to the design of the architect G.I. Naumkina.
Since the 17th century, most researchers considered the Ural River to be the border separating Europe and Asia. With the founding of Orenburg and the Orenburg province, the Ural became a border river. This border was established by V.N. Tatishchev, and his opinion was considered the truth for a long time. On the coat of arms of the Orenburg region there is a Greek-Russian cross and a crescent, indicating that the Orenburg region is located on the border of Europe and Asia and that Orthodox Russians and Muslim Bashkirs, Tatars, and Kazakhs live nearby.
The obelik is located near the road bridge over the Ural River, on the P-335 highway, its coordinates are 51°44"59.4 ″ N 55°05"29.9 ″ .
No. 5 Stele on the White Bridge
The White Bridge over the Ural River is also located near Orenburg. This stele is relatively new. Coordinates: 51°45"11.8"N 55°06"26.8"E.
№6
Old obelisks on the Ural River
In the Uchalinsky district of Bashkiria, on the Uchaly-Beloretsk highway near the village of Novobayramgulovo, two obelisks “Europe and Asia” were installed on both sides of the road bridge across the Ural River.
These obelisks are located about 300 meters south of the new signs where the road used to be.
They were built in 1968 according to a sketch by the artist D. M. Adigamov and architect U. F. Zainikeev. The obelisks are flat steles topped with images of a hammer and sickle, and at the bottom of the obelisks there is an image of the globe.
The steles were installed on both sides of the bridge across the Urals, which now does not exist. Coordinates: 54°05"33.9" N 59°04"11.9" E
No. 7 New obelisks on the Ural River
In the 90s, along the edges of the new bridge near Novobayramgulovo two new steles were installed. Coordinates: 54°05"42.5" N 59°04"04.8" E.
№8
Obelisk in Magnitogorsk
In Magnitogorsk, the “Europe-Asia” sign was installed in June 1979 on the right bank of the Ural River in honor of the 50th anniversary of the city, designed by architect V.N. Bogun. The sign consists of two massive blocks with the letters “E” and “A”. Coordinates: 53°25"19.7" N 59°00"11.3" E.
№9
Obelisk in Verkhneuralsk
In 2006, on the Ural River, in the very place where the Verkhneyaitskaya fortress was located, a new geographical sign was installed, marking the Europe-Asia border. Coordinates: 53°52"27.7″N 59°12"16.8″E.
No. 10 Obelisk near Urzhumka station
Between Zlatoust and Miass on the Ural ridge there are two “Europe-Asia” obelisks. One of them is installed near the Urzhumka railway station. It is an obelisk consisting of four parts of a square section. The lower part is the base on which a rectangular pillar is installed, the upper part of it is surrounded by a belt protruding half a meter, where metal plates with relief inscriptions are installed: “Europe” from the side of Zlatoust, “Asia” from the side of Chelyabinsk. The upper part of the obelisk is a pyramidal spire. The obelisk is made of local Ural granite according to the design of N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky in memory of the completion of the construction of this section of the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1892.
The obelisk is located half a kilometer east of Urzhumka station, its coordinates are 55°06"53.8" N 59°46"58.0" E.
No. 11 Obelisk on the pass over the Ural-Tau ridge near Zlatoust
On the federal highway M5 "Ural" at the pass over the Ural-Tau ridge in 1987, a stainless steel stele was installed on a high stone base. The author of the layout is the architect S. Pobeguts.
It is interesting that the inscriptions with the names of parts of the world are located “in reverse” (not like on the vast majority of obelisks) - on the European side of the stele there is the inscription “Asia”, and on the Asian side - “Europe”. Apparently, the author assumed that the sign would work as a road sign, that is, the driver would see the name of the part of the world he was entering. Coordinates: 55°01"05.3″N 59°44"05.7″E
No. 12 Obelisk in the area of Kyshtym
To the south of Kyshtym stretches the Dog Mountains ridge, at the pass through which there is a 5-meter granite pyramid, symbolizing the border of Europe and Asia. Coordinates: 55°37"22.6"N 60°15"17.3"E
№13
Obelisk near the village of Mramorskoye
In 2004, at the Mramorskaya railway station, instead of the destroyed old obelisk, a pillar about 3 meters high with black and white stripes and signs attached to the top with indicators of the parts of the world was installed. Between the signs is written “Ural” and a figurine of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain is attached. Coordinates: 56°32"13.9"N 60°23"41.8"E.
No. 14 Obelisk near the village of Kurganovo
This is the easternmost obelisk Europe-Asia and the easternmost border of Europe. It is located near Yekaterinburg on Polevskoye Highway, 2 km from the village of Kurganovo. Get there getting there is very simple: we go from Yekaterinburg to Polevskaya (route R-355), the sign will be on the right hand in front of Kurganovo. Coordinates: 56°38"33.5"N 60°23"59.9"E.
The sign was installed in June 1986 in the year of the 250th anniversary of the scientific substantiation of the border between Europe and Asia by V.N. Tatishchev. The location for the obelisk was chosen jointly with members of the Yekaterinburg branch of the Russian Geographical Society.
No. 15 Obelisk Europe-Asia on the road Revda-Degtyarsk
Installed in 1984 on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the city of Revda. Made by the Degtyarsky Mining Administration according to the design of the artist L. G. Menshatov and the architect Z. A. Pulyaevskaya. Coordinates: 56°46"14.8"N 60°01"35.7"E. This obelisk can also be quickly reached from Yekaterinburg.
№16 Obelisk on Mount Kamennaya
“Filin” was installed by students of school No. 21 in the city of Revda on Mount Kamennaya, on the pass of the Revdinsko-Ufaleysky ridge. Coordinates: 56°45"05.4"N 60°00"20.2"E.
№17
Obelisk at Vershina station
Installed during preparations for the VI World Festival of Youth and Students in 1957, so that young people traveling from Southeast Asia and the Far East could find out where Asia ends and Europe begins.
Vershina station belongs to the Sverdlovsk Railway, located near Pervouralsk, you can get there from Yekaterinburg. Obelisk coordinates: 56°52"53.6"N 60°03"59.3"E.
No. 18 Obelisk in the Novouralsk area
In March 1985, activists of the Kedr tourist club installed a sign of the Europe-Asia border on Mount Perevalnaya along the old road from Verkh-Neyvinsk to the village. Palniki, at the sources of the Tagil and Shishim rivers and the Bunarka river flowing into the city. The obelisk was made by the Degtyarsky Mining Administration according to the design of the artist L.G. Menshatov and architect Z.A. Pulyaevskaya and is a seven-meter structure with a sundial 4 meters high. Coordinates: 57°13"19.6″N 59°59"20.7″E.
No. 19 Obelisk Europe-Asia on Mount Medvezhka at the stationMurzinka
The obelisk is a metal lattice structure in the shape of a sharp triangular pyramid. The pyramid is crowned with a sharp spire with a multi-rayed star. The height of the structure is about 4 m. The front edge of the obelisk faces south, on it is the inscription “Medvezhka 499m”, on the left side - “welder Dolgirov Evgeniy 2006 energy engineer G. A. Shulyatev, on the right - "Cape Verde 2006"
The sign was installed in November 2006 by enthusiasts from the Cape Verde sanatorium. Coordinates: 57°11"11.3″N 60°04"10.0″E
№20
Pillar near the village of Pochinok
The pillar was installed in 1966 on the road going through Bilimbay to Murzinka. It is located between the villages of Pochinok and Taraskovo on a clearly visible pass over the Bunarsky ridge (at this point the road crosses a wide clearing and a power line).
The installation site does not coincide with the main Ural watershed; the road crosses the watershed closer to the village of Taraskovo.
The obelisk was made of steel sheet at one of the Novouralsk enterprises. It was originally decorated with the coats of arms of the Soviet Union on each side and the inscriptions "Europe" and "Asia" in cast form.
Coordinates: 57°05"01.0″N 59°58"17.2″E.
No. 21 Obelisk near the village of Uralets
The obelisk is located on the pass over the Vesyolye Gory ridge near the village of Uralets, not far from Mount Belaya. Dedicated to the first successes of Soviet cosmonautics, installed in 1961. after Yuri Gagarin's flight into space. The pillar was made by workers of a mechanical plant in the village of Uralets according to the design of V.P. Krasavchenko. A square column 6 m high is crowned with a model of the globe, around which satellites and the Vostok ship revolve in steel orbits. Coordinates: 57°40"38.0″N 59°41"58.5″E.
No. 22 Obelisk on the Big Ural pass
The pillar is located on the Bolshoi Ural pass along the Serebryansky tract, west of Nizhny Tagil. The sign was erected in 1967 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Great October Revolution by workers of the Sinegorsky timber industry enterprise (project author A.A. Schmidt). The basis of the structure is a stele made of sheet steel. Its height is 9 meters. On the top edge of the stele there is a metal sickle and hammer. Coordinates: 57°53"43.1″N 59°33"53.6″E.
No. 23 Obelisk at the Uralsky Ridge station
The sign is installed on the platform. p. Ridge Uralsky Gornozavodskaya railway. in 2003 in honor of the 125th anniversary of the Sverdlovsk Railway. Coordinates: 58°24"44.1"N 59°23"47.4"E.
No. 24 276th km of the Gornozavodskaya railway.
Identical metal trusses in the form of trihedral pyramids were installed on both sides of the railway track in 1878 during the construction of the railway. The ribs of the pyramids are made from rails used in the construction of the road. Before the revolution, kerosene lanterns were installed in the chambers at the top of the obelisks and lit at night. Coordinates: 58°24"06.0"N 59°19"37.4"E.
№25
Obelisk near the village of Kedrovka
The memorial sign was installed on the pass near Mount Kedrovka in a small clearing at the 27th kilometer of the road. It is made in the form of a chapel from cast iron. Once upon a time, the domes were gilded, and the royal coat of arms was installed on the spire.
During the civil war, the obelisk was destroyed and some of the details were lost. In the 1970s, the obelisk was restored by tourists from the Nizhne-Saldinsky plant. Coordinates: 58°11"21.2"N 59°26"04.5"E.
No. 26 Obelisk on the main Ural ridge
In 1973, a regional gathering of tourists was held near the village of Teplaya Gora, at the same time, on the old Teplaya Gora-Kachkanar road, an obelisk “Europe-Asia” was installed in the form of a rocket made of scrap metal, topped with a relief metal coat of arms of the USSR. In the 2000s, the sign still existed; its further fate is unknown.
№27 Obelisk on the Kachkanar-Chusovoy highway near the village of Promysla
The obelisk is located along the Kachkanar-Chusovoy road, 9 km from the village of Promysla towards the Sverdlovsk region.
The obelisk, designed by Alexey Zalazaev, was installed in 2003. This is one of the largest obelisks, its height is 16 m. Across the road from the obelisk there is an observation deck with a line drawn on the asphalt indicating the border of the parts of the world. Coordinates: 58°33"42.3″N 59°13"56.5″E.
No. 28 Sign “Europe-Asia” near the village of Elizavet
On the old Demidov highway, near the village of Elizavetinskoye, there is a sign “Europe-Asia”. It is a wooden pillar with indicators of the parts of the world. The details of the origin of the sign are not known exactly. According to some sources, the sign was established in 1957 by the spouses M.E. and V.F. Lyapunov, according to others - in 1977, forester of the Chernoistochinsky hunting estate. Coordinates: 57°47"20.9″N 59°37"54.7″E.
No. 29 Obelisk near the village of Kytlym
8 km from the village. Kytlym, on the road leading to Verkhnyaya Kosva, there is another “Europe-Asia” obelisk, installed in 1981 by workers of the Yuzhno-Zaozersk mine. The lower part of the obelisk is a steel pipe with a diameter of 30 cm. The upper part is a flat metal figure resembling a pointer arrow. Coordinates: 59°29"27.9″N 58°59"23.5″E.
№30
Obelisk at the foot of the Kazan Stone
On the road from Severouralsk to the waterfalls on the Zhigolan River, at the foot of the Kazan Stone. Coordinates: 60°03"56.1″N 59°03"41.3″E.
No. 31 Sign on Mount Neroika
The sign is located in the Subpolar Urals near the village of Saranpaul on the Shchekuryinsky pass along the watershed of the Bolshoy Patok and Shchekurya rivers in the area of Mount Neroika (1646m). Installed by workers of the Neroi mine. Coordinates: 64°39"21.1″N 59°41"09.4″E.
No. 32 Gas pipeline "Northern Lights" in the Subpolar Urals
Installed by gas workers, it is located on the road running from the village of Vuktyl along the Northern Lights gas pipeline to the central base of the Yugyd-va natural park. 63°17"21.8″N 59°20"43.5″E.
No. 33 Obelisk at the Polar Ural station
The obelisk in the shape of a hexagonal column at the Polyarny Ural station (the railway line between Vorkuta and Labytnangi) was installed in 1955. The obelisk was crowned with a ball with a hammer and sickle. The entire post was painted with stripes of black and yellow, running in a spiral from top to bottom, reminiscent of ancient mileposts. In 1981, the obelisk was reconstructed. The obelisk is located on the watershed of the Polar Urals: the Yelets River begins its journey to the west, and the Sob River to the east. In ancient times, this was the most famous route through Kamen (Ural Range) to Siberia. Coordinates: 67°00"50.2″N 65°06"48.4″E.
No. 34 Obelisk on the shore of the Yugorsky Shar Strait
The northernmost sign is located on the shore of the Yugorsky Shar Strait at the point where Vaygach Island is closest to the mainland, approximately two kilometers from the Yugorsky Shar polar station. The sign was installed on July 25, 1975 by employees of the Northern Branch of the Geographical Society and members of the expedition on the Zamora boat, which repeated the route of the Pomors from Arkhangelsk to Dikson. The sign is a wooden pole with a metal sheet on top with the inscription “Europe-Asia”; a chain with an anchor is nailed to the pole. Coordinates: 69°48"20.5″N 60°43"27.7″E.
After 37 years, the creators of the sign restored it.
Photo - user e1.ru LenM
No. 35 Easternmost point of Europe
The location of the point was determined back in 2003 by a group of tourists with the support of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and a memorial sign was installed at the same time (pictured). Subsequently, both the sign and the geographical location of the point were lost. In 2015, members of a specially organized expedition restored the coordinates, and in 2016 they promise to erect a new obelisk.
The point is located in the watershed zone of the region between lakes Maloe Shchuchye and Bolshoye Khadata-Yugan-Lor, on the border of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic. Coordinates: 67°45"13.2″N 66°13"38.3″E.
No. 36 Sign at the source of the Pechora River
Flat cast iron circle in the shape of a globe. Coordinates: 62°11"56.2″N 59°26"37.1″E.
No. 37 Sign at an altitude of 708.9 north of Mount Yanyghachechahl
A homemade wooden sign, located north of Ivdel, in the subpolar Urals. Coordinates: 2°01"47.6″N 59°26"07.9″E.
No. 38 Sign on the border of the Sverdlovsk region, Perm region and the Komi Republic, on Mount Saklaimsori-Chakhl
The place where Europe, Asia, the Komi Republic, the Perm Territory and the Sverdlovsk region meet, and also the border of the basins of three great rivers - the Ob, Pechora and Vogli. The sign was installed on July 25, 1997 on the initiative of Gennady Igumnov, who at that time held the position of governor of the Perm region. Coordinates: 61°39"47.3″N 59°20"56.2″E
No. 39 Sign on the pass over Popovsky Uval
Installed at an altitude of 774 m on the road from Ivdel to the Sibirevsky mine. The pillar is two-faced - on one side there is a European face, on the other an Asian one. Coordinates: 60°57"39.9"N 59°23"05.5"E
No. 40 Sign near the village of Pavda
The black and white pillar stands at the fork of three forest roads - to Pavda, Kytlym and Rastyos. Coordinates: 59°20"00.0″N 59°08"55.3″E
No. 41 Sign at Mount Kolpaki
The obelisk was destroyed in the 2000s, leaving only the pedestal. It is located on the road from the village of Promysla to the north, at the Medvedka-Kosya fork. Coordinates: 58°38"25.0″N 59°10"41.0″E.
Photo - Lyudmila K, mail.ru
Photo - UralskiSlon, wikimapia.org
No. 42 Obelisk near the village of Baranchinsky
Installed on a logging road west of the village of Baranchinsky, south of Mount Kedrovka. Cast from cast iron at the Baranchinsky Electromechanical Plant according to the design of A. Nikitin in 1996. Coordinates: 58°08"39.0″N 59°26"51.7″E.
Photo - veter423, wikimapia.org
No. 43 Sign at Mount Bilimbay
A wooden sign with the name of the Merry Mountains ridge was installed in 2012 on the eastern slope of Mount Bilimbay at the side of the Chernoistochinsk-Bolshiye Galashki logging road. Coordinates: 57°32"44.9"N 59°41"35.0"E.
No. 44 Sign on the road from Karpushikha to the Old Stone rock
The most modest and inconspicuous "Europe-Asia" sign of all is just a wooden sign with carved letters. Coordinates: 57°28"55.0″N 59°45"53.3″E.
Photo - wi-fi.ru
No. 45 Sign "Pigeons" on Mount Kotel
Installed for Border Guard Day in May 2011 by tourists from Yekaterinburg and Novouralsk, project by P. Ushakov and A. Lebedkina. Doves symbolize love and friendship between two continents. Coordinates: 56°58"18.0″N 60°06"02.0″E.
Photo - dexrok.blogspot.ru.
No. 46 Obelisk near the village of Mramorskoye
A homemade marble obelisk was installed in 2005 by V.G. Chesnokov and V.P. Vilisov, and was subsequently destroyed. Coordinates: 56°31"36.3″N 60°23"35.3″E.
No. 47 Sign on the road Diagon Ford-Asbestos
The striped pole was installed in 2007 by members of the Voyager Club. It is located relatively near Yekaterinburg, east of Polevsky, but it’s better to get there by SUV. Coordinates: 56°28"40.6"N 60°24"06.1"E.
Photo - Dvcom, wikimapia.org
No. 48 Gazebo near Polevsky
The inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia” are carved on the pillars. The gazebo was installed in 2001 by the Polevsky forestry enterprise. Like the previous sign, it is located near Yekaterinburg, on the road between the town of Polevskaya and the station Stantsiony-Polevskoy, at the fork near the collective gardens. The gazebo is located far from the official geographical border of Europe and Asia. The border runs along the watershed of the Ob and Volga basins, which is located much to the east. Coordinates: No. 49 Sign at the source of the Ural River
The sign “The Ural River Begins Here” was installed in 1973 by an amateur group. The cast iron sign "Europe-Asia" and the bridge over the source appeared much later. Coordinates: 54°41"39.9"N 59°24"44.7"E.
No. 50 Sign in Orsk on the bridge over the Urals
On both sides of the road bridge over the Ural River there are simple signs with the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia”. Coordinates: 51°12"38.0″N 58°32"52.0″E.
No. 51,52,53 Road signs in Magnitogorsk
Residents of Magnitogorsk go to work in Asia every day, and return home to Europe in the evening, because residential areas and the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works are located on different banks of the Urals. There are a total of four bridges across the Urals in Magnitogorsk, which are called “transitions” here, because they connect entire parts of the world. Obelisk №8
located at the Central passage, there is also Northern crossing, Southern crossing and Magnetic crossing (aka Cossack crossing). On each bridge, except for the short Northern one, there are road signs marking the border between Europe and Asia. Coordinates: Central passage 53°25"20.0"N 59°00"35.5"E ; Magnetic transition 53°22"40.4"N 59°00"18.3"E; Southern passage 53°23"53.4"N 59°00"05.5"E.
Sign on the South Passage: 
No. 54 Road sign in the village of Kizilskoye
Kizilskoye is located 90 km from Magnitogorsk. Signs are installed on both sides of the bridge over the Ural River. Coordinates: 52°43"18.4"N 58°54"24.4"E.
Photo - ant-ufa.com.
No. 55 Sign on the old Bilimbaevskaya road
A marble obelisk with the inscription “The Europe-Asia sign will be installed here in honor of the builders of the city” is installed on the western slope of Mount Medvezhka near Novouralsk. Coordinates: 57°11"27.1″N 60°02"37.5″E.
No. 56 Obelisk in Neftekumsk "45th parallel"
The city of Neftekumsk is located in the Stavropol Territory. A modern European city in the middle of the wild Asian steppe. According to one option, the border between Europe and Asia runs along the Kuma-Manych depression between the Caspian and Black Seas. The sign was installed in 1976 and is placed on the city’s coat of arms. Coordinates: 44°45"14.3″N 44°58"40.0″E.
No. 57 Sign in Rostov-on-Don
According to one version, the border between Europe and Asia runs along the fairway of the Don. In 2009, the authorities of Rostov-on-Don announced a competition to develop a “Europe-Asia” sign, but the idea was never implemented. The unofficial sign is located near the Anchor Hotel. Approximate coordinates: 47°12"47.8"N 39°42"38.5"E.
Photo - M A R I N A, fotki.yandex.ru.
No. 58 Obelisk in Uralsk, Kazakhstan
The obelisk is located near the bridge over the Ural River, on the geographical border of Europe and Asia. Installed in 1984 according to the design of the architect A. Golubev. It is a vertical stele, lined with white and gray marble, on top of which rests a blue globe with a golden crown in the form of the inscription “Europe-Asia”. Coordinates: 51°13"18.0″N 51°25"59.0″E.
No. 59 Gazebos in Atyrau, Kazakhstan
On both sides of the bridge over the Ural River there are gazebos with the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia”. Coordinates: 47°06"18.0″N 51°54"53.1″E.
No. 60 Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Türkiye
Istanbul is divided into European and Asian parts by the Bosphorus Strait. The Bosphorus Bridge is the first suspension bridge across the strait, installed in 1973 according to the design of the Russian engineer Oleg Aleksandrovich Kerensky. On both sides in front of the bridge there are signs "Welcome to Europe/Asia". Coordinates: 41°02"51.0″N 29°01"56.0″E.
Photo - Erdağ Göknar.
Today these are all the known signs marking the border between Europe and Asia.
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Traveling from pillar to post (Bilimbay — the birthplace of the rocket plane, holy springs in Taraskovo, Dedova Gora and Lake Tavatui).
Despite the fact that there are no external state borders through Yekaterinburg, we all have the opportunity to travel from one part of the world to another several times a day. Probably, this “chronically borderline” state has a special effect on the Ural mentality. The Europe-Asia border is our Greenwich (which is the starting point), it is our equator (cutting off the unfortunate half) and the eternal source of movement. After all, you always want to know: what’s there on the other side? A better life – or a new adventure?
The Geographical Encyclopedic Dictionary gives several options for drawing the border: along the eastern foothills or along the ridges of the Urals. However, these concepts are not strict enough. The most correct from a scientific point of view is the approach formulated by Tatishchev. He proposed drawing the border between the two parts of the world along the watershed of the Ural Mountains. In this case, the watershed line is complex and can shift.
Now installed in the Urals more than 20 obelisks Europe-Asia. The first (No. 1) is a remake (2004) at 17 km of the Moscow highway, which everyone knows, we drove without stopping. There is a lot of controversy about the correct installation of this sign. He has to host the maximum number of official delegations - of course, the place is convenient for events. One interesting thing is that the pedestal contains stones from the extreme points of Europe (Cape Roca) and Asia (Cape Dezhnev).
At the entrance to Pervouralsk from the Moscow highway (on the right, not reaching 300 meters to the stele with the name of the city) - the following sign (No. 2).
Initially, this monument was located near Mount Berezovaya on the old Moscow (Siberian) highway, about 300 m northeast of the current location, but was moved. Next to the sign is a fontanel and a sign “beginning of the route.”
It is very likely that this path leads through the forest to the next sign (No. 3) - the most majestic one, installed at Mount Berezovaya in 2008 instead of this tetrahedral pyramid. It is notable for being considered the first (earliest) “border” marker of the division of Europe with Asia, established in the Urals. We go to him by car: we drive to Pervouralsk and return along the old Moscow highway for about 1 km.
This most likely happened in 1837, as indicated on the cast-iron slab at the foot of the monument. Here, at the highest point of the Siberian Highway, those exiled to Siberia stopped, said goodbye to Russia and took with them a handful of their native land.
First, a wooden monument was erected in the form of a sharp tetrahedral pyramid with the inscriptions “Europe” and “Asia”. Then (in 1846) it was replaced by a marble pyramid with the royal coat of arms. After the revolution it was destroyed, and in 1926 a new one was erected from granite - the one that has now been moved to the new Moscow highway, at the entrance to Pervouralsk. In 2008, a new stele was built on this site.
Two km from this pillar, on the northern slope of Mount Berezovaya, at the Vershina railway station (stopping point), there is another (No. 4), the most authentic obelisk. There is almost no road to it - but in the summer you can walk. Standing at this (and only this) monument, you can watch how heavy trains with cargo from Siberia cross the Ural ridge along the steel mainline.
It arose together with an iron smelter built by Count Georgy Stroganov. At one time, it was the only plant in the Middle Urals that belonged to the Stroganov clan.
Before the arrival of the Russians, this place was occupied by the Bashkir settlement of Belembay (“belem” - knowledge, “bai” - rich, i.e. “rich in knowledge”). Gradually the name transformed into Bilimbay . The Stroganovs began construction in 1730. And on July 17, 1734, the plant produced the first cast iron.
A kilometer from its mouth, the Bilimbaevka River was dammed. Cast iron and iron boards, made under the hammer, were floated down the Chusovaya and Kama rivers to the estates of the Stroganovs in the spring. A pier was built at the mouth of Bilimbaevka. In terms of the volume of cast iron produced and rational management of the plant, the plant operated smoothly from the first years of its existence and became one of the most organized and highly developed in the Urals.
Bilimbaevsky Pond- one of the main decorations of the village. During the rafting of the barges along the Chusovaya, the Bilimbaevsky pond participated in regulating the water in the river. True, his role was much more modest than the role of the Revdinsky Pond. If Revdinsky pond gave a shaft of 2-2.5 meters, then Bilimbaevsky - only 0.35 meters. However, the other ponds yielded even less.
Wikipedia calls Bilimbay the cradle of Soviet jet aviation. In 1942, the first Soviet fighter-interceptor was tested in Bilimbay. BI-1. But sources provide conflicting information about the specific location of the work: either it was a dilapidated workshop of a former iron foundry, the remains of which on the shore of the pond have been preserved to this day, or the Holy Trinity Church (in Soviet times - the club of the pipe foundry). I will start with the most plausible version (based on documentary books published based on the recollections of participants in the events).
During the war in the Soviet Union, some aircraft factories and design bureaus were evacuated to the Urals. The Bolkhovitinov Design Bureau, which created the first Soviet fighter with the BI-1 rocket engine, ended up in Bilimbai.
According to Wikipedia, BI-1(Bereznyak - Isaev, or Middle Fighter) - the first Soviet aircraft with a liquid rocket engine (LPRE).
Development began in 1941 at the design bureau of plant No. 293 in Khimki. The flight time of the aircraft could be only from 1 to 4 minutes. However, at the same time, the aircraft had unusually high acceleration, speed and climb rate for that time. It was based on these features that the future purpose of the aircraft became clear - an interceptor. The concept of a “fast” missile interceptor operating according to the “lightning-fast takeoff - one quick attack - gliding landing” scheme looked attractive.
During tests in glider mode in September-October 1941, 15 flights were carried out. In October 1941, a decision was made to evacuate the plant to the Urals. By December 1941, development of the aircraft continued in a new location.
Before the arrival of the Russians, apparently, there was indeed an ancient Bashkir cemetery here. And the grove on the hill right within the village was planted by hand in the 1840s with Schultz’s seeder, which had just been created at that time.
You can still walk along this forest island, planted 170 years ago.
Not far from Bilimbay (about three kilometers up the Chusovaya) there is the Dyuzhonok stone - the main natural attraction of the village. But this point did not fit into our auto route - we were heading towards Taraskovo. And on the way we meet fifthfor today the border marker “Europe-Asia”.
The most hooligan of all we have ever encountered (we don’t know what a lonely car is doing here). The obelisk is located a couple of kilometers from the village of Pochinok (we go to the intersection with the power line), on the pass (449 m) across the Bunarsky ridge. We couldn’t count how many times we violated the border that day. On the way home, this happened more than once, but already outside the security zone of the border pillars☺.
Next, right along our course - village Taraskovo. For a long time it has been famous for its springs with miraculous water. Wanting to be healed, a large number of pilgrims come here every year not only from the Urals, but also from all over Russia and even from abroad.
Holy Trinity Monastery in the village of Taraskovo, he keeps many shrines and miraculous springs on his land. On the website http://www.selo-taraskovo.ru/ you can study the list and read the stories of miraculous healings told by pilgrims.
There are several holy springs on the territory of the monastery and in the surrounding area.
The main revered one is the All-Tsaritsa spring, located on the territory of the monastery (there is always a queue to get to it). One of the novices pours water. There is also an equipped room where you can undress and pour a couple of buckets of holy water on yourself.
Next to the walls of the monastery, in a small chapel, there is a spring in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (you cannot douse yourself there - you can only draw water). They say that the well located in the chapel is already more than 120 years old... You can only swim outside the monastery - in the spring in honor of St. Venerable Mary of Egypt.
It is located about a kilometer away; from the monastery you need to turn right along the forest road. A good bathhouse with an equipped descent into the water has been built here.
They write that “the water in the source is cold as ice. As soon as you linger for a couple of seconds when descending into the water, your legs begin to ache incredibly from the cold. It’s not surprising that after such a bath, the body’s protective resources are activated and you can get rid of diseases.”
Here we simply admired the beauty... and were surprised how such unkempt, wild buildings were preserved in such magnificent places...
It smells like self-capture, but the look...
Ahead is the most picturesque part of our route. From Tarskovo via Murzinka, Kalinovo we go to Lake Tavatuy.
This is one of the most beautiful and clean lakes in our region.
It is rightly often called the pearl of the Middle Urals. The lake is surrounded on all sides by mountains.
The sun is shining, the sea is splashing - beauty. Is it okay that 20 km from here fishermen are sitting on the ice? This is how mysterious the Ural is.
On the western bank between Kalinovo and Priozerny there is the Nevyansky Fish Factory. Various varieties of fish (whitefish, ripus, etc.) are successfully bred in Tavatui. In Soviet times, commercial fishing was carried out on the lake; up to several tens of centners of fish were caught per day. Now there are not so many fish here, but you can catch them with your fish soup.
and we reach the southeastern cape (rather, it is an observation deck, indicated in the navigator as “camping”), near the town of Vysokaya on the eastern shore.
Here on the lake you can see a whole group of islands. Wonderful views.
Approaching from the west, we went around the southern part of the lake and reached the village of Tavatuy in the east. This is the first Russian settlement on the lake, founded by Old Believers settlers (second half of the 17th century). The Old Believer community was headed by Pankratiy Klementyevich Fedorov (Pankraty Tavatuisky).
The famous Ural writer Mamin-Sibiryak also visited the village of Tavatuy in the 19th century. This is how he described his acquaintance with these places in the essay “The Cut Off Hunk”: “We had to travel along the Verkhotursky tract for a relatively short time, and after two feedings we turned left from it to drive the “straight road” through the lakes... This remote forest road, existing only in winter, unusually beautiful... In such a forest in winter there is some especially solemn silence, like in an empty church. Dense spruce forests give way to through deciduous copses, through which the blue distance glimmers. It’s both good and creepy, and I want to drive through this forest desert endlessly, giving myself over to thoughts about the road...”
, 60.181046Mount Dedova: 57.123848, 60.082684
Obelisk /"Europe-Asia/" Pervouralsk: 56.870814, 60.047514
Geography, it would seem, is the most studied science, in which there are few unclear points left. However, the simplest questions sometimes perplex not only ordinary people, but scientists. Where, for example, is the border between Europe and Asia?
Textbooks and reference books give a clear answer to this question. However, there is still no agreement on this issue either in the scientific community or in political circles.
The fact is that the border between these two parts of the world passes through the territory of a single continent - Eurasia, that is, overland. This is the most important difference between Europe and Asia and other parts of the world, which are separated by expanses of water. In geography, it is generally accepted that the boundary in such a case is a tectonic fault or watershed.
Surprisingly, even with the modern development of science, it is not always possible to accurately determine, to the nearest kilometer, where exactly this axis passes.
There is another factor complicating the drawing of the border between Europe and Asia - geopolitical. Europe and Asia are not only geographical, but also political, cultural and civilizational objects. What type of culture does vast Russia belong to? 
Can the countries of Transcaucasia and Turkey, which so strive to join the European Union, but geographically belong to Asia, be considered European? Which Russian regions belong to Europe and which to Asia? And why do some foreign cartographic publications lay the eastern border of Europe exactly along the border of the Russian Federation, classifying the European part of our country as Asia?
One thing is certain: over time, the notorious border has constantly shifted to the east, as an increasing number of countries and regions wanted to consider themselves European.
All these questions force geographers to return again and again to the problem of the Asian-European border, to conduct additional research and expeditions.
The border between Europe and Asia - what did geographers agree on?
While researchers are studying, politicians are arguing, cultural experts are writing articles, students and schoolchildren are being told that the border between Europe and Asia runs as established by the International Geographical Society. More precisely, here's how:
Along the eastern base of the Ural ridge and the Mugodzhar spur;
Along the Emba River, which flows into the Caspian Sea;
Along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea; 
- along the Kuma-Manych depression, which is now the floodplain of the Kuma and Manych rivers, and in ancient times was a strait connecting the Black Sea with the Caspian Sea;
Along the Black Sea, Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits.
The Mediterranean coast east of the Dardanelles belongs to Asia, to the west – to Europe.
What are the disputes about?
There are two sections of the Asian-European border that cause the most heated disputes. This is the area south of the Ural Mountains (to the Caspian Sea) and the bridge between the Caspian and Black Seas.
In the first case, the problem is caused by the fact that in its southern part the Ural ridge splits into several spurs. Which of them is considered the border between Europe and Asia has not yet been established with precision.
As for the section of the border in the Caucasus region, there are also several opinions. Some scientists propose drawing the border along the Kuma-Manych lowland, others along the watershed of the Caucasus ridge, and still others even further to the south. 
In order to once and for all resolve the issue of the border between Asia and Europe, Russian scientists proposed using not only a geographical, but also a political, cultural and civilizational approach. The international community has been asked to consider an option in which the border leaves the Ural Mountains and the Sea of Azov within Europe, and the Caucasus within Asia.
It is obvious that establishing the border between Europe and Asia is not only a scientific, but also an administrative and political problem. Let's hope that in the coming years this issue will be resolved at the international level and we will not have to argue about which of us lives in Europe and which in Asia.
Tip 1: Where is the border between Europe and Asia?
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Geography textbooks clearly state that the border between Europe and Asia runs directly along the Ural ridge and down to the Caucasus. This fact draws even more attention to the mountains, which are already full of secrets and mysteries.
Directly in the mountains there are border pillars that signal that Europe is on one side and Asia is on the other. However, the pillars were placed very poorly. The fact is that they do not entirely correspond to historical data.
Different approaches to defining boundaries
In addition, when comparing several sources, we can come to the conclusion that regarding the Caucasus there is generally no consensus on where the border lies. The most common opinion is that it runs along the main watersheds of the ridge. Other sources indicate that the border runs along the northern slope. By the way, if you look at the atlas of Soviet times, then the Euro-Asian border runs directly along the border of the USSR.
This attitude towards the passage of the border has led to disputes regarding the territories of Asia and Europe, which for some scientific circles is almost a primary task. They are still arguing whether Mont Blanc and Elbrus should be classified as Asia or Europe.
Leading scientists claim that it is impossible to draw the border between parts of the world with an accuracy of a kilometer. The point is that there are no sharp transitions between them. If we approach it from the point of view of climate differences, there is no difference, the same applies to vegetation, wildlife and soil structure.
The only thing you can rely on is the structure of the earth's surface, which reflects geology. This is precisely what leading geographers relied on in their time, trying to draw the border between Asia and Europe. They took the Urals and the Caucasus as a basis.
Conditional and real border
A natural question arises here: how to draw the border in the mountains? It is known that the width of the Ural Mountains is about 150 kilometers, the Caucasus Mountains are even wider. That is why the border was drawn along the main watersheds, which are located in the mountains. That is, the border is completely arbitrary and cannot be considered accurate, even if counted in kilometers. However, subsequently a competent decision was made, according to which the modern border has clearer contours.
For an ordinary resident, the answer to the question: “Where is the border between Europe and Asia?” can be given as follows: “Across the Urals and the Caucasus.” He will be quite pleased with such an answer. What about cartographers? After all, it was possible to draw the borders of Europe along the Ural River both on the left and on the right. There are many similar examples that can be given. For this reason, in scientific circles it was decided to consider the border to pass along the eastern slope of the Urals and Mugodzhar. Afterwards it goes along the Emba River, to the northern shore of the Caspian Sea to
Kerch Strait.
That is, recently the entire Urals is part of Europe, and the Caucasus is part of Asia. As for the Sea of Azov, it is “European”.
Official border between Asia and Europe
Drawing a continental border is very difficult. Between Asia and Europe it constantly changed its shape. This happened due to the gradual development of the Ural mountains and the lands of Siberia.
The official division of one continent into two (in the North-South direction) was carried out in 1964. At the 20th Congress of the International Geographical Union, scientists drew a clear boundary line between Asia and Europe. Based on these data, the following situation was recorded.
The border begins in the Kara Sea, in Baydaratskaya Bay. Further, the dividing line runs along the eastern part of the Ural Mountains and follows down the eastern Perm Territory. Thus, both Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg turn out to be located in Asia.
Further, the border goes along the Ural River, passes into the Orenburg region and descends to the northern part of Kazakhstan. There it is “picked up” by the Emba River and descends straight into the Caspian Sea. Leaving the northern coast of the Caspian Sea in Europe, the border reaches the Kuma River and, along with it, crosses the northern part of the Caucasus Mountains. Further, the path passes along the Don to the Sea of Azov, and then to the Black Sea. From the latter, the border between Asia and Europe “flows” into the Bosphorus Strait, where it ends. Ending at the Bosphorus Strait, the border divided Istanbul into two continents. As a result, there are two parts to it: European and Asian (Eastern).
Along the path of the border there are several states, which it happily “divides” into two continents. This applies to Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkey. It should be noted that the latter “got it” the most: the border divided its capital into two parts.
However, after the official border was drawn, disputes and speculation about it did not subside. Scientists assure that it is impossible to clearly draw a line based on any external/internal parameters. For example, by vegetation, climate or soils. The only real measure is the geological history of the area. Therefore, the Urals and the Caucasus turned out to be the main border landmarks.
Today the Caucasus and the Urals are not divided into parts by a border. It passes only along their bases, leaving the mountains untouched. This approach greatly simplified the work of geologists.
But this situation caused difficulties in the work of cartographers. Reproducing one of the continents, scientists had to divide the mountain ranges into unequal parts. It is almost impossible to carry out such a procedure accurately. This situation negatively affected the work of geologists who often use maps: parts of the mountains were “scattered”, although historically they were single massifs.
Crete is an amazingly beautiful island, it separates the Mediterranean and Aegean seas and runs the border between Africa, Europe and Asia. Four thousand years ago, the oldest civilization in the world, the Minoan, was born here. The remains of palaces have survived to this day, as proof of the greatness of a brilliant civilization.
Crete has a well-developed tourism infrastructure and excellent conditions for travelers and guests to relax. The unique nature with warm sea waters, picturesque gorges, cozy bays with azure clear water is attractive to tourists. In Russia, drops are singing, the first snowdrops are appearing, and on the island at the end of April the swimming season already begins.
Crete is rich in attractions, ancient and cultural monuments, as well as hospitable, friendly people. Millions of vacationers from all over the world come here every year to visit the palaces of Crete and monuments to the Minoan kings, amazing in aesthetics and architecture. It was here that the myths about Tessa, who killed the Minotaur, the beautiful Ariadne and her guiding thread, Daedalus and Icarus originated.
Excursions are offered on the island to introduce guests to local traditions. The fiery Cretan dances, performed in folk costumes to national music, are a delightful spectacle. The island of Crete promises a wonderful holiday, exciting travels, and a sunny paradise. Getting to heaven is easy and inexpensive.
The border between Asia and Europe: where it is, interesting facts
The continent of Eurasia is divided into two parts of the world: Europe and Asia. Everyone has known about this since school. But not everyone can show the border between Europe and Asia on a map. And the researchers themselves, to be honest, still cannot come to a consensus on this issue.
In this article we will try to understand where the border between Europe and Asia is drawn today and how ideas about its location have changed over time.
Europe and Asia, West and East
In geography, the Earth's surface is usually divided into continents (or continents) and the so-called parts of the world. And if the identification of continents is based on objective geographical factors, then in the case of the allocation of parts of the world, historical and cultural criteria are more dominant.
Thus, the continent of Eurasia is conventionally divided into two parts – Asia and Europe. The first is significantly larger in area, the second is noticeably richer in material terms. Europe and Asia have been contrasted with each other for quite some time as two completely different worlds. Europe (West) appears to us as a symbol of something correct, progressive, prosperous, and Asia (East) - as an image of something backward, almost barbaric. But all this is nothing more than stereotypes.
Europe – Asia: main differences
“East is East, West is West,” - this is what the great and wise writer Joseph Rudyard Kipling once said. “...And they won’t get along together!” In many ways, of course, he was right. The differences between the two global regions can be traced in culture, religion and philosophy, and are noticeable at both the individual and social levels. The Eastern way of life and work was initially more scrupulous and monotonous. Just remember how long it takes the Chinese to draw just a few characters. In eastern countries, it is customary to pray while sitting, in the “lotus” position. But in the Western world, Christians pray mostly standing... There are a lot of differences!
It is interesting to note that recently ideas and cultural trends from the East and Asia have become incredibly fashionable in Europe. Thus, yoga and martial arts classes are gaining popularity. Catholic priests and monks began to use rosaries in their prayer rituals. Many residents of prosperous European countries are increasingly buying tours to India, China and Nepal in order to experience the spirit of Eastern cultures and peoples.
Europe and Asia: general information about parts of the world
Asia is four times larger in size than Europe. And its population is larger (about 60% of all mainland residents).
Europe owes its name to the heroine of the same name from the myths of Ancient Greece. The medieval historian Hesychius interpreted this toponym as “the land of sunsets.” It is curious that the ancient Greeks called only the northern regions of modern Greece Europe. The toponym “Asia” also comes from the name of the character of ancient Greek mythology - the Oceanid Asia, who was the daughter of two ancient deities (Ocean and Tethys).
Within modern Europe, there are 50 independent states, including a number of the richest and most developed countries in the world (France, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and others). There are 49 independent states in Asia.
Three mainland countries (Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan) are located simultaneously in both Europe and Asia. Four more states (Cyprus, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan) can be classified as both the first and second parts of the world, depending on where the border between Europe and Asia lies. Where is this border drawn today? Let's figure it out.
The border between Asia and Europe and the criteria for its identification
Which mountain peak is rightly called the highest point in Europe - Elbrus or Mont Blanc? Can the Sea of Azov be considered European? In which championship should the Georgian national football team compete? The answers to all these questions can be completely different. And everything will depend on which border between Europe and Asia is taken into account. And there are a lot of options (on the map below they are shown with different lines).
In fact, the border between Asia and Europe cannot be drawn along the surface of the Earth accurately and definitively. The problem is that there are no unambiguous criteria for determining it. At different times, researchers relied on different factors in the process of identifying the European-Asian border:
- administrative;
- orographic;
- landscape;
- demographic;
- hydrological and others.
A short excursion into the history of the problem
Even the ancient Greeks tried to determine where the parts of the world familiar to them ended. And the conventional border between Europe and Asia in those days ran exactly along the Black Sea. But the Romans shifted it to the Sea of Azov and the Don River. It passed through these hydrological objects until the 18th century.
By the way, the Don River as a border between Asia and Europe appeared in many works of Russian scientists, in particular, in the book “On the Layers of the Earth” by M. V. Lomonosov.
In the 1730s, European geographers took up the problem of defining the Europe-Asia border and justifying it from a scientific point of view. In particular, the Swedish scientist F.I. von Stralenberg and the Russian researcher V.N. Tatishchev seriously studied this issue. The latter drew the European-Asian border along the Ural River and the mountain range of the same name.
Where is the border between Europe and Asia today?
Today, geographers on the planet, fortunately, have come to a more or less unanimous opinion on this issue. So, along what objects does the border between Asia and Europe pass? Let's list them from north to south:
- the eastern foot of the Ural Mountains and the Mugodzhar ridge;
- Emba River;
- northwestern coast of the Caspian Sea;
- the mouth of the Kuma River;
- Kuma-Manych depression;
- lower reaches of the Don;
- southeastern shores of the Sea of Azov;
- Kerch Strait;
- the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits;
- Aegean Sea.
This is the definition of the border used today by the UN and the International Geographical Union. It is also presented in most modern cartographic atlases.
According to this division, Azerbaijan and Georgia should be considered Asian countries, and Istanbul is the largest transcontinental city (since it is located on both banks of the Bosphorus). It also turns out that the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea is located in Europe, and the neighboring Taman Peninsula, together with the Tuzla Spit, is already in Asia.
Obelisks and monuments on the border between Europe and Asia
The border line "Europe - Asia" is marked on the surface of the Earth with many monuments, obelisks and memorial signs. There are at least fifty of them in total! Most of them are installed in Russia.
The world's northernmost sign "Europe - Asia" is located at the Yugorsky Shar Strait. This is a small pole with an anchor and an information sign. The geographic coordinates of this sign are 69° 48’ north latitude and 60° 43’ east longitude.
The oldest such sign is located within the Northern Urals, near the village of Kedrovka. It is represented by a small chapel built back in 1868. But on Mount Berezovaya in Pervouralsk there is, perhaps, the most majestic and monumental sign “Europe - Asia”. This is a 25-meter granite obelisk that was installed here in 2008.
It is quite strange that in the area of the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul (seemingly on the most iconic stretch of the European-Asian border) there is only a tiny yellow sign with a modest double-sided inscription Welcome to Europe/Asia.
Finally
The border between Asia and Europe is very arbitrary and far from objective. According to the modern definition of geographers, it connects the Kara and Mediterranean seas, passing along the eastern foot of the Ural Mountains, the northwestern shores of the Caspian Sea, the Kuma-Manych depression, the Kerch Strait and the Bosphorus Strait.
Border "Europe-Asia"
The border between Europe and Asia runs along the Ural ridge. Or rather, along the watershed itself. However, disputes often flare up between experts - it is not always easy to accurately draw this line in some places. The most controversial is considered to be the territory located near Yekaterinburg - here the level of the Ural Mountains is the lowest - and south of Zlatoust, near which the Ural ridge is divided into several ridges, losing its axis and turning into a flat steppe.
It is curious, but relatively recently this border ran much further than it does today - along the Don River and the Kerch Strait. Moreover, such a division appeared a very long time ago and was used at the beginning of the eighteenth century. V.N. Tatishchev first proposed drawing the border along the Ural ridge in 1720. The works he wrote describe in detail why the border between two parts of the world - Europe and Asia - should pass along the Ural ridge, and not the Don.
One of the main arguments given by Tatishchev is the fact that the Ural ridge acts as a watershed - rivers flow along its slopes both to the west and to the east. However, such a proposal was not immediately supported.
There are many border monuments throughout the Urals, showing exactly where the line dividing Asia from Europe lies. Moreover, some of them are located in very hard-to-reach places. And some of them don't actually correspond to the actual boundary. For example, the northernmost monument is located on the shores of the Yugorsky Shar Strait. It was installed by employees of the polar station in 1973. The border sign will be quite ordinary - an ordinary wooden post with the inscription “Europe-Asia”. In addition, a nailed chain with an anchor hangs from the pole. If we take the obelisk located most east, it is located in the village of Kurganovo, on Polevskoye Highway. It was installed even later in 1986.
One of the largest and most beautiful obelisks was the one installed in 2003 on the highway connecting the cities of Chusovoy and Kachkanar. Its height is quite impressive - as much as 16 meters. Right next to it, on the asphalt, there is a line showing where the border between parts of the world lies.
Initially, the monument erected here was an ordinary wooden pyramid with four sides and the inscriptions “Asia” and “Europe”. Emperor Alexander II, to whom the people gave the nickname Liberator, saw him while traveling with the poet V.A. Zhukovsky, state councilor and retinue, in May 1837.
A few years later - in 1846 - this monument was replaced. In its place they put a more serious stone one, created according to a design drawn up by the architect Karl of Tours, who worked at the Ural plant. The main material used in its manufacture was marble, and it stood on a stone pedestal. The top of the obelisk was crowned with a gilded eagle with two heads.
Soon after the revolution, this monument was destroyed - according to the official version, it reminded of autocracy. However, just a few years later, already in 1926, a new monument was erected here. True, it was not made of marble, but only lined with granite. Of course, there was no eagle here either. A few decades later, in the mid-twentieth century, a cast iron fence was installed around the obelisk. At the end of the 20th century it was dismantled and posts with chains were installed.
Of course, this place has great historical value. Convicts, going to Siberia from the European part of Russia, took visiting lands here as a memory of their abandoned homeland.
Still on the same Birch Mountain, a little closer to the city of Pervouralsk, another obelisk was opened - already in 2008. On top of a thirty-meter pillar made of red granite sits a double-headed eagle.
There is also a monument “Europe-Asia” in the city of Yekaterinburg, at the 17th kilometer of the Novomoskovsky tract. It was installed relatively recently - in the summer of 2004. The architect was Konstantin Grunberg. This is a truly impressive sight - a huge marble pedestal with a metal stele and a spacious observation deck. In addition, there are stones taken from the most extreme points of two parts of the world - Cape Dezhnev and Cape Roca.
Soon after the installation of the monument, disputes began about whether the location was chosen correctly. Many opponents insist that the monument was installed at a great distance from the watershed. In any case, today this place is visited by a large number of tourists. Many people who come to Yekaterinburg try to take pictures here. Newlyweds also make sure to visit an important geographical point.
According to representatives of the authorities of Yekaterinburg, they have plans to erect a huge obelisk, similar in appearance to the Eiffel Tower. These will be the letters “E” and “A”, and their height will be about 180 meters.
Border between Europe and Asia
The border between parts of the world Europe and Asia Most often it is carried out along the eastern base of the Ural Mountains and Mugodzhary, the Emba River, along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, along the Kuma-Manych depression and the Kerch Strait. The total length of the border across Russia is 5,524 km (of which 2,000 km along the Ural ridge, 990 km along the Caspian Sea).
Some sources use another option for defining the border of Europe - along the watershed of the Ural Range, the Ural River, and the watershed of the Caucasus Range.
The very fact of singling out Europe is the result not so much of logic and geographical conditionality as of history.
The border between Europe and Asia from the 6th century BC. e. to our time has experienced significant movement from west to east. The ancient Greeks carried it out approximately in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea. Later, in 524-457 BC. e., the Kerch Strait and the Tanais (Don) River began to be considered the border. The great scientific authority of Ptolemy was the reason that this idea was firmly established and did not change until the 18th century.
In 1730, the Swedish scientist Philipp Johann von Strahlenberg first substantiated in world scientific literature the idea of drawing a border between Europe and Asia. Later in 1736, V.N. Tatishchev claimed that it was he who suggested this idea to Stralenberg. Tatishchev justified in his book the drawing of this border from the Yugorsky Shar Strait along the Ural ridge, along the Ural River, dividing cities such as Orsk and Orenburg (within their current borders), through the Caspian Sea to the Kuma River, through the Caucasus, the Azov and Black Seas to Bosphorus.
This idea did not immediately gain recognition from contemporaries and followers. For example, Mikhail Lomonosov in his treatise “On the Layers of the Earth” (1757-1759) drew the line between Europe and Asia along the Don, Volga and Pechora. However, authors soon appeared whose studies, following Tatishchev, began to recognize the Ural Range as a natural border between Europe and Asia.
The Europe-Asia border line runs from the coast of the Kara Sea along the eastern base of the Ural Range, approximately parallel to the border between the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic from the west and the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug from the east.
Further, the border runs slightly east of the administrative border between the Perm Territory from the west and the Sverdlovsk Region from the east, while the southwestern regions of the Sverdlovsk Region remain in Europe. The name “Asian” of the railway station and the village adjacent to it is associated with the passage of the Europe-Asia border in this region.
In the Chelyabinsk region, the border leaves in Europe the Ashinsky, Katav-Ivanovsky and Satkinsky municipal districts, as well as the western parts of the territories of municipal districts and urban districts adjacent to Bashkortostan. In the Orenburg region, the border leaves most of the territory in Europe, except for the eastern regions. Further to the south, the border continues through the territory of the Aktobe region of Kazakhstan, where it passes along the eastern foot of the Mugodzhar (a continuation of the Ural Mountains on the territory of Kazakhstan) and along the Emba River it reaches the Caspian Lowland, through the Caspian Sea it reaches the mouth of the Kuma River, then along the Kuma-Manych depression it passes to the lower reaches of the Don, further along the southern shore of the Sea of Azov.
To the south, the border between Europe and Asia runs along the Kerch Strait, between the Crimean (Europe) and Taman (Asia) peninsulas, leaving the island of Tuzla in Asia.
In April - May 2010, the Russian Geographical Society conducted an expedition in Kazakhstan (desert and Ustyurt plateau), with the aim of revising generally accepted views on the passage of the border between Europe and Asia through the territory of Kazakhstan. The participants of the expedition stated the fact that south of Zlatoust the Ural ridge loses its axis and breaks up into several parallel ridges, and further south the mountains gradually disappear, while it is the Ural ridge (or rather its eastern foot) that is traditionally a landmark for drawing the border of Europe and Asia. According to the expedition members, the Ural and Emba rivers are also not reasonable boundaries, since the nature of the terrain along their banks is the same. The expedition members came to the preliminary conclusion that it seemed most reasonable to them to draw the border between Europe and Asia along the eastern edge of the Caspian Lowland, which is the southeastern end of the East European Plain.
Until now, the opinion of Russian and Kazakh scientists who participated in this expedition has not been considered by the International Geographical Union.
The border between Europe and Asia is becoming the most important feature of the Ural region. Usually the border between Europe and Asia is drawn along the watershed of the Ural Mountains. However, where exactly it is more correct to draw this border in some areas is still debated. How and where the border between Europe and Asia lies on the world map is actually not very clear. The European-Asian border cannot be drawn with an accuracy of one meter or even a kilometer, since there are no clear landmarks. However, following Tatishchev, they began to recognize the Ural ridge as a natural border between Europe and Asia, and that the border of two parts of the world passes through the Urals: Europe and Asia.
The border between two parts of the world is a very arbitrary concept. The opinion about the passage of the border through the Urals is now generally accepted, because in the territory of the Ural Federal District and neighboring regions there is an abundance of border memorial signs and obelisks on the border of Europe and Asia. It is quite difficult to determine their exact number, since there is still no accounting of them at the state level, and some are installed in very hard-to-reach places. But many of them are quite interesting. True, not all of them correspond to the real border.
Obelisks and memorial signs on the border of Europe and Asia.
The Ural Mountains stretch from north to south for many thousands of kilometers, dividing two parts of the world - Europe and Asia. And along their entire length there are border pillars. Most of the monuments and signs were installed in the Urals, unfortunately, some of the signs were destroyed, some of the signs are just tablets or columns, but obelisks were also built, located at the junction of Asia and Europe, installed by people in order to emphasize the exclusivity of these places. Each of them was built in honor of an event, and each has its own history.
The “Europe-Asia” obelisks are popular places for photo sessions; many pictures are taken here. In addition to tourists, newlyweds are frequent visitors to the obelisks. Here the newlyweds tie ribbons next to the obelisk and, of course, take photographs for memory.
The northernmost obelisk on the border of Europe and Asia stands on the shore of the Yugorsky Shar Strait. It was installed in this inaccessible area in 1973 by employees of the polar station. The border sign is a wooden post with the inscription “Europe-Asia”. There is also a chain with an anchor nailed to the post. It is believed that at this place the border between Europe and Asia comes to the shore of the Arctic Ocean.
The most eastern. The easternmost border line of Europe is marked by the Europe-Asia obelisk. It is located near the village of Kurganovo (about 2 kilometers), on Polevskoye Highway. In addition, this monument perpetuates the 250th anniversary of the scientific determination of the location of the border between two parts of the world, made by N.V. Tatishchev. The correctness of the location is confirmed by the fact that the obelisk was erected together with members of the Geographical Society in 1986.
The most southern ones. Two popular “Europe-Asia” obelisks can be found in the Southern Urals, in the Chelyabinsk region, between Miass and Zlatoust. The first is a monument at the Urzhumka railway station. Made of stone, granite base, which is a square. At the top of the obelisk there is a protruding meter-long “sleeve” on which the cardinal directions are indicated. “Europe” from the side of the city of Zlatoust and “Asia” from the side of Miass and Chelyabinsk. The top of the monument is crowned with a tall spire. The obelisk is dedicated to the completion of the construction of the South Ural section of the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1892.
The second stone monument is located right on the M5 Ural highway, between Miass and Zlatoust, where the road crosses the Ural-Tau mountain range.
And yet, the most famous and popular monuments on the border of Europe and Asia are located on the Moscow Highway near Yekaterinburg and near Pervouralsk. The only obelisk that is installed right within the city is a metal stele, its shape reminiscent of a rocket or the Eiffel Tower, located in Yekaterinburg, at the 17th kilometer of the Novomoskovsky highway. The monument was erected in 2004, but in the near future it plans to undergo a grandiose remodeling.
The most beautiful obelisk “Europe-Asia”, which is located on the Perm-Kachkanar highway, not far from the border with the Sverdlovsk region. Finding it is quite simple, and the 16-meter white pillar will not allow you to make a mistake. The monument was erected in 2003. In addition to the pillar, decorated with sculptures of winged lions and a double-headed eagle, there is an observation deck and a line on the asphalt marking the immediate border.
The most popular and also the very first monument on the border of Europe and Asia was the monument on Mount Berezovaya. It is located near the city of Pervouralsk on the former Siberian Highway. The first border sign appeared here in the spring of 1837 - before the arrival of 19-year-old Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, the future heir to the throne, to the Urals.
On the same Mount Berezovaya, a little further, closer to Pervouralsk, in 2008 a new Europe-Asia obelisk was opened. A high 30-meter pillar made of red granite is crowned with a double-headed eagle. Created with the aim of attracting tourists, it has become a traditional place for visiting wedding processions.
The rest are located in different parts of the Sverdlovsk region and beyond: in the Perm region, Chelyabinsk region, Orenburg, Bashkiria, Magnitogorsk and in a number of other settlements.