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Pontic-Caspian steppe
 
 
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The term Pontic-Caspian steppe summarizes the vast steppe
Steppe

In physical geography, a steppe , pronounced , is a grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with Poaceae or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude....
lands stretching from north of the Black Sea
Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
 (Pontic sea in antiquity) as far as the east of the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
, from central Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
 across the Southern
Southern Federal District

Southern Federal District is one of the seven Federal districts of Russia of Russia. It is located in the extreme southwest, between Ukraine and Kazakhstan....
 and Volga
Volga Federal District

Volga Federal District is one of the seven Federal districts of Russia of Russia. It forms the southeastern part of European Russia. Its population was 31,154,744 in the 2002 census, living on an area of 1,038,000 km? ....
 Federal Districts of Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 to western Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
, forming part of the larger Eurasian steppe
Eurasian Steppe

The Eurasian Steppe is the term often used to describe the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia stretching from the western borders of the steppes of Hungary#Geography to the eastern border of the steppes of Mongolia#Geography and climate, for roughly 5000 km....
, adjacent to the Kazakh steppe
Kazakh Steppe

The Kazakh Steppe or Kirghiz Steppe, is a vast region of open grassland in northern Kazakhstan and adjacent portions of Russia, extending to the east of the Pontic steppe and to the west of the Emin Valley steppe, with which it forms part of the Eurasian steppe....
 to the east.

The area corresponds to Scythia
Scythia

The Scythians or Scyths were an Eastern Iranian languages of Equestrianism nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic steppe throughout Classical Antiquity....
 and Sarmatia
Sarmatia

Sarmatia or Sarmatian can refer to:* the land of Sarmatians, western Scythia as described by many classical authors, such as Herodotus in the 5th century BC...
 of Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
.

The term Ponto-Caspian region is used in biogeography
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 for plants and animals of these steppes, and animals from the Black, Caspian and Azov
Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov is the world's shallowest sea, linked by the Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south. It is bounded on the north by Ukraine, on the east by Russia and on the west by the Crimean peninsula....
 seas.

Pontic steppe covers an area of 994,000 square kilometers (383,800 square miles), extending from eastern Romania
Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
 across southern Moldova
Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east and south....
, Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
, Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 and northwestern Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
 to the Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains

The Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia. They are usually considered as the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
.






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Pontic Caspian Climate
The term Pontic-Caspian steppe summarizes the vast steppe
Steppe

In physical geography, a steppe , pronounced , is a grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with Poaceae or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude....
lands stretching from north of the Black Sea
Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
 (Pontic sea in antiquity) as far as the east of the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
, from central Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
 across the Southern
Southern Federal District

Southern Federal District is one of the seven Federal districts of Russia of Russia. It is located in the extreme southwest, between Ukraine and Kazakhstan....
 and Volga
Volga Federal District

Volga Federal District is one of the seven Federal districts of Russia of Russia. It forms the southeastern part of European Russia. Its population was 31,154,744 in the 2002 census, living on an area of 1,038,000 km? ....
 Federal Districts of Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 to western Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
, forming part of the larger Eurasian steppe
Eurasian Steppe

The Eurasian Steppe is the term often used to describe the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia stretching from the western borders of the steppes of Hungary#Geography to the eastern border of the steppes of Mongolia#Geography and climate, for roughly 5000 km....
, adjacent to the Kazakh steppe
Kazakh Steppe

The Kazakh Steppe or Kirghiz Steppe, is a vast region of open grassland in northern Kazakhstan and adjacent portions of Russia, extending to the east of the Pontic steppe and to the west of the Emin Valley steppe, with which it forms part of the Eurasian steppe....
 to the east.

The area corresponds to Scythia
Scythia

The Scythians or Scyths were an Eastern Iranian languages of Equestrianism nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic steppe throughout Classical Antiquity....
 and Sarmatia
Sarmatia

Sarmatia or Sarmatian can refer to:* the land of Sarmatians, western Scythia as described by many classical authors, such as Herodotus in the 5th century BC...
 of Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
.

The term Ponto-Caspian region is used in biogeography
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 for plants and animals of these steppes, and animals from the Black, Caspian and Azov
Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov is the world's shallowest sea, linked by the Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south. It is bounded on the north by Ukraine, on the east by Russia and on the west by the Crimean peninsula....
 seas.

Geography and ecology

The Pontic steppe covers an area of 994,000 square kilometers (383,800 square miles), extending from eastern Romania
Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
 across southern Moldova
Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east and south....
, Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
, Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 and northwestern Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
 to the Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains

The Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia. They are usually considered as the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
. The Pontic steppe is bounded by the East European forest steppe to the north, a transitional zone of mixed grasslands and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests include four layers. The upper most layer is the canopy which is composed of tall mature trees....
. To the south, the Pontic steppe extends to the Black Sea, excepting the Crimean and western Caucasus mountains' border with the sea, where the Crimean Submediterranean forest complex
Crimean Submediterranean forest complex

The Crimean Submediterranean forest complex is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of Russia and Ukraine. The ecoregion consists of two coastal enclaves on northern coast of the Black Sea; one occupies the central coast of Crimea, extending into the Crimean Mountains, the other occupies the Black Sea coast of Krasnodar Kray, ex...
 defines the southern edge of the steppes. The steppe extends to the western shore of the Caspian Sea in the Dagestan
Dagestan

The Republic of Dagestan , older spelling Daghestan, is a federal subjects of Russia of the Russia ....
 region of Russia, but the drier Caspian lowland desert lies between the Pontic steppe and the northwestern and northern shores of the Caspian. The Kazakh Steppe
Kazakh Steppe

The Kazakh Steppe or Kirghiz Steppe, is a vast region of open grassland in northern Kazakhstan and adjacent portions of Russia, extending to the east of the Pontic steppe and to the west of the Emin Valley steppe, with which it forms part of the Eurasian steppe....
 bounds the Pontic steppe on the southeast.

The Ponto-Caspian seas are the remains of the Turgai Sea
Turgai Sea

The Turgai Sea or Turgai Strait, also known as the West Siberian Sea, was a large shallow body of salt water of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic era s....
, an extension of the Paratethys
Paratethys

The Paratethys ocean, Paratethys sea or just Paratethys was a large shallow sea that stretched from the region north of the Alps over Central Europe to the Aral sea in western Asia....
 which extended south and east of the Urals and covering much of today's West Siberian Plain
West Siberian Plain

The West Siberian Plain is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia and Russia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Baikal Mountains on the south....
 in the Mesozoic
Mesozoic

The Mesozoic Era is one of three Geologic time scale of the Phanerozoic eon . The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the 'Mesozoic' was 'Secondary' ....
 and Cenozoic
Cenozoic

The Cenozoic Era...
.


Prehistoric cultures

  • Sredny Stog culture
    Sredny Stog culture

    The Sredny Stog culture dates from the 5th millennium BC-3500 BC. It was situated just north of the Sea of Azov between the Dnieper and the Don River, Russia....
     4500-3500 BC
  • Yamna/Kurgan culture 3500-2300 BC
  • Catacomb culture
    Catacomb culture

    The Catacomb culture, ca. 2800-2200 BC, refers to an early Bronze Age culture occupying essentially what is present-day Ukraine. It was related to the Yamna culture, and would seem more of an areal term to cover several smaller related archaeological cultures....
     3000-2200 BC
  • Srubna culture
    Srubna culture

    The Srubna culture , was a Late Bronze Age culture. It is a successor to the Yamna culture, the Catacomb culture and the Abashevo culture.It occupied the area along and above the north shore of the Black Sea from the Dnieper eastwards along the northern base of the Caucasus to the area abutting the north shore of the Caspian Sea, across t...
     1600-1200 BC
  • Novocherkassk culture
    Novocherkassk culture

    The Chernogorovka and Novocherkassk cultures are Iron Age steppe cultures in Ukraine and Russia, centered between the Prut and the lower Don River, Russia....
     900-650 BC


Historical nations

  • Indo-Iranians
    Indo-Iranians

    Indo-Iranian people consist of the Indo-Aryans, Iranian people, Dard people and Nuristani people, that is, speakers of Indo-Iranian languages....
    /Aryans 20th-15th c. BC
  • Cimmerians
    Cimmerians

    The Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads who, according to Herodotus, originally inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea, in what is now Ukraine and Russia, in the 8th century BC and 7th century BC....
     8th-7th c. BC
  • Scythians 8th-4th c. BC
  • Sarmatians
    Sarmatians

    The Sarmatians, Sarmat? or Sauromat? were a people of Ancient Iranian peoples origin. Mentioned by Classics authors, they migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains around fifth century B.C....
     5th c. BC to 5th c. AD
  • Goths
    Goths

    The Goths were East Germanic tribes who, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, invasion the Roman Empire and later adopted Arian Christianity. In the 5th and 6th centuries, divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy....
     3rd-6th c.
  • Bulgars
    Bulgars

    The Bulgars were a seminomadic people, probably of Turkic peoples descent, originally from Southern Central Asia, who from the 2nd century onwards dwelled in the steppes north of the Caucasus and around the banks of river Volga ....
     3rd-6th c.
  • Huns
    Huns

    The Huns were a confederation of Central Asian Eurasian nomads or semi-nomads, who had established an empire in Eurasia. The Huns may have stimulated the Migration Period, a contributing factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire....
     4th-8th c.
  • Alans
    Alans

    The Alans or Alani were a group among the Sarmatians people, Eurasian nomads of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian language and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian language....
     5th-11th c. AD
  • Eurasian Avars
    Eurasian Avars

    The 'Avars' were a highly organized and powerful Turkic confederation. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit retinue of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turkic peoples groups....
     6th-8th c.
  • Göktürks
    Göktürks

    The G?kt?rks were a powerful nomadic confederation of medieval Inner Asia. Known in China sources as T'u k?e , the G?kt?rks under the leadership of Bumin Khan and his sons succeeded the Rouran as the main power in the region and took hold of the lucrative Silk Road trade....
     6th-8th c.
  • Onogurs
    Onogurs

    The Onogurs were a horde of equestrian nomads that wandered the Eurasian plains in the 5th?8th centuries. They lived in the North Caucasus steppe east of the Don River ....
     8th c.
  • Sabirs 6th-8th c.
  • Khazars
    Khazars

    The Khazars were a semi-nomadic Turkic people who dominated the Pontic steppe and the North Caucasus from the 7th to the 10th century CE. The name 'Khazar' seems to be tied to a Turkic languages verb form meaning "wandering"....
     6th-11th c.
  • Pechenegs
    Pechenegs

    The Pechenegs or Patzinaks were a nomad Turkic peoples people of the Central Asian steppes speaking the Pecheneg language which belonged to the Turkic languages....
     8th-11th c.
  • Kipchaks
    Kipchaks

    Kipchaks were an ancient Turkic people who originally formed part of the group of Kimek in Siberia along the middle reaches of Irtysh or along the Ob....
     and Cumans
    Cumans

    Cumans were a nomadic Turkic peoples people who inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea known as Cumania along the Volga River. They eventually settled to the west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Moldavia, and Wallachia....
     11th-13th c.
  • Golden Horde
    Golden Horde

    The Golden Horde is a East-Slavic designation for the Mongol?later Turkic languages?Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus....
     13th-15th c.
  • Cossacks 14th-18th c.
  • Crimean Khanate
    Crimean Khanate

    The Crimean Khanate or the Khanate of Crimea was a Crimean Tatars state from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was Crimean Yurt . The khanate was by far the longest-lived of the Turkic peoples khanates that succeeded the empire of the Golden Horde....
    , Volga Tatars
    Volga Tatars

    Volga Tatars are a Turkic_languages people, most of whom occupy the west central portion of the Ural Mountains....
    , Nogais
    Nogais

    The Nogai people are a Turkic peoples ethnic group in northern Dagestan and neighbouring areas of Chechnya and Stavropol Krai, who speak the Turkic languages Nogai language....
     and other Turkic
    Turkic peoples

    The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia, and who mostly speak languages belonging to the Turkic languages....
     states and tribes 15th-18th c.
  • Russian Empire
    Russian Empire

    File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
     18th-20th c.
  • Soviet Union
    Soviet Union

    The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
     20th c.
  • Moldova
    Moldova

    Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east and south....
    , Kazakhstan
    Kazakhstan

    Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
    , Russian Federation, Ukraine
    Ukraine

    Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
     20th c.-present


See also

  • Eurasian Steppe
    Eurasian Steppe

    The Eurasian Steppe is the term often used to describe the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia stretching from the western borders of the steppes of Hungary#Geography to the eastern border of the steppes of Mongolia#Geography and climate, for roughly 5000 km....
  • Kurgan hypothesis
    Kurgan hypothesis

    The Kurgan hypothesis is one of the proposals about early Indo-European origins, which postulates that the people of an archaeological "Kurgan culture" in the Pontic steppe were the most likely speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language....
  • Ukrainian stone stela
  • Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
    Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

    Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a biome whose predominant vegetation consists of grasses and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and semi-arid to semi-humid....
  • Ukrainian LGM refuge
    Ukrainian LGM refuge

    The Ukrainian LGM refuge is one of the postulated Last Glacial Maximum refugium , located 'around' the Black Sea, where groups of humans sought shelter from the glacial climate around 13,000 years ago....
  • Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA)


External links