The
Ural Mountains, (
Russian:
Ура́льские го́ры = Ура́л) also known simply as the
Urals, are a
mountain range that run roughly north and south through western
Russia.
The Urals extend 2500 km from the Kazakh steppes along the northern border of
Kazakhstan to the coast of the
Arctic ocean. The
island of
Novaya Zemlya forms a further continuation of the chain. Geographically this range marks the northern part of the (arbitrary) border between the
continents of
Europe and
Asia. Its highest peak is Mount Narodnaya (Poznurr, 1895m). Erosion has exposed considerable mineral wealth in the Urals, including gems such as
topaz and
beryl. The
Virgin Komi Forests in the northern Urals is recognized as a World Heritage site.
Yekaterinburg is a self-proclaimed capital of Urals, though Urals is a geographical term, not an administrative.
The Urals are among the world's oldest extant mountain ranges. They were formed in the late
Carboniferous period, when a
continent consisting largely of
Siberia collided with the
supercontinent that contained much of the world's land at the time: the combination of Laurussia (Europe and
North America) and
Gondwana. Europe and Siberia have remained joined together ever since.
Geographers have divided the Urals into five regions: South, Middle, North, Subarctic and Arctic Urals.
Links
Wikitravel article
Yekaterinburg
Category:Geography of Russia
Category:Mountain ranges
Category:Mountains of Russia
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