Taurida
a province of southern Russia, which includes the peninsula of the Crimea; bounded on the E., S., and S. E. by the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea; area 23,312 square miles; pop. about 2,133,000. The greater part of it belongs to the Nogai Steppe, only 9-11 being under cultivation, and at least a half unenclosed pasture land. From the steppe there is a gradual rise through the Isthmus of Perekop to the Crimea, some of whose ranges attain an elevation TAURUS of 5,000 feet. The only river of importance is the Dnieper, which forms the N. W. boundary. Salt lakes abound on the treeless steppes. Vines and orchard trees are cultivated to a certain extent, but cattle-breeding is the main employment of the inhabitants. The population is mixed, about one-third of the whole being Little Russians, and rest Nogal Tartars, German colonists, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Armenians. The chief towns are Simferopol the capital, Sebastopol, Feodorsia, and Kertch.