URAL MOUNTAINS

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The 'Ural Mountains' (, ''Uralskiye gory'') (also known as the 'Urals', the 'Riphean Mountains' in Greco-Roman antiquity, and known as the Stone Belt) are a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia. They are sometimes considered as the natural boundary between Europe and Asia.

Contents
Geography
Etymology
Geology
See also
External links

Geography


Map of the Ural Mountains

The Village of Kolchedan in the Ural Mountains in 1912

The Urals extend 2,500 km from the Kazakh steppes along the northern border of Kazakhstan to the coast of the Arctic ocean. Vaygach Island and the island of Novaya Zemlya form a further continuation of the chain. Geographically this range marks the northern part of the border between Asian and European sections of the Eurasian continent. Its highest peak is Mount Narodnaya (Poznurr, 1,895 m). Erosion has exposed considerable mineral wealth in the Urals, including gems such as topaz and beryl. The Virgin Komi Forests in the northern Urals are recognized as a World Heritage site.
Chusovaya River in the Ural Mountains.

Geographers have divided the Urals into five regions: South, Middle, North, Subarctic and Arctic Urals. The tree line drops from 1,400 metres to sea level as progressing north. Sections of the south and middle regions are completely forested.

Etymology


The Urals were named after the Uralian tribe that was once native to the northern region of Asia. The Uralians were hunter-gatherers; however the lack of plentiful resources in the area forced them to relocate, spreading throughout the Asian region. According to another explanation, the word Ural is of Turkic origin and means a stone belt.[1]

Geology


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The Urals are among the world's oldest extant mountain ranges. For its age of 250 to 300 million years, the mountains are yet unusually high. They were formed in the late Carboniferous period, when western Siberia collided with eastern Baltica (~connected to Laurentia (North America) to form the minor supercontinent of Euramerica) and Kazakhstania to form the supercontinent of Laurasia. Later Laurasia and Gondwana collided to form the supercontinent of Pangaea. Europe and Siberia have remained joined together ever since.
The Urals have large deposits of gold, platinum, coal, iron, nickel, silver, and other minerals.

See also



Pangaea

Ural (region)

Idel-Ural State

External links





Five parts of the Ural Mountains

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