Azov

Azov (English) Азов (Russian)
-  Town[1]  -
Location of Rostov Oblast in Russia
Azov Location of Azov in Rostov Oblast
Coordinates: 47°06′N 39°25′E / 47.1°N 39.417°E / 47.1; 39.417Coordinates: 47°06′N 39°25′E / 47.1°N 39.417°E / 47.1; 39.417
Coat of arms	Flag
Administrative status (as of May 2011)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Rostov Oblast[1]
Administratively subordinated to	Azov Urban Okrug[1]
Administrative center of	Azov Urban Okrug[1]
Municipal status (as of December 2004)
Urban okrug	Azov Urban Okrug[2]
Administrative center of	Azov Urban Okrug[2]
Leader[citation needed]	Sergey Bezdolny[citation needed]
Statistics
Area	66.7 km2 (25.8 sq mi)[citation needed]
Population (2010 Census, preliminary)	82,882 inhabitants[3]
- Rank in 2010	199th
Population (2002 Census)	82,090 inhabitants[4]
- Rank in 2002	198th
Density	1,243 /km2 (3,220 /sq mi)[5]
Time zone	MSK (UTC+04:00)[6]
Founded	13th century[7]
Town status since	1708[citation needed]
Postal code(s)	346780[8]
Dialing code(s)	+7 86342[citation needed]

Azov (Russian: Азов; IPA: [aˈzof]) is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. Population: 82,882 (2010 Census preliminary results);^[3] 82,090 (2002 Census);^[4] 80,297 (1989 Census).^[9]

History

Early settlements in the vicinity

The mouth of the Don River has always been an important commercial center. At the start of the 3rd century BCE, the Greeks from the Bosporan Kingdom founded a colony here, which they called Tanais (after the Greek name of the river). Several centuries later, in the last third of 1st century BCE, the settlement was burnt down by king Polemon I of Pontus. The introduction of Greek colonists restored its prosperity, but the Goths practically annihilated it in the 3rd century. The site of ancient Tanais, now occupied by the khutor of Nedvigovka, has been excavated since the mid-19th century.

In the 10th century, the area passed under control of the Slavic princedom of Tmutarakan. The Kipchaks, seizing the area in 1067, renamed it Azaq (i.e., lowlands), from which appellation the modern name is derived. The Golden Horde claimed most of the coast in the 13th and 14th centuries, but the Venetian and Genoese merchants were granted permission to settle on the site of modern-day Azov and founded there a colony which they called Tana (or La Tana).

Archaeological digs

In autumn 2000, Thor Heyerdahl wanted to further investigate his idea that Scandinavians may have migrated from the south via waterways. He was on the trail of Odin (Wotan), the Germanic and Nordic god of the mythologies of the early sagas. According to Snorre, the Icelandic author of the Nordic Sagas, who wrote in the 13th century, Odin was supposed to have migrated from the region of the Caucasus or the area just east of the Black Sea near the turn of the 1st century CE. Heyerdahl was particularly interested in Snorre's reference to the land of origin of the Æsir people. Heyerdahl wanted to test the veracity of Snorre and, consequently, organized the Joint Archaeological Excavation in Azov, Russia, in 2001. He had wanted to undertake a second excavation the following year, but it never happened due to his death in April 2002.^[10]

Fortress of Azov

Ramparts of Azov Fortress

A 17th-century Dutch engraving representing the Battle of Azov (1696)

In 1471, the Ottoman Empire gained control of the area and built the strong fortress of Azak (Azov).

The fort blocked the Don Cossacks from raiding and trading into the Black Sea. The Cossacks had attacked Azov in 1574, 1593, 1620, and 1626. In April 1637, three thousand Don and four thousand Zaporozhian Cossacks besieged Azov (the Turks had four thousand soldiers and two hundred cannons). The fort fell on June 21 and the Cossacks sent a request to the Tsar for re-enforcements and support. A commission recommended against this because of the danger of war with Turkey and poor state of the fortifications. In June 1641, Hussein Deli, Pasha of Silistria invested the fort with 70,000–80,000 men. In September, they had to withdraw because of disease and provisioning shortfalls. A second Russian commission reported that the siege had left very little of the walls. In March 1642, Sultan Ibrahim issued an ultimatum and Tsar Mikhail ordered the Cossacks to evacuate. The Turks reoccupied Azov in September 1642.^[11]

The fortress, however, had yet to pass through many vicissitudes. During the Azov campaigns of (1696), Peter the Great, who desired naval access to the Black Sea, managed to recover the fortress.^[12] Azov was granted town status in 1708,^{[citation needed]} but the disastrous Pruth River Campaign constrained him to hand it back to the Turks in 1711.^[13] A humorous description of the events is featured in Voltaire's Candide. During the Great Russo-Turkish War, it was taken by the army under Count Rumyantsev and finally ceded to Russia under the terms of Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji (1774). For seven years Azov was a seat of a its own governorate, but with the growth of neighboring Rostov-on-the-Don it gradually declined in importance. It was occupied by the Germans between July 1942 and February 1943 during World War II.

Administrative and municipal status

Administratively, it is incorporated as Azov Urban Okrug—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] Municipally, this administrative unit also has the urban okrug status.^[2]

Government

Sergey Bezdolny of United Russia was elected Mayor of Azov on April 3, 2005 and re-elected on October 11, 2009 by 72.9% of the voters.

Climate

Azov's climate is humid continental (Köppen climate classification Dfa), featuring hot summers, cold winters (though quite mild for Russia), and fairly low precipitation.

References

Notes

Sources

• Законодательное Собрание Ростовской области. Закон №340-ЗС от 25 июля 2005 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ростовской области», в ред. Закона №814-ЗС от 29 февраля 2012 г «О внесении изменений в отдельные областные Законы». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Наше время", №187–190, 28 июля 2005 г. (Legislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast. Law #340-ZS of July 28, 2005 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Rostov Oblast, as amended by the Law #814-ZS of February 29, 2012 On Amending Various Oblast Laws. Effective as of the official publication date.).
• Законодательное Собрание Ростовской области. Закон №234-ЗС от 27 декабря 2004 г. «Об установлении границы и наделении статусом городского округа муниципального образования "Город Азов"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Наше время", №339, 29 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast. Law #234-ZS of December 27, 2004 On Establishing the Border and Granting Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the "Town of Azov". Effective as of the official publication date.).

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Azov.

• Unofficial website of Azov (Russian)
• Soviet topographic map 1:100,000

v t e Cities and towns in Rostov Oblast Administrative center: Rostov-on-Don Aksay Azov Bataysk Belaya Kalitva Donetsk Gukovo Kamensk-Shakhtinsky Konstantinovsk Krasny Sulin Millerovo Morozovsk Novocherkassk Novoshakhtinsk Proletarsk Rostov-on-Don Salsk Semikarakorsk Shakhty Taganrog Tsimlyansk Volgodonsk Zernograd Zverevo