city (1989 pop. 344,000), capital of the autonomous republic
of Crimea, S Ukraine, on the Salgir River and on the Sevastopol-Kharkiv rail
line. It is a land and water transport hub and a commercial center in the
heart of a truck-farming and fruit-growing region. Industries includefood
processing, wine making, fruit canning, and the manufacture of machinery,
machine tools, power station equipment, and consumer goods. Tourism is also
economically important. Simferopol occupies the site of an ancient Scythian
capital founded (3d cent. BC) by King Skilur as the fortress of Neapolis.
Called Ak-Mechet under Tatar rule (15th-18th cent.), it was renamed Simferopol
after its annexation to Russia in 1784. The city became the capital of the
Crimean Tatar nationalist government in 1918 and of Gen. P. N. Wrangel's White
government in 1920. It was the capital of the Crimean Autonomous SSR from
1921 until 1945.The old section of Simferopol has retained its Turkish appearance.
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