South Urals: Where Europe Meets Asia

Chelyabinsk region is located in the south of the Ural Mountains, therefore its citizens call themselves “yuzhnouraltsy” (South Urals citizens), and the place where they were born and where they live – South Urals.

This area is unique in its own way, at least for the fact that the borderline between Europe and Asia lies here. It conventionally stretches along the Ural Mountains ridges with rivers on one side flowing west, and on the other side – flowing east. There is even a stone “borderline” monument at Uraltau Pass a few kilometers away from Zlatoust with one side saying “Europe”, and the other – “Asia”. Zlatoust, Katav-Ivanovsk, and Satka are the large European towns of the region, while Chelyabinsk, Troitsk, and Miass are part of Asia, geographically. The second most important city in South Urals, Magnitogorsk, lies in two parts of the world at once!

The area of Chelyabinsk region is 88,500 square kilometers; it stretches 490 km from north to south and 400 km from west to east. The total border length is 2750 km, though on the national scale these distances are too impressive: the region covers just 0.5% of the area of Russia. Meanwhile, it’s larger than Austria or Ireland, and would easily host two Estonias, three Armenias or Albania, Belgium and Holland altogether.

Chelyabinsk region neighbors with Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, and Orenburg regions, as well as with the Republic of Bashkortostan. The Russian national border with Kazakhstan stretches 730 km along the south-west of the region.

From the Primitive Man to Zoroaster

The territory of the modern South Urals attracted the man in different epochs, which is proven by archaeological finds.

Thus, the walls of the Ignatiev Cave near Katav-Ivanovsk still keep the images of primitive people hunting mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses. Scientists keep on finding staging posts of hunters that tamed first animals here and mined copper ore on the shores of Ural lakes in the V-IV millennia B.C. Contemporaries of Ancient Greeks and Romans, the legendary Sarmatian warriors, used to roam in local steppes… But the most enigmatic and still unexplored place in South Urals is, probably, Vera Island on Lake Turgoyak. A unique 5000-year-old temple complex made of stone connected with sun and calendar cults was found here. This year, Vera Island received a UNESCO Diploma and became an official site for international routes of this organization.

However, another archaeological monument, Arkaim, is more renowned in Russia and throughout the world. It is a fortified Bronze Age settlement where urban culture was originating in the XVIII–XVI centuries B.C. It is a thousand years older than the legendary Troy. Scientists compare Arkaim with the famous Stonehenge in Great Britain and suppose that this fortress used to be one of the world cultural centers, a fore-motherland of the Aryans, worshippers of fire. There is even a bold hypothesis that this is the birthplace of Zoroaster – one of the legendary figures in the history of mankind.

The Glory of Craftsmen and Soldiers

The modern glory of South Urals is connected with industrial development of the local lands that generally began during the reign of Peter the Great. Then, the people realized how rich the Urals were with mineral resources and began founding the first plants at deposits. Some of them are still in operation. The labor here was physically challenging and exhausting, but Ural craftsmen found inspiration for unique South Urals crafts.

The armory in Zlatoust which manufactured cold steel for the Russian army gave birth to Zlatoust steel engraving. It is a fancy gold and silver thread engraving against blue background. Initially, it was used for decorating blades, today – for writing utensils, cigarette cases, cups or paintings. Ivan Bushuev, one of the founders of this art, even became a prototype of the legendary craftsman Ivanko-Krylatko in Bazhov’s fairy tales.

The iron foundry in Kasli that belonged to several generations of the well-known Demidov manufacturer family gave birth to an original ornamental casting named “kaslinskoye”. It is a remarkable example of human victory over metal: sculptures, grates, architectural bronze and cast iron elements with an inimitable graphic detail of shapes, thoroughly elaborated elements and energetic game of flares. This art gained universal acclaim back in 1800 at Paris Fair. Today kaslinskoye casting, along with Zlatoust steel engraving, is one of the best gifts to take home from the Urals.

When rich gold deposits were found in the city of Plast, South Urals became a land of gold-workers. The border town of Troitsk made the Urals famous for its fair, third in Russia in turnover of goods. The glory of Troitsk as a center of exchange trade spread from Edinburgh to Shanghai.

By the way, the map of Chelyabinsk region features such names as Paris, Berlin, Varna, and Fиre-Champenoise. These are the repercussions of the XIX century history, when Orenburg Cossacks returning from military marches in Europe settled in South Urals steppes and named their settlements after the cities where the Russian army had won a victory.

Industrial Power

Chelyabinsk region today is an important industrial center and a large transportation and trade hub located on major automobile and rail roads linking central Russia with Siberia.

This transition happened to the region during World War II when numerous plants were evacuated here from the west of the country. The Urals was kept outside the hostilities and could safely make weapons for the front.

Now Chelyabinsk region has about three hundred deposits of mineral raw materials. It holds monopoly in Russia in mining and processing black lead (95%), magnesium carbonate (95%), furnace dolomite (71%) and talcum (70%). Its entrails contain significant reserves of gold. Located here is one of the world’s largest Satka magnesium carbonates deposit, the European-largest Koelga deposit of white marbles, as well as Russia’s only deposit of kaolin clays used in production of thin ceramics, china, and delft.

Meanwhile, the regional economy is driven by the metallurgical complex: it accounts for over 60% of industrial output. Next in importance is machine building with tractors, trucks, bulldozers, motor graders, cranes, trams, instrumentation and mining equipment.

The region also takes pride in its largest nuclear industry centers in Snezhinsk and Ozersk, as well as in rocket-making and space engineering.

Land of Steppes, Woods, and Mountains

The relief and climate of Chelyabinsk region have been forming for millions of years. There was a time when this area was under a boundless sea with underground volcanoes. Today one can witness immense steppes, hilly plains spotted with lots of lakes, and mountains over a thousand meters high.

By general features, the climate of Chelyabinsk region is moderate continental. Precipitation mainly depends on the passing cyclones. Summer in South Urals is warm enough to swim in the numerous lakes – there are over 3000 of them. The cleanest is Lake Turgoyak near the city of Miass. It is on the list of the world’s most precious water bodies. This is a storage of the cleanest drinking water matching Lake Baikal waters in quality. One can see the bottom even at the depth of 15–20 meters – it is the most transparent lake in the Urals.

Winters in South Urals are rather cold and snowy (especially in steppe areas); therefore recent years have seen successful development of Alpine skiing resorts. Their total number is over twenty; the largest – Abzakovo, Adzhigardak, Zaviyalikha, Metallurg-Magnitogorsk – comply with the highest European standards and enjoy popularity with both Russian and international visitors.

No matter what the season is, the locals like to go to the country: to sanatoriums, resorts or simply to with a tent to a river or a forest. They love fishing, hunting (there are even bears and elks in the local woods). The nature here is so varied and beautiful that it makes you fall in love with it once and for ever. A tenth of the area of the region is occupied by protected territories including many preserved areas. Among them is the Ilmensky Reserve with an amazing collection of minerals stored in its museum. However, the Ural Mountains – Zyuratkul and Taganay National Parks – remain number one for hiking.

Inborn Hospitality

With 3.5 million citizens, Chelyabinsk region is ranked ninth in Russia in population. Almost 80% are urban citizens.

As South Urals lies where Europe meets Asia, the region is a multinational one. Most of the population is Russian (82.3%). There are also many Tatars (5.7%) and Bashkirs (4.6%), Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Germans, Byelorussians, Mordovians, Armenians, Azerbaijani, Tajiks, Jews, Gypsies, Georgians… Representatives of various nationalities and confessions feel at home here and share the best traditions of their nations with each other. For this reason, any guests from other regions and countries are always welcome in the South Urals land!

Irina Gollay