The North Ural

Territory of the North Ural

stretches for 500 km from mountain Kosvin Stone (59° 30' n. lat.) in the South to mountain Telposiz (64° n. lat.) in the North. The total territory is about 90000 square kilometers.

The North Ural is situated in taiga. It is covered with forests and boggy lowlands.
Plant life includes pine-trees, larch, cedar and fir.
As for animal life, it includes sable, marten, otter, ermine, squirrel and fox. Waters of the rivers Pechora, Kama, and North Sosva are full of fishes: salmon, herring and others.

The North Ural has deposits of oil, shale oil, gas, coal, peat, rock crystal, gold, lead, rock salt. The total width of the mountain zone is about 50-60 km and, including submountain chine, 80-100 km. The most prominent mountain range in the northern part is the mountain ridge Telposskiy. Some of its peaks rise to 1300 meters above the sea level (Telposiz – 1617 m, Horaiz – 1326 m). There are traces of ancient ice in the form of huge boulders, iced lakes. Steep slopes of the range are speckled with hollows. There are glaciers, picturesque lakes and snow on the bottom of these hollows. The range's peculiarity is the great difference of steepness between the western and eastern slopes.

The North Ural climate is continental with long severe winter and short cool summer.

Severe climate of the North Ural is determined by its geographical latitude position, considerable width of the mountain zone and its relief. Many rivers of the North Ural flow into the Caspian, Barencevo and Karskoe Seas. The main rivers are the Kama River and the Pechora Rivera.

The South Ural

The South Ural territory

is about 143,6 thousand square km. It stretches 550 km from north to south and 450 km from west to east. This territory is located at moderate latitudes between 51°31' и 56°25' n. lat. and 53° 10' и 60°00' e. long., where all season are presented clearly. There are all landscapes, such as mountains, plains, forests, steeps and tundra. There are steep slopes, waterfalls, springs, and fast rivers disappearing in the grass, coniferous and hardwood, caves with pictures of ancient people, eternal frost, calcium baths. Some of these ancient caves may be many kilometers in length.

The South Ural attracts by its amazingly beautiful nature, numerous rivers, healing springs, birch-woods, floodplain lakes and storage ponds. The South Ural is rich with oil, gas, iron ore, manganese ore, chromites and sulfur ore, bauxite, coal and brown coal, shale oil, peat, gold, phosphorous, salt, ochre, mica. Various building materials also can be found here: sandstones, limestone, till, sands, pebble, loam, anhydride, granite and other treasures of the soil. It's well known that the real treasures of the South Ural are mineral resources and healing mud.

The climate is continental, moderate warm. The average year temperature is 0,1° - 2,8°, the average temperature of the coldest month is 14,0°, — 16,9°, and +16,1°, +19,7° of the warmest month.
The main rivers of the Ural are the Sakmara, the Kizil, the Jangelka and many others. Rivers flow slowly along the vast floodplains, curving and rolling. They go downhill in the mountainous region, that's why there are many waterfalls and rapids. Moreover, these rivers are of great navigation importance.

The South Ural's

soil is typical for the south, mainly, it is leached black earth.
There are 20 kinds of trees: fir, pine-tree, oak, lime-tree, birch, asp, poplar, maple, elm, alder and others. Bogs and marshes occupy about 70 thousand hectares.

Flora consists of 120 kinds of herbs registered by the scientists and 200 kinds of herbs, used in folk medicine. There are 380 kinds of honeyed and 25 kinds of fruit and berry plants.

Fauna is presented by bear, wolf, lynx, fox, badger, marten, ermine, polecat, mink, raccoon, squirrel, otter, beaver, hare, elk, roe, partridge, black grouse, hazel grouse, wood grouse, wild duck, grey goose, wood cock, swan, crane, bustard, quail. There are about 80 kinds of animals, 37 sorts of fishes and 200 kinds of birds.

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