Mode	Comments
Air	There are several domestic airlines that connect Simferopol to other cities in Ukraine.  There is also an airport at Sevastopol (named Belbek, code UKFS)
Road	There is one main highway connecting the Crimea to the rest of Ukraine.  See distance table below.  These distances are based on main roads wherever possible.  For distances to other cities in Ukraine, compute the distances through Kiev.
Train	Good trains connect Simferopol to  Kiev and other cities in Ukraine.

Road distances from Simferopol to:

City	Oblast	Kilometers	Miles
Dnepropetrovsk	Dnepropetrovsk	410	255
Donetsk	Donetsk	510	317
Kharkiv	Kharkiv	640	398
Kherson	Kherson	385	239
Kiev	Kiev	904	561
Kirovograd	Kirovograd	657	408
Lugansk	Lugansk	649	403
Melitopol	Zaporizhia	191	119
Mykolaiv	Mykolaiv	358	222
Odessa	Odessa	491	305
Poltava	Poltava	618	384
Sumy	Sumy	719	447
Zaporizhia	Zaporizhia	304	189

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Geographic Information

Area - 864 sq. km.
Population 400,000

The city of Sevastopol is located in the southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula.

The territory, where the central part of the city is located, is mountainous with large number of deep sea, well protected bays, that have favorable navigable waterways and transport landfalls.

Mineral raw materials are represented by flux, powdered and marble limestone.

Almost subtropical climate, combined with large number of sand and pebble beaches, warm sea and picturesque landscapes, is the most valued component of the city territory.

The historical heritage of Sevastopol is extremely interesting. Founded on the territory of antique Chersonese, where in 988 the Kyivan prince Volodymyr was converted to Christianity, Sevastopol stands out as the place of imperishable orthodoxy teachings of Apostle Andrey and traditions of the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet Cyril and Mephody.

There are up to 1,800 historic memorials, among which are the world famous Chersonese Taurica, Panorama of the Heroic Defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855, Crimean War Memorial, etc.

Under the Soviet times Sevastopol was a "closed city." The Decree of the Ukrainian Government of 1995 "opened" the city and allowed the foreigners and foreign ships to come into the city. back to top

Agriculture

Agricultural complex of the region specializes in gardening, vine and vegetable growing. Sevastopol is one of the most important vine growing regions of Ukraine. High quality and variety distinguish the local varieties of grape. 1/3 of all the Crimean vineyards is concentrated in Sevastopol. The rich facilities for wine making as well as experience in this branch make the city the supplier of the best table and sparkling wines in Ukraine. back to top

Industry The basic industries in the city are engineering, metalworking, light industry and food production. Sevastopol is now the biggest Ukrainian center of fish, refrigerator and scientific research fleet with a well developed ship repairing and radio electronic industry. There are almost 5,000 industrial enterprises within the city, the largest being large fishing and fish processing plants. Annual production capacity of floating and coastal canning ships is millions cans and tons of smoke, stock, and pickled fish. Practically, the whole Ukrainian transport refrigerator fleet is concentrated in Sevastopol, and makes up 4 per cent of the world total. Six plants, capable of repairing ships of all classes and types constitute ship repairing potentials of the city. The most powerful sea floating cranes of the former USSR with carrying capacity from 100 to 1,600 t were constructed at the Ordzhonikidze Sea Works. The biggest in Europe dry dock (250 m) is also located at these works.
Significant share of the city's industrial output relates to the defense radio electronic and instrument making enterprises.

A noticeable role is played by Balaklava Ore Plant which produces metallurgical limestone and building materials: crushed rock, marble crumb, rubble stone, etc. Some city enterprises receive building stone from Inkerman; the products are often exported to many countries of the world.

Clothing and textile industries are also available, their goods suiting markets of many oblasts of Ukraine.back to top

Transport and Communications


Transportation system of the city includes 6 railway stations with 35 km of approach lines capable of handling up to 600 freight cars per day. Traffic capacity is 46 trains in both directions daily. Railway roads and cul-de-sac stations are connected with almost all Sevastopol bays, through which cargo transfer is carried out.

Two main automobile highways Sevastopol-Simferopol (traffic capacity is 18,000 units a day), and Sevastopol-Yalta of the same traffic capacity link Sevastopol with all the regions of the Crimea. A 30 km mooring line is well developed and it includes more than 100 berths in the city, part of which are deep water piers equipped to load large capacity vessels with 10-12 m. draft.

Sevastopol sea trade and fish ports carry out different cargo transfers, including 1 million t of petroleum products a year.
Two first class airports (with 3,2 km runways) are situated within the city and can serve air liners and carriers of all types. Belbek Airport (UKFS) can handle 500 t of cargo and 500 passengers per day.

Foreign economic relations with other countries are constantly widening. There are up to 100 joint ventures registered in the city. The city enterprises export to 50 countries of the world and import from 48 countries.

The structure of exports combines fish and fish products (55%), canned fish (34%), the balance being the produce of ferrous metallurgy, ship engines and spare parts, etc. The imports include goods of non ferrous metallurgy, varnishes, paints, cable, plastic goods, video equipment, measuring instruments, perfumes, cosmetics, oil and diesel fuels, lubricants, etc. back to top