TheCrimean Peninsula, also known simply asCrimea, is a major land mass on the northern coast of theBlack Seathat is almost completely surrounded by both the Black Sea and the smallerSea of Azovto the northeast. Thepeninsulais located south of theUkrainianregion ofKhersonand west of the Russian region ofKuban.
In 1783, Crimea wasannexedby theRussian Empire. Following theRussian Revolutionof 1917, Crimea became a republic within theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republicin theUSSR, though later, duringWorld War Two, it was downgraded to theCrimean Oblast. In 1954, the Crimean Oblast wastransferredto theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. It became theAutonomous Republic of Crimeawithin newly independent Ukraine in 1991, withSevastopolhaving its own administration, within Ukraine but outside of the Autonomous Republic.