(Redirected from Pontic steppe)
The term 'Pontic-Caspian steppe' summarizes the vast
steppelands stretching from north of the
Black Sea as far as the east of the
Caspian Sea, from central
Ukraine across the
Southern and
Volga Federal Districts of
Russia to western
Kazakhstan. The area corresponds to
Scythia and
Sarmatia of
Classical antiquity. The Pontic-Caspian steppe is part of the
Euro-Asian Steppe.
Geography and ecology
The Pontic steppe covers an area of 994,000 square kilometers (383,800 square miles), extending from eastern
Romania across southern
Moldova,
Ukraine,
Russia and northwestern
Kazahkstan to the
Ural Mountains. The Pontic steppe is bounded by the
East European forest steppe to the north, a transitional zone of mixed grasslands and
temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. To the south, the Pontic steppe extends to the Black Sea, excepting the Crimean and western Caucasus mountains' border with the sea, where the
Crimean Submediterranean forest complex defines the southern edge of the steppes. The steppe extends to the western shore of the Caspian Sea in the
Dagestan region of Russia, but the drier
Caspian lowland desert lies between the Pontic steppe and the northwestern and northern shores of the Caspian. The
Kazakh Steppe bounds the Pontic steppe on the southeast.

Much of the steppe has excellent soil and it is a major grain-producing region.
Prehistoric cultures
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Sredny Stog culture 4500-3500 BC
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Yamna/
Kurgan culture 3500-2300 BC
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Catacomb culture 3000-2200 BC
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Srubna culture 1600-1200 BC
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Novocherkassk culture 900-650 BC
Historical nations
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Cimmerians 8th-7th c. BC
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Scythians 8th-4th c. BC
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Sarmatians 5th c. BC to 5th c. AD
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Goths 3rd-6th c.
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Bulgars 3rd-6th c.
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Huns 4th-8th c.
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Alans 5th-11th c. AD
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Eurasian Avars 6th-8th c.
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Göktürks 6th-8th c.
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Onogurs 8th c.
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Sabirs 6th-8th c.
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Khazars 6th-11th c.
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Pechenegs 8th-11th c.
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Kipchaks and
Cumans 11th-13th c.
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Golden Horde 13th-15th c.
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Cossacks 14th-18th c.
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Crimean Khanate,
Volga Tatars,
Nogais and other
Turkic states and tribes 15th-18th c.
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Russian Empire 18th-20th c.
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Soviet Union 20th c.
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Moldova,
Kazakhstan,
Russian Federation,
Ukraine 20th c.-present
See also
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Eurasian Steppe
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Kurgan hypothesis
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Ukrainian stone stela
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Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
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Ukrainian LGM refuge
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Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA)
External links
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Pontic steppe (World Wildlife Fund)
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google maps