Crimea

Republic of Crimea Qırım Cumhuriyeti (Crimean Tatar)
Flag
Motto:  "Yedinstvodaki refah" (Crimean Tatar) "Prosperity in unity"
Anthem:  "Ant etkenman" (Crimean Tatar) I Pledge! a
Capital	Baghche-Saray (legislative) Şaydakbaşı (executive) Nogaykermen (judicial)
Largest city	Aqyar
Official languages	Crimean Tatar
Recognised regional languages	Greek, Russian, Novorussian
Demonym(s)	Crimean
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.qr

Crimea (Crimean Tatar: Qırım), officially Republic of Crimea (Crimean Tatar: Qırım Cumhuriyeti), is a country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Black Sea. It is composed of 24 provinces and four autonomous cities, Aqyar and Şaydakbaşı, the largest and second largest city, Baghche-Saray, the capital of Crimea, and Nogaykermen, which is under Cossackian occupation. It occupies 106,709 square km (41,201 square miles) and it has a population of around ten and a half million. It is bordered by Ukraine and Gothia to the west, Novorussia to the north, and Russia to the southeast.

Crimea (or the Tauric Peninsula, as it was called from antiquity until the early modern period) has historically been at the boundary between the classical world and the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Its southern fringe was colonised by the Greeks, the Persians, the Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the Crimean Goths, the Genoese and the Ottoman Empire, while at the same time its interior was occupied by a changing cast of invading steppe nomads and empires, such as the Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Goths, Alans, Bulgars, Huns, Khazars, Kipchaks, Mongols and the Golden Horde.

Crimea as an independent country was formed in 1441, with the struggle for independence from Golden Horde. Crimean Khanate, the predecessor of the modern republic, would enter an Ottoman protectorate in 1475 during a succession crisis. For centuries, Crimea would be in a struggle with neighboring hordes and Russian entities. During Russo-Turkish War of 1768-74, Crimea would get its independence from Russia with Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, only to be annexed by Russia in 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1783, the Crimean Khanate was annexed by the Russian Empire as the result of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), and it was spited into two parts, The Crimean Khanate and Taurida Governate. Modern Crimea was formed in the aftermath of World War I, when Crimean politicians and activists declared independence from the Russian Empire and the formation of the Crimean People's Republic. In the first stages of the Eastern Front of World War II, Crimea was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany and again by the Soviets, becoming a constituent socialist republic.

When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Crimea regained its independence. The Crimean government-in-exile and much of the Crimean diaspora returned, quickly establishing Crimea as a haven of development and human rights on the Black Sea. Within the last twenty years Crimea has grown its economy, expanded its development, and aligned itself with Germany and the United States, causing tensions with Russia. Since The First Cossack-Crimean War that lasted from 2012-2013, the eastern half of Crimea has been under Russian and Cossack occupation.

Today, Crimea is a unitary presidential republic and developed nation with a strong and social-market economy. It ranks 21st highest country in GDP per capita and 27th in World Bank Development Index. While still pursuing conglomeratist agenda and trying to revolutionize monarchical organization, Crimea would be considered as a flawed democracy, and be ranked as 57th in Democracy Index. Crimea is a member of the United Nations, NATO, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Turkic Council.