View source for Arabat Spit

{{Short description|Narrow spit of land of East Crimea, Ukraine}}
{{Infobox landform
| name              = Arabat Spit
| native_name       = {{native name list
 |tag1=uk|name1=Арабатська стрілка
 |tag2=ru|name2=Арабатская стрелка
 |tag3=crh|name3=Arabat beli
}}
| type              = [[Spit (landform)|Spit]]
| photo             = Arabat arrow.jpg
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| map = Ukraine Crimea#Ukraine
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| location          = [[Henichesk Raion]], [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea]], Ukraine/Russian Federation (disputed{{#tag:ref|The status of the [[Crimea]] and of the city of [[Sevastopol]] is currently [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|under dispute between Russia and Ukraine]]; Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider the Crimea to be an [[autonomous republic]] of Ukraine and Sevastopol to be one of Ukraine's [[cities with special status]], while Russia, on the other hand, considers the Crimea to be a [[federal subject of Russia]] and Sevastopol to be one of Russia's three [[federal cities of Russia|federal cities]] since the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|March 2014 annexation of Crimea]] by Russia.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news |last=Gutterman |first=Steve |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140318 |title=Putin signs Crimea treaty, will not seize other Ukraine regions |date=18 March 2014 |agency=Reuters.com |access-date=26 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Ukraine crisis timeline BBC">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248275 |title=Ukraine crisis timeline |date=13 November 2014 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=22 June 2023}}</ref>|group=nb}})
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[[File:Arabatskaya strelka.JPG|thumb|260px|The southern part of the spit viewed from [[Arabat Fortress]]]]
[[File:Арабатская_стрелка_2019.jpg|thumb|upright|Aerial view of the spit between the Syvash lagoons (left) and Sea of Azov (right)]]
The '''Arabat Spit''' ({{langx|uk|Арабатська коса}}; {{langx|ru|Арабатская коса}}; {{langx|crh|Arabat beli}}), or '''Arabat Arrow''' ({{langx|ru|Арабатская стрелка|link=no}}), is a [[spit (landform)|barrier spit]] that separates the large, shallow, salty [[Syvash]] lagoons from the [[Sea of Azov]]. The spit runs between the [[Henichesk Strait]] in the north and the north-eastern shores of [[Crimea]] in the south.<ref>Semenov, p. 624.</ref> It is the largest of several [[spits of the Sea of Azov]].

==Name==
The spit is commonly called the Arabat Arrow ({{langx|uk|Арабатська стрілка}}, ''Arabatska strilka''; {{langx|crh|Arabat beli}}; {{langx|ru|Арабатская стрелка}}, ''Arabatskaya strelka'') in Russia and Ukraine. It has been called an "arrow" since at least the middle of the 19th century.

The ''Arabat'' part of the name comes from the [[Arabat Fortress]], a 17th-century Turkish fort at the southern end of the spit. "Arabat" derives from either Arabic "rabat" meaning a "military post" or Arabic "rabad" meaning a "suburb".<ref name=fort>{{cite web |url=http://azov.kiev.ua/ex_Krepost.html |title=Arabat Fortress |language=Russian |access-date=2016-11-25 |archive-date=2014-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323164057/http://www.azov.kiev.ua/ex_Krepost.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Geography and geology==
The Arabat Arrow is {{convert|112|km|mi|abbr=on}} long,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPMnAQAAIAAJ&q=112+km+arabat|page=112|title=Geography of the Soviet Union: Physical features|author=Petrov, V.P.|year=1964}}</ref> and from {{convert|0.270|to|8|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} wide.<ref name=kki>{{cite book |language=ru |title=Azov Sea |url=http://azov.tv/azovsea.html |author=V. I. Borisov and E. I. Kapitonov|publisher=KKI|year=1973|access-date=2010-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917112747/http://azov.tv/azovsea.html |archive-date=2010-09-17 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=bse1>{{GSEn|101888|Сиваш}}</ref> Its surface area is {{convert|395|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and thus the average width is {{convert|3.5|km|mi|abbr=on}}. The spit is low and straight on the Azov Sea side, whereas its Sivash side is more convoluted. It contains two areas which are {{convert|7|–|8|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} wide and have brown-clay hills. They are located {{convert|7.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} and {{convert|32|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the Henichesk Strait.<ref name=p1>{{cite book |language= |author=Shutov |url=http://www.onixtour.com.ua/books/2689ii97/part01.htm |title=Арабатка курортная, Part 1 |trans-title= |access-date=2010-06-17 |archive-date=2013-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204000912/http://www.onixtour.com.ua/books/2689ii97/part01.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=b1>Semenov, p.111</ref>

The top layers of other parts of the spit are formed by sand and shells washed by the flows of the Azov Sea. Its vegetation mostly consists of various weed grasses, [[Prunus spinosa|thorn]], [[Festuca|festuce]] grasses, [[Stipa|spear grass]], [[crambe]], [[salsola]], [[salicornia]], [[Carex colchica]], [[Tamarix|tamarisk]], [[rose hip]], [[liquorice]], etc.<ref name=p1/><ref name=b1/> 

Offshore water is shallow with the depth reaching {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} only some {{convert|100|–|200|m|ft|abbr=on}} from the shore.<ref>{{cite book |language=ru |url=http://azov.kiev.ua/ |title=Арабатская стрелка |trans-title= |access-date=2010-06-17 |archive-date=2011-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222203330/http://azov.kiev.ua/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Its temperature is around {{convert|0|C|F|abbr=on}} in winter (near freezing), {{convert|10|–|15|C|F|abbr=on}} in spring and autumn, and {{convert|25|–|30|C|F|abbr=on}} in summer; air temperature is almost the same.<ref>{{cite book |language= |author=Shutov |url=http://www.onixtour.com.ua/books/2689ii97/part05.htm |title=Арабатка курортная, Part 5 |trans-title= |access-date=2010-06-17 |archive-date=2013-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204000923/http://www.onixtour.com.ua/books/2689ii97/part05.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The spit is very young and was created by sedimentation processes around 1100–1200 AD.<ref name=p4>{{cite book |language= |author=Shutov |url=http://www.onixtour.com.ua/books/2689ii97/part04.htm |title=Немного геологии (Part 4) |trans-title= |access-date=2010-06-17 |archive-date=2013-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204000908/http://www.onixtour.com.ua/books/2689ii97/part04.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The {{ill|Arabatsky Reserve|uk|Арабатський заказник}} is located in the southern part of the spit and the adjacent area of Crimea, together with the adjacent aquatory.

==History==
The Arabat Arrow was wild until 1835 when a road and five stations at {{convert|25|–|30|km|mi|abbr=on}} intervals were built along it for postal delivery. Later in the 19th century, 25 rural and 3 military settlements and one village named Arabat appeared on the spit. The rural population amounted to some 235 people whose occupation was mostly fishing, farming, and salt production. The latter activity is traditional for the region due to the vast areas of shallow and very saline water in the [[Sivash]] lagoons. Salt production in the 19th century was about {{convert|24,000|tonnes/year|ST/year|abbr=off}} on the Arabat Arrow alone.<ref name=b1/>

During the [[Deportation of the Crimean Tatars|deportation of Crimean Tatars on May 18, 1944]], most of the [[Crimean Tatars|Tatars]] were forcibly transported from Crimea to Central Asia in freight wagons. The Soviet authorities tried to drown the Crimean Tatars from the Arabat spit in the sea on a barge, and those who tried to swim ashore were shot.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-18 |title=У Львові вшанували пам'ять жертв депортації кримських татар |url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-regions/3248144-u-lvovi-vsanuvali-pamat-zertv-deportacii-krimskih-tatar.html |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=www.ukrinform.ua |language=uk}}</ref>{{unreliable source|date=March 2025}}

Nowadays, the spit is a health resort and its Azov Sea side is used as a beach.

While the spit is geophysically part of the Crimean Peninsula, politically its northern half belongs to [[Kherson Oblast]], [[Ukraine]], while its southern portion is located within the boundaries of the [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea]], a territory internationally recognized as part of Ukraine, which came under [[Russian occupation of Crimea|Russian military occupation]] in 2014. Since then, the [[Russian Federation]] administers the peninsula as the [[Republic of Crimea (Russia)|Republic of Crimea]].<ref name="Reuters"/><ref name="Ukraine crisis timeline BBC"/> The entirety of the spit was occupied during the annexation, although Russia withdrew its forces from the northern Kherson side in December 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/rossiya_ubrala_voyska_s_arabatskoy_strelki |publisher=Ukrinform |script-title=ru:Россия убрала войска с Арабатской стрелки |trans-title=Russian troops removed from the Arabat Spit |language=ru |date=9 December 2014 |access-date=14 April 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717040912/http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/rossiya_ubrala_voyska_s_arabatskoy_strelki |archive-date=17 July 2015 }}</ref> The entire spit came under Russian control on 25 February 2022, one day after Russia launched its [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|full-scale invasion of Ukraine]].{{cn|date=February 2024}}

==Populated places==
The rural communities of [[Henicheska Hirka]], [[Shchaslyvtseve]] and [[Strilkove]] are located in the northern section of the spit, within the [[Kherson Oblast]]. The village of {{ill|Solyane|uk|Соляне}} is located in the southern part of the spit, administered as part of the [[Republic of Crimea (Russia)|Republic of Crimea]].

== Tourism ==
Arabat Spit is a popular place for summer vacation among Ukrainians because of the warm water of the Sea of Azov. There are a variety of hotels and guesthouses on the first line of the sea. Arabat Spit is popular among [[Kiteboarding|kitesurfers]] and [[Windsurfing|windsurfers]].

==See also==
*[[Bay of Arabat]]
*[[Barrier island]]
*[[List of spits of Ukraine]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlEFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA111|language=ru|title=Geografichesko-statisticheskìĭ slovar' Rossìĭskoĭ imperìi  |trans-title=Geographical-statistical dictionary of Russian Empire |author=Semenov, Petr Petrovich |publisher=Oxford University|year=1862}}
*Shutov, Yu. "Арабатская стрелка" (in Russian) Tavria, 1983

==External links==
{{Commons category|Arabat Spit}}

{{Crimea topics}}
{{Tourist attractions in Crimea}}
{{Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Spits of Crimea]]
[[Category:Spits of the Sea of Azov]]
[[Category:Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation]]
[[Category:Kherson Oblast in the Russo-Ukrainian war]]