SIMFEROPOL

also spelled Simferopol ', city and administrative centre of Crimea, in southern Ukraine. The city lies along the Salgir River where it emerges from the Crimean Mountains. On the present outskirts of the town is the site of Neapolis, occupied by the Scythians from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD; but modern Simferopol was founded by the Russians in 1784, adjacent to the Tatar settlement of Ak-Mechet, after the annexation of the Crimea. Simferopol has a wide range of food-processing industries and makes wine, tobacco, and cigarettes. There are also light engineering and consumer-goods industries, producing machine tools, armatures, television sets, clothing, and footwear. The town has teacher-training, medical, and agricultural institutes and several research establishments. Pop. (1991 est.) 352,600.