YALTA

also spelled Jalta, city, Crimea, southern Ukraine. It faces the Black Sea on the southern shore of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlement on the site dates from prehistoric times, but modern Yalta developed only in the early 19th century, becoming a town in 1838. Its favourable climate with mild winters and its scenic location between sea and mountains make Yalta one of the most popular holiday and health resorts of Ukraine, with many hotels and sanatoriums, including one established in 1900 at the instigation of the writer-physician Anton Chekhov. There are fruit-canning and tobacco-processing industries, and wine is produced at the nearby Massandra winery. Yalta is a regular port of call for passenger ships from other Black Sea ports. The city has road links to Simferopol and Sevastopol. In February 1945, during World War II, the three chief Allied leaders met at Yalta in the Livadiya Palace in what became known as the Yalta Conference. Pop. (1991 est.) 89,300.