Migrations as the main factor in the transformation of the settlement system of the Crimean Peninsula[Миграции Населения Как Основной Фактор Трансформации Системы Расселения Крымского Полуострова]

For centuries, people have been moving from place to place for a variety of reasons, which created both permanent and temporary population of the entire habitable space. Due to these migrations, settlements appear and disappear —auls, villages, towns, cities, megapolises, etc. Moreover, migrations create a settlement system of a certain territory, which is gradually transforming. And since each territory has its own features of the social-economic development, the patterns of settlement systems also differ by region. The article considers the evolution of the settlement system of the Crimean Peninsula under the influence of migrations. The settlement systems are compared and analyzed based on the models of the settlement network for different years, which allows to assess the impact of migrations at different stages of the historical development. Over the past 250 years, the settlement system of the Crimean Peninsula has undergone significant changes: from small settlements with foci of animal husbandry—to the medium-sized and in some places large settlements. The author identifies the main stages in the transformation of the settlement network of the Crimean Peninsula and analyzes the development trajectories of some types of settlements.