Sevastopol Bay

Sevastopol (/ˌsɛvəˈstoʊpəl, sɪˈvæstəpoʊl/ SEV-ə-STOH-pəl, siv-AST-ə-pohl), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base throughout its history. Since the city's founding in 1783, it has been a major base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet. During the Cold War of the 20th century, it was a closed city. The total administrative area is 864 square kilometres (334 sq mi) and includes a significant amount of rural land. The urban population, largely concentrated around Sevastopol Bay, is 479,394, and the total population is 547,820.

Sevastopol, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and under the Ukrainian legal framework, it is administratively one of two cities with special status (the other being Kyiv). However, it has been occupied by Russia since 27 February 2014, before Russia annexed Crimea on 18 March 2014 and gave it the status of a federal city of Russia. Both Ukraine and Russia consider the city administratively separate from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Republic of Crimea, respectively. The city's population has an ethnic Russian majority and a substantial minority of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars.

Inkerman (Russian: Инкерман; Ukrainian: Інкерман; Crimean Tatar: İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is de facto within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but de jure within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within Ukraine. It lies 5 kilometres (3 miles) east of Sevastopol, at the mouth of the Chernaya River which flows into Sevastopol Inlet (also called the North Inlet). Administratively, Inkerman was subordinate to the municipality of Sevastopol, but since September 2023 it de jure became a part of Bakhchysarai Raion of AR Crimea. The city's population is 10,348 (2014 Census).

The name Inkerman is said to mean 'cave fortress' in Turkish.During the Soviet era, the area was known between 1976 and 1991 as Bilokamiansk (Ukrainian: Білокам'янськ) or Belokamensk (Russian: Белокаменск), which literally means 'white stone city', in reference to the soft white stone quarried in the area and commonly used for construction. In 1991 the Ukrainian authorities restored the pre-1976 name.