The Ural Mountains, (Russian: Ура́льские го́ры = Ура́л) also known simply as the Urals, are a mountain range that run roughly north and south through western Russia.
The Urals extend 2500 km from the Kazakh steppes along the northern border of Kazakhstan to the coast of the Arctic ocean. The island of Novaya Zemlya forms a further continuation of the chain. Geographically this range marks the northern part of the (arbitrary) border between the continents of Europe and Asia. Its highest peak is Mount Narodnaya (Poznurr, 1895m). Erosion has exposed considerable mineral wealth in the Urals, including gems such as topaz and beryl. The Virgin Komi Forests in the northern Urals is recognized as a World Heritage site.
The Urals are among the world's oldest extant mountain ranges. They were formed in the late Carboniferous period, when a continent consisting largely of Siberia collided with the supercontinent that contained much of the world's land at the time: the combination of Laurussia (Europe and North America) and Gondwana. Europe and Siberia have remained joined together ever since.
Geographers have divided the Urals into five regions: South, Middle, North, Subarctic and Arctic Urals.
