What is a land? It would seem that the word is familiar and understandable. But still it is very ambiguous and therefore interesting. In some cases, it denotes a whole space, and in others - only its extremity. We’ll talk more about what the land is today.
Many interpretations
In dictionaries, as a rule, the following meanings of the word "edge" are indicated:
- The limit, end of an object or phenomenon. Example: “In the process of the game the guys took a big risk: they went to the very edge of the board and jumped down.”
- The outer part of some object, remote from its center at the greatest distance. Example: “All summer the family lived in a cozy holiday house, which was located on the very edge of the forest.”
- Terrain, region, country. Example: “The birds that feed on insects, such as wagtails, are the first to fly to warmer climes. They are followed by granivores (chaffinch, oatmeal, siskin). And the last to fly waterfowl - ducks and geese. "
- In some countries, the region is one of the administrative-territorial units. Example: “The relief of the Krasnodar Territory is very diverse, more than half of its territory is occupied by plains.”
Synonyms
For a better understanding of what a land is, consider synonyms for this word.
- In terms of limitation, these are: extremity, limit, end, periphery, margin, border, edge, border, edge, dash, edge, border, outskirts, boundary, curb, edge.
- In the meaning of determining the locality: region, country, space, territorial unit, district, side, place, region, land.
Origin
According to etymologists, the studied object comes from the Pre-Slavic language, where the word kraj was present, from which came:
- Old Slavic “lands”, as well as Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian “lands” - in the meaning of “end”;
- Slovenian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Upper Luzhsk krà j, Lower Luzhsk kšaj - in the meaning of "land".
There is a connection with the words with alternating vowels, such as "cut, cut."
Phraseologisms
The word under study has a large number of phraseological units. These include such as:
- The end of the world.
- My hut is on the edge.
- I heard from the edge of my ear.
- Separated by the edges.
- At the edge of the abyss.
- On the edge of the grave.
- On the verge of destruction.
- From edge to edge.
- Over the edge.
- Motherland.
- Warmer climes.
- Walk around the edge.
Next, we consider in more detail one of the meanings of the word "edge".
Territorial unit
This, as already mentioned above, is one of the interpretations of the word "edge". Subjects with this name are also present in the Russian Federation; they were also in the Russian Empire and in the USSR. Today, our country is geographically divided into 85 entities, or regions, of which 9 are called territories.
These include such as:
- Altai Territory, the main city of which is Barnaul;
- Khabarovsk (capital - Khabarovsk);
- Kamchatsky (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky);
- Krasnodar (Krasnodar);
- Perm (Perm);
- Krasnoyarsk (Krasnoyarsk);
- Stavropol (Stavropol);
- Transbaikal (Chita);
- Primorsky (Vladivostok).
At the moment, there is no legal difference between the region and the region. But in the Soviet Union, such a difference took place and was recorded in the 1977 Constitution. It consisted in the fact that the autonomous region could be part of either a union republic or a region, but not a region at all.
In conclusion, studying the question of what the land is, let's talk in detail about one of the phraseological units mentioned above.
In the literal and figurative sense
The end of the world. This stable expression can be used both literally and figuratively. In the second case, it is most often found in colloquial speech. In it, it denotes a very distant area, which is meant, for example, when someone wants to escape to the ends of the world from worries and anxieties.
In the literal sense, this is the name of the cape located on the island of Shikotan, in its northeastern part. This island is located on the territory of Russia, in the Sakhalin region. In the Ainu language, widespread in Japan, on the island of Hokkaido, "shikotan" literally means "a large populated place." This is the largest of the islands of the Lesser Range of the Kuril Islands. Its belonging to Russia is disputed by Japan. The population of the island is about 3 thousand people.
Cliff in the ocean
As for Cape End of the World, then, in fact, it is a rock that extends far into the Pacific Ocean and breaks off downwards with fifty-meter ledges. In the second half of the 20th century, she became known to a wide range of tourists and artists. From the cape to the land, located in the southeast direction, about 5.5 thousand kilometers.
When the weather is fine, clear, from this cliff you can see mountains and volcanoes located on the neighboring islands - Iturup and Kunashir. Cape End of the World itself is visible from another cape called Crab, which is the easternmost point of Shikotan. In order to approach the ledges, you have to walk a distance of approximately 10 kilometers.
Such an unusual name for this object was given in 1946 by Yu. K. Efremov. He led the Kuril expedition, which was engaged in the study of the island after it was included in the RSFSR. When the Soviet film was shot, telling about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, inserts with a view of Cape End of the World were included in it.