Reunification of Crimea with Russia: socio-historical, political and socio-cultural background

The article reveals the role and importance of Crimea in the history of Russia, shows the conflicts associated with the changing status of the Peninsula within the Russian Empire, the USSR, independent Ukraine and the Russian Federation, emphasizes the legal legitimacy of the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014, which has a clearly defined spatial character. It is noted that the will of the Crimean regional community in addressing the issue of the referendum on reunification with Russia was expressed primarily due to the preserved socio - cultural and spiritual-historical components, the consolidation around which is a huge potential for reintegration, and in the future, and the full adaptation of the Crimeans to their active participation in solving the problems Of the strategy of spatial development of Russia until 2030. The author emphasizes that the South of Russia and the associated Crimea are the emerging single South Russian megalopolis, which requires complex socio-economic and sociological research with direct access to political and management practices of spatial development.