Taurida without Tauridians: Specificity of North Black Sea Region Inhabitants’ Local Identity

Abstract

The names, which contain in their composition a word “Taurida/Tavria” and its derivatives, become more spread in the southern regions of Ukraine last time. The sphere of its usage turned out very wide: from the locality names to consumer goods. The data of pilot resource suggests that this process bounds with formation of new local identity in the region. The toponym “Taurida/Tavria” now is taken as a synonym of Southern part of Ukraine (from Odessa to Zaporizhzhia oblast). Now Tavria has an unofficial center – Kherson city, own heroes – prince Potemkin-Tavricheski or Dmytro Dontsov and numerous markers – mainly the regional brands. According to the number and variety of the brands, we can state that the marketing strategies in particular made the good openings for spreading of “Tauridian/Tavrian” identity. Its current geography considerably exceeds the bounds of historical “Taurida/Tavria” and its origin (Crimean Peninsula) may fall out of the list of current territories. The new vector of toponym “Taurida/Tavria” development is based on its original name, which can be divided in two detached toponyms – Tavria (North Black Sea and Azov Sea Region) and Taurida (Crimea).