A region and peninsula of southern Ukraine on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. In ancient times it was colonized by Greeks and Romans and later overrun by Ostrogoths, Huns, and Mongols. Conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1475, the area was annexed by Russia in 1783. The peninsula was the scene of the Crimean War (1853-1856), in which a coalition of English, French, and Turkish troops defeated the Russians, although Crimea itself did not change hands. An autonomous Russian republic after 1921, it was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954. In 2014, in an internationally disputed referendum, Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and reintegrate with Russia.