Concept
The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, western Russia, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, Mongolia and Manchuria, with one major exclave, the Pannonian steppe, located mostly in Hungary. Since the Paleolithic age, the Steppe Route has connected Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Western Asia, Central Asia, East Asia and South Asia economically, politically and culturally through overland trade routes. The Steppe route is a predecessor not only of the Silk Road which developed during antiquity and the Middle Ages, but also of the Eurasian Land Bridge in the modern era. It has been home to nomadic empires and many large tribal confederations and ancient states throughout history, such as the Xiongnu, Scythia, Cimmeria, Sarmatia, Hunnic Empire, Sogdia, Xianbei, Mongol Empire and Göktürk Khaganate. The Eurasian Steppe extends for 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) from near the mouth of the Danube almost to the Pacific Ocean. It is bounded on the north by the forests of European Russia, Siberia and Asian Russia. There is no clear southern boundary although the land becomes increasingly dry as one moves south. The steppe narrows at two points, dividing it into three major parts. The Pannonian steppe is an exclave of the Eurasian Steppe belt. It is found in modern-day Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. File:DNV Devinska Kobyla.jpg|[[Devínska Kobyla]], [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]] Image:Puszta Seewinkel.JPG|The [[Pannonian steppe]] in Seewinkel, [[Austria]] File:Thebner Kogel sl14.jpg|The [[Pannonian steppe]] in [[Devínska Kobyla]], [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]] File:Pferde halten das Gras kurz für die Störche.jpg|[[Danube-Auen National Park]], [[Austria]] The Pontic–Caspian steppe begins near the mouth of the Danube and extends northeast almost to Kazan and then southeast to the southern tip of the Ural Mountains.
