plateau lying immediately to the west of the central Ural Mountains in Bashkortostan and in Sverdlovsk oblast (province), west-central Russia. The plateau embraces parts of the basins of the Ufa, Yuryuzan, and Ay rivers. It has a total north-south length of 95 miles (150 km). The plateau varies in elevation from 1,300 to 1,650 feet (400 to 500 m), reaching its highest point at 2,270 feet. It is a gentle anticline of limestones, and its surface is characterized by extensive eroded limestones, or karst, phenomena. It is also underlain by extensive oil deposits.