North Caucasus | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 43°21′18″N42°26′31″E / 43.35500°N 42.44194°E |
Countries | |
Federal subjects and mkhares | |
Demonym | North Caucasian |
Time Zones | UTC+03:00 |
Highest mountain | Elbrus (5,642 metres (18,510 ft)) |
The North Caucasus, [lower-alpha 1] or Ciscaucasia, [lower-alpha 2] is a region in Eastern Europe, governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which forms the natural border between Europe and West Asia. It is bordered by the Sea of Azov and Black Sea to the west, the Caspian Sea to the east, and the Caucasus Mountains to the south. The region shares land borders with the South Caucasus countries of Georgia and Azerbaijan. [lower-alpha 3] Krasnodar is the largest city within the North Caucasus.
A region of Russia since the 18th century, the North Caucasus is today politically divided between a number of Russian republics and krais. It lies north of the Main Caucasian Range, which separates it from the South Caucasus. As part of Russia, the territory falls within the North Caucasian and Southern Federal Districts and consists of Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, and the constituent republics, approximately from west to east: the Republic of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia–Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Republic of Dagestan and to the north: Kalmykia. [1]
Geographically, the term North Caucasus also refers to the northern slope and western extremity of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, as well as a part of its southern slope to the West. The Pontic–Caspian steppe area is often also encompassed under the notion of a Ciscaucasus region, thus the northern boundary of the Forecaucasus steppe or Nogai steppe is generally considered to be the Manych River. Owing to its mild climate compared to much of Russia, the region has been described as Russia's "sunbelt". [2]
Ancient cultures of the Northern Caucasus are known as Klin-Yar community, with one of the most notable cultures being the ancient Koban culture. [3]
Ciscaucasus was historically covered by the Pontic–Caspian steppe, mostly on fertile calcareous chernozyom soils, which has been almost completely tilled and grazed. It is bounded by the Sea of Azov on the west, and the Caspian Sea on the east. According to the Concise Atlas of the World, Second Edition (2008), the Ciscaucasus region lies on the European side of the "commonly-accepted division" that separates Europe from Asia.
The Northern Caucasus was conquered by Russia after the Russo-Circassian War. Much of the Northern Caucasus seceded from Russia in March 1917 as the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, taking advantage of the instability caused by the February Revolution and becoming a minor participant in the Russian Civil War. Mountainous Republic troops engaged in fierce clashes against the invading White General Anton Denikin's Volunteer Army, before the latter's defeat at the hands of the Red Army. The region was informally occupied by the Soviet Union shortly afterwards, and the republic was forced into accepting a nonviolent annexation in January 1921. It was reformed into the Mountainous ASSR, which was later dissolved in October 1924, replaced by a series of autonomous Okrugs and Oblasts.
The outer border of the Soviet Union's North Caucasus Krai was the same as that of present-day North Caucasus Economic Region (Raion) which includes an oblast (Rostov Oblast), two krais (Krasnodar Krai and Stavropol Krai), and seven republics. The former North Caucasus Military District (Okrug) also included Astrakhan Oblast, Volgograd Oblast, and the Republic of Kalmykia. Its administrative center was Rostov-on-Don until 10 January 1934, Pyatigorsk until January 1936, then Ordzhonikidze (today Vladikavkaz) and, from 15 December 1936, Voroshilovsk (today Stavropol).
The North Caucasus region experienced widespread unrest and insurgency after the fall of the Soviet Union, including a low-level armed conflict between Russia and militants associated with the Caucasus Emirate and, from June 2015, the Islamic State. [4] [5] [6]
The insurgency became relatively dormant in its later years. [5] [6] During its peak, the violence was mostly concentrated in the North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. Occasional incidents happened in surrounding regions, such as North Ossetia–Alania, Karachay-Cherkessia, Stavropol Krai, and Volgograd Oblast.
While the insurgency was officially declared over on 19 December 2017 when FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov announced the final elimination of the insurgent underground in the North Caucasus, [7] counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus have not ended. [8] In June 2022, the US State Department advised citizens not to travel to the North Caucasus, including Chechnya and Mount Elbrus, due to terrorism, kidnapping and risk of civil unrest. [9]
Other paramilitaries active in the region have included the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, an anti-Georgian organization and a participant in the 1992-1993 Abkhaz conflict that based its flag and political agenda directly on those of the Mountainous Republic.
The North Caucasus, especially in its mountainous territories, has the highest life expectancy in Russia. [10] [11] The region is known for a large number of centenarians. [12] [13] [14]
Russian political subdivisions associated with the region include:
The Caucasus, or Caucasia, is a transcontinental region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically been considered as a natural barrier between Eastern Europe and West Asia.
Karachay-Cherkessia, officially the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus. It is administratively part of the North Caucasian Federal District. Karachay-Cherkessia has a population of 469,865. Cherkessk is the largest city and the capital of the republic.
Stavropol Krai, also known as Stavropolye (Ставропо́лье), is a federal subject of Russia. It is geographically located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia, and is administratively part of the North Caucasian Federal District. Stavropol Krai has a population of 2,907,593, according to the 2021 Census.
Krasnodar Krai is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Krasnodar. The third most populous federal subject, the krai had a population of 5,838,273 as of the 2021 Census.
Russia is divided into twelve economic regions —groups of federal subjects sharing the following characteristics:
Kuban is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated from the Crimean Peninsula to the west by the Kerch Strait. Krasnodar Krai is often referred to as Kuban, both officially and unofficially, although the term is not exclusive to the krai and also accommodates the republics of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, and parts of Stavropol Krai.
North Caucasus Economic Region is one of 12 economic regions of Russia. It comprises the whole of the North Caucasian Federal District and the western federal subjects of the Southern Federal District.
The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus (MRNC), also referred to as the United Republics of the North Caucasus, Mountain Republic, or the Republic of the Mountaineers, was a state in Eurasia and encompassing the entirety of the North Caucasus that emerged during the Russian Civil War and existed from 1918 to 1919. It formed as a consolidation of various Caucasian ethnic groups, including the Abkhazians, Abazins Circassians, Chechens, Karachays, Ossetians, Balkars, Ingush, and Dagestanis.
The Kuma is a river in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia. It flows northeast into the Caspian Sea. It is 802 kilometres (498 mi) long and has a drainage basin of 33,500 square kilometres (12,900 sq mi). Its source is in the Greater Caucasus, in the republic Karachay-Cherkessia, west of Kislovodsk. It flows in a northeastern direction, through Stavropol Krai and further east through the Caspian Depression as the natural border between the Kalmykia and Dagestan republics of Russia. That part of the Kuma's valley forms the eastern part of the Kuma–Manych Depression, separating the East European Plain from the Caucasus region. The Kuma flows into the Kizlyar Gulf of the Caspian Sea near the border between Dagestan and Kalmykia.
The peoples of the Caucasus, or Caucasians, are a diverse group comprising more than 50 ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus.
Southern Telecom is a Svyazinvest company providing coverage to the Southern Federal District of Russia. The company was formed in 2001 by the merger of 9 large telecommunications companies into the extant Kubanelectrosvyaz OJSC in Krasnodar:
Decree time refers to the changes introduced to the Soviet Union time system by a Sovnarkom decree of 16 June 1930. By this decree, all clocks in the Soviet Union were permanently shifted one hour ahead at 00:00 on 21 June 1930 everywhere in the Soviet Union. Applicability of this decree was further extended by two other decrees in 1930 and 1931. The practice was further extended, and its legal basis was amended, in 1980.
Abazinia, Abazashta or Abaza is a historical country at the northern mountainside of the Caucasus Major, now the northern part of Karachay–Cherkess Republic, Russia. Abazinia is the home of the Abazins, a people that speak the Abazin language. They are closely related to the Abkhaz people.
The North Caucasus Railway is a 1,520 mm broad gauge Russian railway network that links the Sea of Azov and Caspian Sea. It runs through ten federal subjects: Rostov Oblast, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, Republic of Adygeya, Karachay–Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Kalmykia. The headquarters are the North Caucasus Railway Administration Building in Rostov-on-Don.
The Caucasus Emirate, also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a jihadist organisation active in rebel-held parts of Syria and previously in the North Caucasus region of Russia. Its intention was to expel the Russian presence from the North Caucasus and to establish an independent Islamic emirate in the region. The Caucasus Emirate also referred to the state that the group sought to establish. The creation of Caucasus Emirate was announced on 7 October 2007, by Chechen warlord Dokka Umarov, who became its first self-declared "emir".
Senecio glaucus is an annual member of the Asteraceae and species of the genus Senecio. It is found from the western Mediterranean to Central Asia in sandy, well-drained soil, particularly coastal and desert dunes.
Russia, the largest country in the world, has international land borders with fourteen sovereign states as well as 2 narrow maritime boundaries with the United States and Japan. There are also two breakaway states bordering Russia, namely Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The country has an internationally recognized land border running 22,407 kilometres (13,923 mi) in total, and has the second-longest land border of any country in the world, after China. The borders of the Russian Federation were mostly drawn since 1956, and have remained the same after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in a move that remains internationally unrecognized.
Balkar and Karachay nationalism is the national sentiment among the Balkars and Karachai. It generally manifests itself in:
Caucasus Governorate was an administrative division (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, which existed from 1802 until 1822. Its seat was located in Georgiyevsk. The governorate was located in the south of the European part of the Russian Empire. In 1822, the governorate was abolished and transformed into Caucasus Oblast, with the administrative center in Stavropol. In terms of modern administrative divisions of Russia, the area of Caucasus Governorate is currently split between Stavropol and Krasnodar Krais, Rostov Oblast, and the Republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia–Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Kalmykia, with the major part of it being located in Stavropol Krai.
The Main Caucasian Range is a mountain range in the Russian Federation, Georgia and Azerbaijan. It is the dividing range of the Greater Caucasus.
"The North Caucasus region extends across Rostov oblast and Stavropol and Krasnodar krays. It also encompasses the seven autonomous republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetiya, North Ossetiya, Kabardino-Balkariya, Karachayevo-Cherkessiya, and Adygeya. The region accounts for about 2 percent of the territory of the Russian Federation and in 1989 had a population of 13,183,860, or about 8 percent of the Russian population. The North Caucasus could qualify as Russia's "sunbelt."
Russian troops in Chechnya have faced a low level insurgency for years ... They still face a low-level insurgency in the mainly Muslim region in Russia's volatile North Caucasus area.
Russia's North Caucasus insurgency has gone relatively quiet, but reduced casualty numbers belie a still-worrying situation where long-standing grievances remain.
A renewed crackdown on any suspected militant activity in the run-up to the Sochi winter Olympics in 2014 and the departure of many militants to fight in Syria led to a weakening of the North Caucasus insurgency.