Karachay-Cherkessia

The Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia (, or, less formal, ) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). The direct transliteration of the republic's Russian name is Karachayevo-Cherkesskaya Respublika or Karachayevo-Cherkessiya.

Geography

Area: 14,100 km².
Borders:
- internal: Krasnodar Krai (N/NE/E), Kabardino-Balkaria (E/SE), Stavropol Krai (W/NW).
- international: Georgia (S/SW) (including Abkhazia).
Highest point: Mount Elbrus (5,642 m).
Maximum N->S distance: no data.
Maximum E->W distance: no data.

Time zone

Karachay-Cherkessia is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).

Rivers

There are 172 rivers on the territory of the republic. Major rivers include:

Lakes

There are approximately 130 lakes in the republic.

Mountains

The landscape of the republic is mostly mountainous (~80% of the territory). Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, is situated on the border with the Kabardino-Balkar Republic.

Natural resources

Karachay-Cherkessia's natural resources include gold, coal, clays and more.

Climate

Average January temperature: -3.2°C
Average July temperature: +20.6°C
Average annual precipitation: 550 mm (plains) to 2,500 (mountains)

Administrative divisions

Demographics

The main ethnic groups of the republic, apart from a sizeable Russian population (33.6%), are the Turkic Karachay (38.5%), Circassians (11.3%), who speak a Caucasian language, and Abazins.

Population: 439,470 (2002)
- Urban: 193,531 (44.0%)
- Rural: 245,939 (56.0%)
- Male: 205,481 (46.8%)
- Female: 233,989 (53.2%)
Females per 1000 males: 1,139
Average age: 33.2 years
- Urban: 33.4 years
- Rural: 33.1 years
- Male: 31.0 years
- Female: 35.2 years
Number of households: 127,488 (with 437,338 people)
- Urban: 62,858 (with 192,642people)
- Rural: 65,130 (with 244,696 people)

History

The Karachay-Cherkessia Autonomous Oblast was created on January 12, 1922. It was split into Karachay Autonomous Oblast and Cherkess National District on April 26, 1926. Cherkess National District was elevated to an autonomous oblast status on April 30, 1928. In 1943, Karachay Autonomous Oblast was abolished and the Karachay population was deported to Siberia because of their alleged collaboration with the Nazis. Most of the Karchay territory was annexed by Russia proper and the southern part by Georgian SSR. The remaining territory populated by the Cherkessians was know as the Cherkess Autonomous Oblast until January of 1957 when it was re-established into Autonomous Oblast of Karachay-Cherkessia in its former borders due to the re-habilitation of the Karachay. On the 3rd of July 1991 the Autonomous oblast was elevated to the status of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia (under the jurisdiction of the RSFSR). With the dissolution of the USSR in December 1992 "Autonomous Soviet Socialist" was dropped from the name.

Politics

The head of government in Karachay-Cherkessia is the President. As of 2004, the president is Mustafa Azret-Aliyevich Batdyyev.

Ethnic tension is a considerable problem in the republic. In May of 1999 Karachay-Cherkessia conducted its first ever free regional presidential election. When Vladimir Semyonov, a Karachay, won the election over Stanislav Derev, a Circassian, there were protests by supporters of Derev, with widespread allegations of fraud. A court ruling later upheld the election result, prompting thousands of Derev's supporters to march in protest, many advocating partition of the republic.

A car-bomb that killed two people in March 2001 was blamed on Chechen separatists.

Economy

Industry is mostly concentrated in the capital of the republic, Cherkessk. Chemical and food industries are the most developed.

References

External links

Maps