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Stavropol Territory
// GENERAL INFORMATION
Stavropol Territory was formed on February 13, 1924, as the Southeastern Region. It was renamed the North Caucasus Territory on October 16, 1924, Ordzhonikidze Territory on March 17, 1937, and finally received the name of Stavropol Territory on January 12, 1943. The territory is part of the North Caucasus economic region of the Russian Federation.
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Stavropol Territory is located in the central Caucasian foothills and on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus (Mt. Dombai-Ulgen, elevation 4046 m; Mt. Elbrus, elevation 5642 m) and covers an area of 66 500 km2. It is bounded by many neighbors, including the Republic of North Ossetia, Karbarda-Balkar Republic, and Georgia in the south; Krasnodar Territory in the southwest, west, and northwest; Rostov Region in the north; the Republic of Kalmykia in the north and northeast; the Republic of Dagestan in the east; and the Chechen and Ingush republics in the southeast.
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The administrative center is the city of Stavropol, where the cultures and lives of many peoples have mingled over the millennia.
Evidence of the earliest settlements in the Stavropol region comes from archeological finds on the Tashla River near the village of Galyugaevskaya, which according to archeologists may date from the 4th millennium B.C. There are a huge number of settlements in the Egorlyk, Kuma, Tomuzlovka, and Tashla river valleys, and there have also been very interesting finds in the regions of Kislovodsk Basin and Caucasian Mineral Waters (Kavkazkie Mineralnye Vody).
The territory consists of 26 administrative districts and has 16 cities. The largest cities are Stavropol (pop. more than 350 000), Nevinnomyssk (132 600), Budennovsk (62 600), Georgievsk (66 200), Mineralnye Vody (74 900), Pyatigorsk (132 500), and Kislovodsk (120 400).
According to official information, the territory's population was 2 660 700 people as of January 1, 2001. The population density is 39.9 people per km2. Fifty-four percent of the population lives in urban areas and 46% in rural areas. Students at higher educational institutions make up 1.6% of the population (2.5% for the Russian Federation); pensioners, 36.2% (34.6%); and people with higher education, 17.3% (18.3%).
RESOURCES
Stavropol Territory is situated amidst plains and mountain ranges. The northeastern part is a plain with high dome-shaped mountains (laccoliths), while the southwest is characterized by mountainous terrain.
Steppe, forest steppe, deciduous forests, and alpine meadows with chernozem (black earth), alpine forest, and alpine meadow soils predominate on the terraced alluvial submontane plain in the area of Pyatigorsk. The valleys of the Kuma and Podkumok rivers and tributaries of the Bugunta, Yutsa, and Dzhutsa rivers are situated on the plain.
Seventeen isolated domelike mountains, each formed by a nearsurface massif and ranging in height from 1399.8 m (Mt. Beshtau) to 406 m (Mt. Kokurtly), rise like islands above the plain. Deep within the mountains are rare mineral series containing uranium, boron, and rare earth compounds, including the unique hydrous calcium-cesium-uranium phosphate called lermontovite.
The water-bearing assemblage of salt-rich Mesozoic-Cenozoic marine deposits within it is associated with a zone of permeable magma-conducting fractures that turns the dome mountains into major pharmaceutical laboratories. Mineralized waters contained in the pores of the rock layers become saturated with hot solutions and gases rising from the depths and rush upwards through an intricate system of countless fractures, where they mix to give a variety of medicinal blends. The cities of Pyatigorsk, Zheleznovodsk, Lermontov, Essentuki, Mineralnye Vody, and other centers known for their mineral springs are located in this area.
The Kislovodsk mountain basin landscape with steppe meadows on the black earth and alluvial soils of river floodplains begins at the Rocky Range, from which the Bermamyt Plateau, with the flat peaks of Mts. Bolshoi, Maly, Bermamyt, and Shatzhatmaz rising near Mt. Elbrus, slopes towards Kislovodsk. The adjacent areas of the Podkumok River valley are also part of this landscape.
This is one of a number of rare and scenic landscapes in the North Caucasus, and the presence of the carbonaceous mineral springs of the Kislovodsk formation give the area additional recreational value. The base of Dzhinal Ridge has been turned a resort park with a variety of local tree and shrub species, guided trails, and recreation centers. More than 250 species of trees and shrubs are gathered here, including Amur cork tree, walnuts, chestnuts, oaks, and pines.
Sand and chalk mountains forming terraces with deep caves and grottoes are found near Kislovodsk, along with scenic natural sites, such as Ring Rock, Berezovka Gorge, Honey Waterfalls, Charm Valley, Lermontov Waterfall, Lermontov Crag, the Red, White, and Blue rocks, Big and Small saddles, Air Church, Red Sunshine, and many more. The southern slopes of Borgustan Ridge fall steeply towards the Podkumok River valley in a series of structural terraces of interbedded Upper Cretaceous sands, sandstones, limestones, shales, and clays. The vegetation is represented by steppe and steppe meadow species, and a rare xerophilous flora [plants adapted to very dry habitats] is preserved on the southern slopes.
The territory's soils are subdivided into two main types: chernozems and chestnut soils. Typical, ordinary, and southern chernozems predominate in the chernozem zone and dark chestnut, chestnut, and light chestnut in the chestnut soil zone.
Water resources
The Khasaut and Malki river valleys are located in the south in the foothills of Elbrus, the headwaters of the Eshkakon and Podkumok rivers are in the west, and in the north beyond Mineralnye Vody stretch the open steppes. The Darinskaya uplands are the source of the Darya, Kuma, and Bugunta rivers. Lakes in the region include saline Lysogorskoe Lake and lakes Karras and Tambukan.
The river floodplain ecosystem is formed by numerous willow and poplar species and also includes mountain ashes, maples, and hazel. Pondweed, water plantain, reeds, bent and reed grasses, bluegrasses, and sedges grow in swampy areas.
Climate
The submontane location and the proximity of the snowy peaks of the Greater Caucasus on the one hand, and the arid steppes and semidesert of the Caspian coast on the other hand are responsible for the region's continental climate. The degree of continentality of the climate, that is, the variability of temperature and atmospheric humidity during the year, decreases with increasing elevation from northeast to west.
The southern zone is the most favorable according to medical climatology data. The climate of Kislovodsk and its surroundings is distinguished by a large number of sunny days, light winds, and low atmospheric and partial oxygen and water vapor pressures. The air is clean and clear.
The resort areas of Essentuki, Pyatigorsk, and Zheleznovodsk are in a warm climatic zone with moderate precipitation. The average July temperature is 22 °C, and the average January temperature is 4.5 °C; average annual precipitation is about 600 mm, falling mainly in spring and early summer. The average annual temperature here is higher compared with the southern zone, relative humidity is 65-71%, the number of foggy and cloudy days is 85-120, the number of days with precipitation ranges from 120 to 160, and the number of days with frost is about 90.
Animal life
Foxes, badgers, weasels, and hares are common in the forests and on the steppes; hamsters, hedgehogs, field mice, jerboas, steppe polecats, and wolves are also encountered occasionally on the steppes. In rare instances, you may catch sight of snakes or large lizards on the mountain slopes. Small mounds of earth lined up in a row are evidence of the underground work of the common mole-rat. Squirrels have adapted well to life in city streets and resort parks; they are not afraid of people and will take nuts and seeds from your hand.
Bird life is also unusually abundant. White-headed sea eagles, hawks, falcons, kites, blue tits, thrushes, woodpeckers, chiffchaffs, nightjars, jays, buzzards, and owls are found on Beshtau Mountain; and skylarks, quail, buntings, wheatears, chats, harriers, rollers, kestrels, and eagles abound on the steppes. Pheasants, warblers, wagtails, sandpipers, and ducks are encountered in the river meadows. Migratory birds, e.g., starlings, pigeons, hoopoes, horned owls, swallows, and bee-eaters, nest in Caucasian Mineral Waters in summer. Crows, rooks, and jackdaws gather in large flocks. Shrubby undergrowth provides a habitat for whitethroats, greenfinches, thrushes, corn buntings, goldfinches, chiffchaffs, and shrikes. Orioles, nightingales, and hoopoes can be seen in the parks, and woodcock fly through in spring and fall. Common city birds include starlings, swallows, sparrows, pigeons, pheasants, thrushes, and crows. Warblers, sandpipers, corn crakes, partridge, and swifts are encountered near Beshtau; swifts, rooks, eagles, falcons, owls, and partridge nest on mountain precipices.
Small fish such as gudgeon, roach, and barbel are common in the shallow, swift-flowing Podkumok River.
HISTORY
In Feburary 1924, Stavropol Province was transformed into Stavropol Territory. Archeologists paid little attention to it for many years. Travelers and scientists always headed for the more exotic mountain regions of the Caucasus, virtually ignoring the uplands and steppes of the Caucasian foothills. But it was here that the most important historical events occurred, as numerous archeological finds have shown. The oldest of these finds dates to the 4th millennium B.C. These are the settlements on the Tashla River near the village of Galyugaevskaya. Early cultures also flourished in the areas of Stavropol and Mikhailovsk, where the largest accumulations of ancient monuments are found.
There are huge numbers of ancient settlement sites, barrows (kurgans), and burial grounds in the valleys of the Egorlyk, Kuma, Tomuzlovka, and Tashla rivers and their tributaries; the areas of Kislovodsk Basin and Caucasian Mineral Waters are also considered special archeological sites. The Golden Horde city of Madjar, the capital of the North Caucasus in those days, was located on the site of Budennovsk.
Life flourished here in the 14th and 15th centuries, where trade routes between Europe and Asia intersected. The ancient culture of Madjar is a link between present and past. The city was sacked by Timur (Tamerlane) in 1395, but it survived and the remains of city buildings were preserved up to the 18th century. According to preliminary data, there are about 400 000 archeological objects in Stavropol Territory, only 765 of which have been catalogued and about 600 studied.
Construction of the Azov-Mozdok fortification line began in the late 18th century in order to protect Russia's southern borders in the foothill and steppe regions of the North Caucasus. Nine fortresses with a line of pickets and redoubts between them formed the basis of the line. Study and identification of the remains of the Azov-Mozdok line have only begun, because until recently their significance was underestimated.
Economic development and settlement of the territory expanded under the protection of the fortresses. The fortresses of the Azov-Mozdok line gave rise to the cities of Kislovodsk, Pyatigorsk, and Georgievsk and the villages of Suvorovskaya, Nevinnomyssk, Rasshevatskaya, Barsukovskaya, and others. The remains of the first fortifications can still be found in many of these places. Study of the fortresses by means of archeological excavations and aerial photography appears to be promising.
A cultural layer of the 18th-20th centuries with all kinds of armaments and items from everyday life has been discovered on the site of Fortress Mountain in Stavropol Territory. Thanks to archeology, Stavropol's history has been supplemented with new, more detailed information not found in documents.
The first churches, streets, and administrative and commercial buildings all qualify as monuments of the past; unfortunately, they have received very little attention and hardly any of them are protected or catalogued.
The Soviet period left evidence of the class approach to history to the present generation.
At present, many of Stavropol's monuments are entered on the list of sites having republican significance and are well protected by the public and cultural organizations.
The names of rural and mountain villages, streets, and squares are also considered memorials to the past and open up a broad field for study of the territory's place names and the recovery of lost and forgotten historical names.
Work is underway on grouping the architectural monuments of Stavropol's cities according to chronological style and period (from the first buildings to architectural complexes or blocks of the late period); and churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship are being restored or rebuilt. Today, the Uspenskaya and Andreevskaya churches, a chapel in Pyatigorsk's old cemetery, a Catholic church in Pyatigorsk, a mosque in Stavropol, and other religious buildings are protected by the government.
Many items of great historical and cultural value are concentrated in private collections in addition to those in numerous libraries, museums, and archives, but they are still relatively unknown and not very accessible to the public.
AUTHORITIES
The territory's highest executive body is the Government of Stavropol Territory headed by the Governor, who is also the region's chief official. The Governor of Stavropol Territory is elected by territorial residents for a four-year term by secret ballot. His duty is to ensure unconditional fulfillment of the requirements of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the present Charter, and laws in the region. He also forms the territory's Government and administration. The Government in turn is answerable to Stavropol's State Duma.
The rights and obligations of the Government of Stavropol Territory include planning the territorial budget and ensuring its implementation, managing territorial property, and developing and implementing economic, cultural, and social policy programs. The government is responsible for upholding the law, protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, safeguarding property, and maintaining public order.
The Chairman of the Government of Stavropol Territory must submit proposals to the Governor for administering the region, forming executive government bodies, and selecting candidates for the posts of first deputy chairmen of the Government and heads of ministries and other structural subdivisions of the Government of Stavropol Territory.
Legislative authority is exercised by the Territorial Duma of Stavropol Territory, the region's representative and legislative body. Deputies are elected to the Duma for a four-year term. The manner of forming the Territorial Duma, its composition, and election of deputies are set out in the Charter.
ECONOMY
Stavropol Territory has long been a strategically important region of Russia economically. The North Caucasus economic region includes Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, Rostov Region, and the republics of Adygea, Dagestan, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Karachai-Cherkessia, and Kabarda-Balkaria. The economy of Stavropol Territory is built around four main sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, recreation and tourism, and transport. Other leading industrial sectors include the power, fuel, and chemical and petrochemical industries, engineering and metalworking, and the light, food, and building material industries.
The territory is among the priority regions of the Russia Federation's agroindustrial complex and is also actively developing large-scale tourism and health-resort treatment. The main agricultural sectors are crop production (corn, sunflowers, sugar beets, potatoes, and melons) and livestock breeding.
The government of Stavropol Territory has undertaken its own measures to improve agriculture. The first of these was a program to help insolvent agricultural enterprises. Then a solid legislative base for reforming agriculture was formed, normative documents were issued as a supplement to existing federal reorganization legislation with allowance for local conditions, and programs for implementing them were developed. Rural residents have been kept well informed about their rights in the course of agrarian reform.
The sea and land routes connecting Russia with the countries of the Transcaucasus, Middle East, and Southeast Asia is very important. It has become especially important for the North Caucasus after the loss of ports on the Black and Caspian seas. Recreational potential on a Russia-wide scale is being developed.
Stavropol Territory maintained its industrial potential at a fairly high level during the reform years, mainly due to Rostov Region. Despite this, the level of industrial development in the North Caucasus is still lower than average for the Russian Federation. For example, the per capita industrial output index in Rostov Region is 60% of the Russian average; and in Stavropol and Krasnodar territories and the Karachai-Cherkess Republic, it is 30-40% of the average. In the remaining regions of the North Caucasus, this figure is about 25%.
During the period of market reforms, the role of the internal funds of companies and organizations increased, as they were used to finance a large proportion of investments (67% in Rostov Region, 59% in Krasnodar Territory, and 50% in Stavropol Territory) at the same time as funds from federal and local budgets were decreasing. Fixed capital investments have decreased 6.7% in the Russian Federation as a whole over the past two years. The exceptions are Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region, where investments have increased 7.9% and 8.2% per year, respectively, owing to an influx of foreign capital into these regions.
The situation in agriculture is more favorable, with production levels above the Russian average in nearly all parts of the region. For example, output is 1.7 times above the national average in Stavropol Territory and 1.6 times higher in Krasnodar Territory. The North Caucasus economic district of the Russian Federation is a leading food supplier to the country's population, producing 52% of Russia's total volume of vegetable oil, 39% of the sugar, and 24% of all types of canned goods. Agriculture provides the nation with 22% of all grain and legume crops, 29% of all sugar beets, 53% of all sunflower seeds, and about 10% of the vegetable crop. Subtropical crops such as tea, citrus fruit, and pomegranates are grown here as well. The North Caucasus is also a major livestock-breeding region, accounting for about 14% of the Russian total. Stavropol Territory and Dagestan are leading wool suppliers. Fine-fleeced sheep are raised on the plains and medium- and coarse-fleeced breeds in the mountains.
The food industry, engineering and metalworking, and the military-industrial complex characterize industrial output in the North Caucasus. The share of heavy engineering and the military-industrial complex decreased significantly during the reform years, although the fuel (oil and coal), construction, and chemical industries maintained a relatively large share.
The transportation sector includes all forms of modern long-distance and industrial transport and accounts for 10.9% of Russia's total volume of freight traffic and 4.6% of total freight turnover. The region is in second place in Russia after the Central economic region in provision of paved roads, and the concentration of railway and road systems is four to six times higher than the corresponding figures for the Russian Federation. The Moscow-Baku and Rostov-Krasnodar-Tuapse-Sochi railway lines run through the region. Sea and river ports in the North Caucasus include Novorossiisk, Tuapse, Taganrog, Eisk, Kavkaz, Sochi, Makhachkala, Rostov-on-Don, and Azov. The main navigable waterways are the Azov-Black Sea Basin-Azov-Don Canal, and the Don River.
At present, increased oil and gas production and processing is contributing to the development of a pipeline transport system for oil, gas, and petroleum products in the region. However, not all areas of the North Caucasus have sufficiently developed railway and road systems. This particularly applies to Rostov Region, Stavropol Territory, the Transcaucasus, and Dagestan.
Internal resources are the main factor in economic development here, since foreign investment is deterred by instability in the region. In order to mobilize these resources, it is necessary to promote the development of small business providing a fast return on investments, interregional integration, and the attraction of off-budget financial resources.
CULTURE AND ART
The history of the Caucasus is full of secrets and enigmas that when unraveled reveal a whole world that existed in the far-distant past.
As is well known, history begins with the beginning of culture. Human history began as soon as human beings appeared, but in order to live, they invented various articles and decorated them, since the attraction to beauty was always present. All this is reflected in the culture of a given period.
The territory's history begins in the 1st millennium B.C. when the Sinds and Meots inhabited the Stavropol region. Coins depicting a wheat ear and a horse's head, which tell us about the main occupations of those times, have been preserved, as have ornaments for weapons and everyday articles.
The culture underwent some changes in the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. under the influence of the nomadic warlike Sarmatian tribes.
Bone and metal works of Alanian craftsmen have been preserved.
Stavropol's voluntary union with Russia had an enormous influence on the political, economic, and cultural life of its people.
Today, 3 theaters, 3 concert organizations, 644 clubs, 9 cultural and recreational parks, 37 museums, 637 libraries, 124 children's schools of music and the arts, and 3 specialized educational institutions of culture and art operate in Stavropol Territory. There are 1185 cultural monuments in the region, including 115 of federal significance.
Stavropol is not only the territory's administrative center, but also its main industrial, scientific, and cultural center. Griboedov, Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Alyabiev, Balakirev (both 19th century Russian composers), and Vereshchagin (Russian artist of the late 19th century) all visited Stavropol in their time and contributed enormously to the city's cultural development. The first Russian theater in the Caucasus was founded here in 1845. The name Lenin Theater was conferred on it in 1920, and then in 1964 it was renamed the Lermontov Drama Theater. The theater won recognition in both the territory and beyond it. The Stavropol Botanical Gardens founded in 1959 are also of great significance. The gardens' collection includes more than 1000 species of trees and shrubs from around the world, and staff members take part in keeping the city green and contribute to environmental activities.
TOURISM AND RECREATION
Abundant sunshine and greenery, medicinal water, natural and historical monuments, and high mountain peaks attract tourists and vacationers to Kislovodsk, Russia's oldest resort. Kislovodsk Resort Park is unique and beautiful with pines, towering silvery firs, larches, and giant beeches and hornbeams. An aerial cableway operates in the park, with a marvelous view of the city and the Caucasus Mountains from its upper station. There are 70 km of walking trails leading through groves and lanes, with numerous cafes, bars, and pavilions along the way for your enjoyment. There is a cafe and boathouse on the shore of the mirror-like lake that adorns the park, and there are also attractions for children.
Besides the resort park, you can relax in the City Park of Culture and Rest, and if you want to swim or suntan, you can go to the old or new lakes. Concerts and shows staged by local artists, movie theaters, and the circus entertain visitors, and the Organ Hall and Philharmonic invite music lovers. Those who like to read can visit the resort's library. The regional museum, the dacha of the singer Chaliapin, the museum house of the artist Yaroshenko, and tours of the city will help acquaint you with the city and its celebrities. If you like to travel and sit by a campfire, you have a choice of horseback-riding and hiking trails in the Caucasus Mountains.
A variety of restaurants and cafes await you in the city; and at the Paradise (Blagodat) Hotel, you can taste almost any wine you wish. Kislovodsk's beauty and uniqueness inspired the writers Pushkin, Lermontov, Chekhov, and Mayakovsky. Alyabev, Glinka, Rachmaninov, and Rimsky-Korsakov composed music here; and the walls of the Great Hall of the Philharmonic recall the genius of the voices of Nezhdanov, Chaliapin, and Sobinov. The celebrated actress V.F. Komissarzhevskaya and the world-renowned ballerina Anna Pavlova and dancer Isadora Duncan all performed on the stage in Kislovodsk.
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