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// Republics
// Adygea, Republic of >>
// Altai (Gorno-Altai), Republic of >>
// Bashkortostan, Republic of >>
// Buryatia, Republic of >>
// Chechnya, Republic of >>
// Chuvashia, Republic of >>
// Dagestan, Republic of >>
// Ingushetia, Republic of >>
// Kabardino-Balkaria, Republic of
// Kalmykia, Republic of >>
// Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Republic of >>
// Karelia, Republic of >>
// Khakassia, Republic of >>
// Komi, Republic of >>
// Mari El, Republic of >>
// Mordovia, Republic of >>
// North Ossetia, Republic of >>
// Sakha (Yakutia), Republic of >>
// Tatarstan, Republic of >>
// Tuva, Republic of >>
// Udmurtia, Republic of >>
// Territories (Krai)
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// Regions
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// Federal Cities
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// Autonomous Areas (Okrugs)
// Agin-Buryatia Autonomous Area >>
// Chukotka Autonomous Area >>
// Evenk Autonomous Area >>
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// Komi-Permyak Autonomous Area >>
// Koryak Autonomous Area >>
// Nenets Autonomous Area >>
// Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) Autonomous Area >>
// Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous Area >>
// Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area >>
// Autonomous Regions
// Jewish Autonomous Region >>
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Repulic of Kabardino-Balkaria
// GENERAL INFORMATION
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic (Kabardino-Balkaria) is located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, with its central part on the adjoining Kabarda Plain. The republic has an area of 12 500 km2 and extends 100 km from north to south and 175 km from west to east. Kabardino-Balkaria borders on Georgia in the south, Stavropol Territory in the north, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic in the west, and the Republic of North Ossetia in the east and southeast. It is part of the Northern Caucasus economic district and is a center of concentration of the economic and scientific potential of the North Caucasus region of Russia. The population is about 780 000 people (57.7% urban), and the population density is 63.2 people per km2. The republic is divided into 9 districts that include 7 cities, 4 towns, and 108 rural administrations.
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The terrain is mountainous. Mt. Elbrus (5642 m), the highest peak in the Caucasus, is located in the republic. The main rivers are the Terek, Malka, and Baksan. Forests cover 180 000 hectares of the republic's territory.
Climatic conditions vary with altitude. Winter temperatures on the Kabarda Plain range from +1 to -8°C, and summer temperatures, from +20 to +26°C. The corresponding temperatures in mountain areas range down to -20°C in winter and from +4 to +15°C in summer. Annual precipitation varies from 500 to 2000 mm (in the mountains). The vegetation period on the plains is 190 days. Characteristic soils are black earths (chernozems) and brown mountain forest and mountain meadow soils.
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The republic was formed on September 1, 1921, as the Kabardin Autonomous Region. It was reorganized into the Kabardino-Balkar Autonomous Region on January 16, 1922, the Kabardino-Balkar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) on December 5, 1936, and finally into the Kabardino-Balkar Republic in 1992. The capital is Nalchik (pop. 230 800 as of 1999), located 1873 km south of Moscow.
Kabardino-Balkaria is an industrial and agricultural republic, with the food and mining industries and the resort and tourist business playing a major role in the economy. Transportation is mainly by road and rail. The North Caucasus Railway (Moscow-Rostov-on-Don-Baku) passes through the republic, with a branch line to Nalchik. The most important roads are the Moscow-Tbilisi highway and the highways connecting Nalchik to Stavropol, Grozny, Astrakhan, Sukhumi, and other cities.
There are 343 cultural sites in the republic, including 75 of federal significance.
Kabardino-Balkaria has three higher state educational institutions (Kabardino-Balkaria State University, the State Agricultural Academy, and the North Caucasus State Institute of Fine Arts), an extensive system of schools and vocational institutions, and private institutions at various levels.
HISTORY
The history of the Caucasus is full of mysteries and riddles that both Russian and foreign historians, archeologists, and ethnographers have been trying to solve. Archeological digs have shown that the earliest inhabitants were tribes of Sinds and Meats, who lived on the Stavropol plain in the first millennium B.C. and left many traces of their presence on the banks of the Marukhi River in Karachay-Cherkessia.
The history of the formation of the modern nations of the North Caucasus began in the 15th century. Tatar-Mongolian invasions influenced the settlement patterns of local peoples living within the region.
The ancestors of the Adygeans, Kabardins, and Cherkessians [known historically as the Circassians], who inhabited the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, were known as the Adyge. The Balkar nation formed as the result of the blending of North Caucasian and Alanic tribes with Bulgars and Kipchaks who had settled in the Caucasian foothills.
Closer relations between the Kabardins and Russia began forming in the 16th century. Ivan IV [Ivan the Terrible] gave the Kabardins Russian citizenship, built the first Russian fortress (Tersky) on the Terek River, and together with the Kabardins carried out several campaigns against the Crimean khans.
The territory of Kabarda and Balkaria was the site of clashes between Russian, Crimean, and Turkish interests. Kabarda joined Russia in 1557, a union that was further strengthened by Ivan the Terrible's marriage to the Kabardin princess Mariya Temryukovna. Balkaria was annexed to Russia in 1827; and Kabarda and Balkaria became part of Terek Region in the 1860s. Ties with central Russia were consolidated in the 1870s with the completion of the railway connecting Rostov and Vladikavkaz.
Following the Revolution of the 1917, Kabarda and Balkaria became administrative districts of the Mountain (Gorskaya) ASSR in 1924, and the Kabardin Autonomous Region was formed in the same year as part of the RSFSR. Balkaria was subsequently detached from the Mountain ASSR and joined to the Kabardin Autonomous Region, and the combined region was reorganized into the Kabardino-Balkar Autonomous Region. In 1991, the region passed a Declaration of sovereignty proclaiming the former autonomous region a part of Russia.
The Balkars suffered repression under Stalin, who forcibly deported them to Central Asia and Kazakhstan in 1944.
RESOURCES
The natural landscapes in Kabardino-Balkaria vary from steppe to deciduous forests of beech, oak, and hornbeam in the mountains to subalpine and alpine meadows and glaciers in the high mountains.
The mountains of the Central Caucasus are easily the highest in Europe. They are relatively young mountains, the mountain-building process being completed here about 20 million years ago. Mt. Elbrus is the most beautiful and majestic mountain of the Caucasus. It towers above the entire massif of the Caucasus Mountains and is visible from the plains more than 300 km away.
Within Kabardino-Balkaria are all of the 5000-m Caucasian peaks except Mt. Kazbek, the largest glaciers and swiftest rivers, the amazing Blue Lakes, the famous Bezengiyskaya Wall formed by 13 km of ice, snow, and cliffs at an elevation of more than 4000 m, the Chegemskie waterfalls, picturesque gorges, and a tourist, mountaineering, and alpine ski center at the foot of Mt. Elbrus (Prielbrusye).
Mineral resources found in the republic include molybdenum and tungsten ores (Tyrnyauzskoe deposit), polymetallic ores, gold, coal, and mineral water. The republic's hydroelectric power resources are as much as 2 million kW.
Kabardino-Balkaria has a fairly extensive river network, although its density varies, being higher in mountainous areas and lower in the foothills and on the plains. River basins cover a total area of 18 740 km2. Although the republic has more than 100 lakes, most of them have a small surface area. There are no large lakes at all. Most of the lakes are located in the mountains, where they were formed by glacial and karst processes. The lakes on the plains are oxbow lakes formed from cut-off meanders in the lower reaches of rivers.
ECONOMY
The Karbardino-Balkaria free economic zone was formed in the republic by Presidential Decree N 300 of March 22, 1995. It is a region of lofty snow-capped peaks, rocky, nearly inaccessible gorges, scenic valleys, and fertile farmlands on the floodplains of the numerous rivers and streams.
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic has been very successful in developing its economy. Nonferrous metallurgy, engineering (instrument-making and electrical industries), and the power, building material, food, and light industries have all been established here.
Nalchik is the republic's capital and main industrial center, where companies of the engineering, woodworking, building material, light, and food industries are located. The Baksan mining center with well-developed metallurgical (production and concentration of tungsten and molybdenum ores) and power industries is located in the Baksan River valley; and the Cherek forest and woodworking industry center, in the Cherek River valley.
The republic is divided into three main industrial zones: steppe, foothills, and mountain.
The steppe zone is an area of intensive agriculture (commercial wine-growing, melon-growing) and animal breeding (sheep, fur farming) and developed industry (engineering, building materials, food). Most of the industrial facilities are located in Prokhladny, Maisky, Terek, and Nartkala.
The foothills zone is also an area of well-developed, diversified industry (engineering, metalworking, and the chemical, light, and food industries) and intensive agriculture (wheat, corn, sunflowers, horticulture) and animal breeding (beef and dairy cattle, poultry).
The mountain zone has well-developed mining, power, metallurgical, and forest industries. Agriculture is mainly oriented toward animal breeding. The mountain zone is also a center for tourism, mountaineering, and alpine skiing.
AUTHORITIES
The head of the executive branch of government in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic is the President, who is elected for a five-year term.
The Parliament of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic consists of two chambers, the Council of the Republic and the Council of Representatives.
The Council of the Republic consists of 36 deputies elected in single-member constituencies. The Council of Representatives also consists of 36 deputies who are elected in three-member constituencies on the basis of direct voting by secret ballot. Two three-member constituencies are formed in Nalchik for elections to the Council of Representatives.
The Parliament of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic is elected for a five-year term. The procedure for electing parliamentary deputies is established by republican laws.
Federal courts (general jurisdiction, military, and arbitration) formed and operating in accordance with federal legislation and the Constitution of the Russian Federation exercise judicial authority in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. The establishment of emergency courts is prohibited.
A supreme court, constitutional court, superior court of arbitration, regional court, and district and city courts all function in the republic. Neighborhood (burlaw) and arbitration tribunals may also operate in the republic.
Kabardino-Balkar Republic / Government:
http://www.nalnet.ru/
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