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North Caucasus

Coordinates: 43°21′18″N 42°26′31″E / 43.35500°N 42.44194°E / 43.35500; 42.44194
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For other uses, see North Caucasus (disambiguation).

North Caucasus
Map of North Caucasus
Coordinates43°21′18″N 42°26′31″E / 43.35500°N 42.44194°E / 43.35500; 42.44194
Country
Federal subjects
DemonymNorth Caucasian
Time ZonesUTC+03:00
Highest mountainElbrus (5,642 metres (18,510 ft))[a]

The North Caucasus,[b] or Ciscaucasia,[c] is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia.[d] It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus 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 countries of Georgia and Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus.[e] Located in the south of the region, Mount Elbrus is the tallest peak in Europe.[a] Krasnodar is the most populous among the urban centres in the region.

The North Caucasus came under Russian control in the 19th century, following the Caucasian War between the Russian Empire and the various regional powers. The territory is the southernmost portion of Russia and is divided between a number of republics and krais. It is administered as part of 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.[4]

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".[4]

History

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Northern Caucasus, Early Bronze Age artifacts, 3rd millennium BCE.

Ancient cultures of the Northern Caucasus are known as Klin-Yar community, with one of the most notable cultures being the ancient Koban culture.[5]

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.[d]

The Russian Empire completed the conquest of the North Caucasus by 1864. Between the 1850s and World War I, about a million North Caucasian Muslims, including Circassians, Chechens, Ingush, Ossetians, and others, became refugees in the Ottoman Empire.[6] The Ottoman government settled North Caucasian refugees in territories of modern-day Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Kosovo, Greece, Cyprus, and North Macedonia, creating a large North Caucasian diaspora.[7]

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).

Unrest

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Main article: Insurgency in the North Caucasus

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.[8][9][10]

The insurgency became relatively dormant in its later years.[9][10] 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,[11] counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus have not ended.[12]

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.[13]

Other paramilitaries active in the region have included the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, a pan-Caucasian organization that based its flag and political agenda directly on those of the Mountainous Republic.

Economy

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The North Caucasus is considered part of peripheral Russia, and suffers from very low levels of economic development.[14] The United States' National Intelligence Council in 2004 described the region as being dominated by corruption, weapons smuggling, and lagging economies.[15] The main source of employment in the North Caucasus is the black market,[16] and organized crime is powerful in local business and politics.[17]

The Russian government has primarily focused on increasing the tourism sector in encouraging development in the North Caucasus. This strategy has proven unsuccessful, with only two percent of the region's economy coming from tourism revenues. Primary reasons that people do not travel to the North Caucasus include poor infrastructure in the region, frequent instability and violence, and the poor image of the Caucasus in the Russian public consciousness.[18]

Population

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Life expectancy at birth in the North Caucasus, 1990–2021[19][20]
See also: List of federal subjects of Russia by life expectancy

The North Caucasus, especially in its mountainous territories, has the highest life expectancy in Russia.[19][20] The region is known for a large number of centenarians.[21][22][23]

The North Caucasus is extremely ethnically and linguistically diverse, which has been a historic driver of conflict in the region. Luxembourgish politician Anne Brasseur wrote in 2004 that "There is no other region in Russia or Eurasia in general in which so many peoples and ethnic groups with their various languages and cultures live together in such a small area."[24] The local population predominantly follows Sunni Islam,[25] with the exception of the Ossetians and Abkhazians.[24] The western half of the North Caucasus (comprising the republics of Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and North Ossetia) also has extant traditions of paganism, which have become closely connected to Islam. In contrast, the eastern portion of the North Caucasus (including Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia) is dominated by Sufism.[26]

Conflicts between Islamic ethnic groups are also frequent, with battles for control over religious and political institutions often overlapping. As an example, the takeover of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Dagestan (now the Muftiate of the Republic of Dagestan [ru]) by Sufi tariqa sheikhs, who were predominantly ethnic Avars, led to a conflict over the board's leadership, involving religious, ethnic, and political differences.[25]

Administrative divisions

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North Caucasus is located in Southern Federal District
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai
Adygea
Adygea
KC
KB
Stavropol Krai
Stavropol Krai
Oss
Ing
Cya
Dag- est- an
Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast
Volgograd Oblast
Volgograd Oblast
Kalmykia
Kalmykia
Ast- rakh- an Oblast
Ast-
rakh-
an
Oblast
class=notpageimage|
The North Caucasus region within Russia
  • Red: NC economic region, former NC krai, former NC military okrug
  • Green: former NC military okrug
  • Blue: NC economic region, NC federal okrug, former NC military okrug

Russian political subdivisions associated with the region include:

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  • Location of the North Caucasian Federal District
    Location of the North Caucasian Federal District
  • Map of former North Caucasus Military District (okrug)
    Map of former North Caucasus Military District (okrug)
  • Map of modern-day North Caucasus Economic Region (raion)
    Map of modern-day North Caucasus Economic Region (raion)
  • Sophia Valley, Karachay-Cherkessia
    Sophia Valley, Karachay-Cherkessia

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Mount Elbrus is widely considered to be the tallest European peak.[3]
  2. ^ (Adyghe: Темыр Къафкъас, romanized: Temır Qafqas; Avar: Хьундасеб Кавказ; Karachay-Balkar: Шимал Кавказ, romanized: Şimal Kavkaz; Chechen: Къилбаседа Кавказ, romanized: Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; Ingush: Даькъасте, romanized: Däq̇aste; Kabardian: Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, romanized: İṩxhərə Qauqaz; Ossetian: Цӕгат Кавказ, romanized: Cægat Kavkaz; Russian: Северный Кавказ, romanized: Severnyy Kavkaz, IPA: [ˈsʲevʲɪrnɨj kɐfˈkas])
  3. ^ Russian: Предкавказье, romanized: Predkavkazye; Also translated as Ciscaucasus or Forecaucasus
  4. ^ a b The northern part of the Caucasus is widely considered to be a part of the European continent, as it sits north the Greater Caucasus watershed.[1][2]
  5. ^ The North Caucasus also shares borders with the two partially recognized breakaway states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to its south, both of which are internationally recognised as part of Georgia.

References

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  1. ^ 18th-century definitions drew the boundary north of the Caucasus, across the Kuma–Manych Depression. This definition remained in use in the Soviet Union during the 20th century. In western literature, the continental boundary has been drawn along the Caucasus watershed since at least the mid-19th century. See e.g. Baron von Haxthausen, "Transcaucasia" (1854); review Dublin university magazine Douglas W. Freshfield, "Journey in the Caucasus", Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, Volumes 13–14, 1869.
  2. ^ "Europe". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 6 June 2024. Among the alternative boundaries proposed by geographers that have gained wide acceptance is a scheme that sees the crest of the Greater Caucasus range as the dividing line between Europe and Asia, placing Ciscaucasia, the northern part of the Caucasus region, in Europe and Transcaucasia, the southern part, in Asia.
  3. ^ "El'brus". National Geographic. Retrieved 6 June 2024. Mount El'brus is located in southwest Russia and is part of the Caucasus Mountains. It is the highest point in Russia as well as the highest point in all of Europe. It makes up part of the Prielbrusye National Park.
  4. ^ a b Hill, Fiona; Gaddy, Clifford (2003). The Siberian Curse: How Communist Planners Left Russia Out in the Cold. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-8157-9618-3. 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.'
  5. ^ Sharko, Fedor S.; Boulygina, Eugenia S.; Tsygankova, Svetlana V.; Slobodova, Natalia V.; Rastorguev, Sergey M.; Krasivskaya, Anna A.; Belinsky, Andrej B.; Härke, Heinrich; Kadieva, Anna A.; Demidenko, Sergej V.; Malashev, Vladimir Yu; Shvedchikova, Tatiana Yu; Dobrovolskaya, Maria V.; Reshetova, Irina K.; Korobov, Dmitry S. (4 January 2024). "Koban culture genome-wide and archeological data open the bridge between Bronze and Iron Ages in the North Caucasus". European Journal of Human Genetics: 1–9. doi:10.1038/s41431-023-01524-4. ISSN 1476-5438. PMID 38177408. S2CID 266745350.
  6. ^ Hamed-Troyansky 2024, p. 49.
  7. ^ Hamed-Troyansky 2024, p. 2.
  8. ^ "Six Russian soldiers killed in Chechnya". BBC News. 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2017. 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.
  9. ^ a b "Russia's North Caucasus Insurgency Widens as ISIS' Foothold Grows". www.worldpoliticsreview.com. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017. Russia's North Caucasus insurgency has gone relatively quiet, but reduced casualty numbers belie a still-worrying situation where long-standing grievances remain.
  10. ^ a b Walker, Shaun (4 April 2017). "Why suspicion over St Petersburg metro attack is likely to fall on Islamist groups". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017. 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.
  11. ^ Нечаев А., Зайнашев Ю. Россия выиграла еще одну важнейшую битву // Взгляд.ру, 19.12.2017
  12. ^ Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 1995, "О ветеранах" (in Russian)
  13. ^ "Russia Travel Advisory". travel.state.gov.
  14. ^ "Russia Country Report 2024". BTI Transformation Index. p. 18. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  15. ^ Moroney & Karasik 2007, p. 207.
  16. ^ Mamedov, O. Yu. (2014). "Северному Кавказу современную экономику!" [The North Caucasus needs a modern economy!]. Terra Economicus (in Russian). 12 (1): 8 – via Cyberleninka.
  17. ^ Paul, Clarke & Serena 2014, p. 120–121.
  18. ^ "III. The North Caucasus Resorts Project". Too Far, Too Fast: Sochi, Tourism and Conflict in the Caucasus. International Crisis Group. 30 January 2014.
  19. ^ a b "Демографический ежегодник России" [The Demographic Yearbook of Russia] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service of Russia (Rosstat). Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Ожидаемая продолжительность жизни при рождении" [Life expectancy at birth]. Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System of Russia (in Russian). Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  21. ^ "Russia: Mountain Air Leads To Long Life In North Caucasus". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 1 June 2007.
  22. ^ Sam Bedford (13 February 2018). "Why the Caucasus Has So Many 100-Year-Olds". TheCultureTrip.com.
  23. ^ Science (29 January 2021). "The Caucasus. The Oldest People In The World (Episode 3). Full Documentary" (video). YouTube.
  24. ^ a b Brasseur, Anne (7 April 2006). "Cultural diversity of the North Caucasus". Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  25. ^ a b Melvin 2007, p. 19.
  26. ^ Akayev 2010, p. 64.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • In Quest for God and Freedom: Sufi Responses to the Russian Advance in the North Caucasus by Anna Zelkina
  • Russia in the Modern World: A New Geography by Denis J. B. Shaw, Institute of British Geographers
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