The 'Kabardino-Balkar
Republic' (;
Kabardian: Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ;
Balkar: Къабарты-Малкъар Республика), or 'Kabardino-Balkaria' (), is a
federal subject of
Russia located in the
North Caucasus. The direct
romanization of the republic's name in the
Russian language is ''Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika'', or ''Kabardino-Balkariya''.
Geography
The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part.
★ ''Area'': 12,500 km²
★ ''Borders'':
★
★ ''internal'':
Stavropol Krai (N/NE),
Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (E/SE/S),
Karachay-Cherkess Republic (W/NW)
★
★ ''international'':
Georgia (S/SW)
★ ''Highest point'':
Mount Elbrus (5,642 m)
★ ''Maximum N->S distance'': 167 km
★ ''Maximum E->W distance'': 123 km
Time zone
Kabardino-Balkaria is located in the
Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD).
UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).
Rivers
Major rivers include:
★
Terek River (623 km)
★
Malka River (216 km)
★
Cherek River (131 km)
★
Chegem River (102 km)
★
Argudan River
★
Baksan River
★
Kurkuzhin River
★
Lesken River
★
Urukh River
Lakes

Detailed map of Kabardino-Balkaria.
There are around one hundred lakes in the Republic, none of which are large. Just over half (fifty-five) are located between the Baksan and Malka Rivers, the largest each of an area of no more than 0.01
km². Some of the lakes are:
★
Tserikkel Lake (area 26,000
m²; depth 368
m)
★
Lower Goluboye Lake
★
Kel-Ketchen Lake (depth 177 m)
★
Upper Goluboye Lake (depth 18 m)
★
Sekretnoye Lake
★
Tambukanskoy Lake (area 1.77 km²; depth 1.5 to 2 m), partially within Stavropol Krai.
Mountains
Mount Elbrus, the highest peak of the North Caucasus and Europe, is located in the republic. Other major mountains include:
★
Mount Dykhtau (5,402 m)
★
Mount Koshkhatau (5,151 m)
★
Mount Shkhara (5,068 m)
★
Pushkin Peak (5,033 m)
★
Mount Mizhergi (5,025 m)
Natural resources
Kabardino-Balkaria's natural resources include
molybdenum,
tungsten ores, and
coal.
Climate
The republic has a continental type climate.
★ ''Average January temperature'': -4°C (plains) to -12°C (mountains).
★ ''Average July temperature'': +23°C (plains) to +4°C (mountains)
★ ''Average annual
precipitation'': 500-2,000 mm.
Administrative divisions
Main articles: Administrative divisions of Kabardino-Balkaria
Demographics
★ 'Population': 901,494 (2002)
★
★ ''Urban'': 510,346 (56.6%)
★
★ ''Rural'': 391,148 (43.4%)
★
★ ''Male'': 422,720 (46.9%)
★
★ ''Female'': 478,774 (53.1%)
★ 'Females per 1000 males': 1,133
★ 'Average age': 30.9 years
★
★ ''Urban'': 32.4 years
★
★ ''Rural'': 29.0 years
★
★ ''Male'': 29.1 years
★
★ ''Female'': 32.8 years
★ 'Number of households': 227,922 (with 891,783 people)
★
★ ''Urban'': 144,872 (with 504,085 people)
★
★ ''Rural'': 83,050 (with 387,698 people)
★ 'Vital statistics' (2005)
★
★ ''Births'': 8,991 (birth rate 10.0)
★
★ ''Deaths'': 9,034 (death rate 10.1)
★ 'Ethnic groups'
Kabardino-Balkaria consists of two ethnic territories, one predominantly of
Kabardin (speakers of a
North-West Caucasian language) and the other predominantly
Balkars (speakers of a
Turkic language). According to the
2002 Census, Kabardin make up 55.3% of the republic's population, followed by
Russians (25.1%) and Balkars (11.6%). Other groups include
Ossetians (9,845, or 1.1%),
Turks (8,770, or 1.0%),
Ukrainians (7,592, or 0.8%),
Armenians (5,342, or 0.6%),
Koreans (4,722, or 0.5%),
Chechens (4,241, or 0.5%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.
| census 1926 | census 1939 | census 1959 | census 1970 | census 1979 | census 1989 | census 2002 |
|---|
| Kabardins | 122,402 (60.0%) | 152,237 (42.4%) | 190,284 (45.3%) | 264,675 (45.0%) | 303,604 (45.5%) | 364,494 (48.2%) | 498,702 (55.3%) |
| Balkars | 33,197 (16.3%) | 40,747 (11.3%) | 34,088 (8.1%) | 51,356 (8.7%) | 59,710 (9.0%) | 70,793 (9.4%) | 104,951 (11.6%) |
| Russians | 15,344 (7.5%) | 129,067 (35.9%) | 162,586 (38.7%) | 218,595 (37.2%) | 234,137 (35.1%) | 240,750 (31.9%) | 226,620 (25.1%) |
| Ossetians | 4,078 (2.0%) | 4,608 (1.3%) | 6,442 (1.5%) | 9,167 (1.6%) | 9,710 (1.5%) | 9,996 (1.3%) | 9,845 (1.1%) |
| Ukrainians | 17,213 (8.4%) | 11,142 (3.1%) | 8,400 (2.0%) | 10,620 (1.8%) | 12,139 (1.8%) | 12,826 (1.7%) | 7,592 (0.8%) |
| Others | 11,772 (5.8%) | 21,328 (5.9%) | 18,315 (4.4%) | 33,790 (5.7%) | 47,246 (7.1%) | 55,672 (7.4%) | 53,784 (6.0%) |
History
Main articles: History of Kabardino-Balkaria
Politics
The head of government in Kabardino-Balkaria is the
President. The current President is
Arsen Kanokov, who has held the position since September 2005.
The
parliament of the Repubilc is the
Legislative Assembly comprising two chambers with 36 deputies elected for a five year term each—the Council of the Republic and the Council of Representatives.
The
Constitution of Kabardino-Balkaria was adopted on
September 1,
1997.
Economy
The economy of Kabardino-Balkaria is primarily
agricultural, with lumber production and
mining. Most of the industry centers on agricultural processing. The
fall of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the various conflicts in the Caucasus have hit the republic hard, causing a collapse in tourism in the region and producing an unemployment level estimated to be as high as 90%. Poverty is reported to be an endemic problem in the republic.
See also
★
Caucasian Avars
External links
★
Official website of the President of the Republic
★
Kabardino-Balkaria Online
★
Information and many links for pages about Kabardino-Balkaria
★
Kabardino-Balkaria information and photo gallery
★
Images of Kabardino-Balkaria
★
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