The Kabardino-Balkar Republic (Russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рская Респу́блика, Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika; Kabardian: Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ; Balkar: Къабарты-Малкъар Республика), or Kabardino-Balkaria (Russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рия, Kabardino-Balkariya), is a federal subject of Russia (a republic) located in the North Caucasus.
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[edit] Geography
The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part.
- Area: 12,500 km2 (4,800 sq mi)
- 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 kilometers (104 mi)
- Maximum E->W distance: 123 kilometers (76 mi)
Kabardino-Balkaria is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.
[edit] Rivers
Major rivers include:
- Terek River (623 km)
- Malka River (216 km)
- Baksan River (173 km)
- Urukh River (104 km)
- Chegem River (102 km)
- Cherek River (76 km)
- Argudan River
- Kurkuzhin River
- Lesken River
[edit] Lakes
There are around 100 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 square kilometers (0.0 sq mi). 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
- Tambukan Lake (area 1.77 km²; depth 1.5 to 2 m), partially within Stavropol Krai.
[edit] Mountains
- Mount Elbrus (5,642 m), a volcanic mountain and the highest peak in Europe, Russia, and the Caucasus
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)
[edit] Natural resources
Kabardino-Balkaria's natural resources include molybdenum, tungsten, and coal.
[edit] Climate
The republic has a continental type climate.
- Average January temperature: −12 °C (10.4 °F) (mountains) to −4 °C (24.8 °F) (plains)
- Average July temperature: +4 °C (39.2 °F) (mountains) to +23 °C (73.4 °F) (plains)
- Average annual precipitation: 500-2,000 mm.
[edit] Administrative divisions
[edit] 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
- Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service
| Births | Deaths | Birth rate | Death rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 11,683 | 3,913 | 19.7 | 6.6 |
| 1975 | 12,315 | 4,717 | 19.4 | 7.4 |
| 1980 | 14,098 | 5,457 | 20.7 | 8.0 |
| 1985 | 15,941 | 5,854 | 22.0 | 8.1 |
| 1990 | 15,412 | 6,573 | 20.0 | 8.5 |
| 1991 | 14,952 | 6,995 | 19.0 | 8.9 |
| 1992 | 13,728 | 7,093 | 17.2 | 8.9 |
| 1993 | 11,781 | 7,864 | 14.6 | 9.7 |
| 1994 | 11,407 | 8,052 | 14.0 | 9.9 |
| 1995 | 10,844 | 8,236 | 13.1 | 9.9 |
| 1996 | 10,293 | 8,199 | 12.2 | 9.8 |
| 1997 | 10,016 | 7,985 | 11.7 | 9.4 |
| 1998 | 9,997 | 8,201 | 11.5 | 9.5 |
| 1999 | 9,221 | 8,292 | 10.5 | 9.5 |
| 2000 | 9,207 | 8,792 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| 2001 | 8,892 | 8,778 | 10.0 | 9.9 |
| 2002 | 9,119 | 8,954 | 10.2 | 10.0 |
| 2003 | 9,294 | 9,202 | 10.3 | 10.2 |
| 2004 | 9,414 | 8,695 | 10.5 | 9.7 |
| 2005 | 8,991 | 9,034 | 10.0 | 10.1 |
| 2006 | 9,308 | 8,764 | 10.4 | 9.8 |
| 2007 | 11,397 | 8,441 | 12.8 | 9.5 |
| 2008 | 12,052 | 8,095 | 13.5 | 9.1 |
[edit] 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 (Bulgar or descended from Bulgars) (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.
The majority of the population is Muslim.[12]
| 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%) |
[edit] History
[edit] 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 legislative body of the Republic is the Parliament comprising 72 deputies elected for a five year term.[10][13]
The Constitution of Kabardino-Balkaria was adopted on September 1, 1997.
[edit] 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. Russian investors have invested in local ski resorts in order to attract more tourists.
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