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Kabardino-Balkaria

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The Kabardino-Balkar Republic (Кабарди́но-Балка́рская Респу́блика; Kabardian: Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ; Balkar: Къабарты-Малкъар Республика), or Kabardino-Balkaria (Кабарди́но-Балка́рия), 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.

Time zone

Kabardino-Balkaria is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).

Rivers

Major rivers include:

Lakes

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:

Mountains

Mount Elbrus, the highest peak of the North Caucasus and Europe, is located in the republic. Other major mountains include:

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

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

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

External links



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