North Caucasus, Russia

The North Caucasus is a historical and cultural region of Russia. It includes the northern part of the slope of the Greater Caucasus Range and Ciscaucasia, the western part of the southern slope up to the Psou River (along which the state border of Russia runs). This is the most densely populated region of the Russian Federation. The total number of representatives of the North Caucasian peoples living in Russia, established during the 2002 census, is about 6 million people. The area is 258.3 thousand km² (1.5% of the country's area). The population is 14.8 million people (as of January 1, 2010), or 10.5% of the population of Russia.

It is the most multinational historical and cultural region of Russia. The North Caucasus was partly part of the Russian state, starting from the 16th century and completely annexed in 1864, at the end of the Caucasian War.

Now in the territory of the North Caucasus there are 7 republics: Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, as well as 2 territories: Krasnodar and Stavropol, which are part of the Southern and North Caucasian federal districts. If Ciscaucasia is completely included in the North Caucasus, drawing its border along the Kuma-Manych depression, then the regions of Kalmykia and the Rostov region, lying south of Manych, should also be included in the North Caucasus.

From the point of view of physical geography, the North Caucasus can refer to both Europe and Asia, depending on the option of drawing the Europe-Asia border - along the Kuma-Manych depression, as is customary mainly in European (including Soviet and Russian) geographical traditions that exclude the entire North Caucasus from the European part of Russia; or along the watershed of the Greater Caucasus (this version is most common in America) - with this approach, the North Caucasus can be completely located on the territory of Europe (with the exception of the Black Sea strip: Sochi, Tuapse, Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, and Anapa).

North Caucasus, Russia

Republic of Dagestan

Republic of Ingushetia

Republic of Kabardino-Balkar

Republic of Karachay-Cherkess

North Ossetia- Alania

Chechen Republic