Kabardino-Balkaria

Kabardino-Balkar Republic (English)
Кабардино-Балкарская Республика (Russian)
Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ Qeberdey-Balqar Respublike (Kabardian)
Къабарты-Малкъар Республика Qabartı-Malqar Respublika  (Balkar)
-  Republic  -
Map of Russia - Kabardino-Balkar Republic (2008-03).svg
Coat of Arms of Kabardino-Balkaria.svg
Coat of arms of Kabardino-Balkaria
Flag of Kabardino-Balkaria.svg
Flag of Kabardino-Balkaria
Anthem National Anthem of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic
Political status
Country Russia
Political status Republic
Federal district North Caucasian[1]
Economic region North Caucasus[2]
Capital Nalchik
Official languages Russian[3]; Kabardian, Balkar[4]
Statistics
Population (2002 Census)[5] 901,494 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia 60th
- Urban[5] 56.6%
- Rural[5] 43.4%
- Density 72.12 /km2 (186.8 /sq mi)[6]
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[7] 12,500 km2 (4,826.3 sq mi)
- Rank within Russia 78th
Established January 5, 1936
License plates 07
ISO 3166-2:RU RU-KB
Time zone MSK/MSD (UTC+3/+4)
Government (as of October 2008)
President[8] Arsen Kanokov[9]
Legislature Parliament[8]
Constitution Constitution of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic
Official website
none

The Kabardino-Balkar Republic (Russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рская Респу́блика; Kabardian: Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ; Balkar: Къабарты-Малкъар Республика), or Kabardino-Balkaria (Russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рия), is a federal subject of Russia (a republic) located in the North Caucasus. The direct romanization of the republic's name in the Russian language is Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika, or Kabardino-Balkariya.

Contents

Geography

The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part.

Kabardino-Balkaria is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.

Rivers

Major rivers include:

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 square kilometers (0.0 sq mi). Some of the lakes are:

Mountains

Other major mountains include:

Natural resources

Kabardino-Balkaria's natural resources include molybdenum, tungsten, and coal.

Climate

The republic has a continental type climate.

Administrative divisions

Demographics

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

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 legislative body of the Republic is the Parliament comprising 72 deputies elected for a five year term.[8][10]

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. Russian investors have invested in local ski resorts in order to attract more tourists.

See also

References

  1. Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", №20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000).
  2. Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
  3. According to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia, Russian is the official language on the whole territory of the Russian Federation. Article 68.2 further stipulates that only the republics have the right to establish official languages other than Russian.
  4. Constitution, Article 76.1
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_04_1.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-01. 
  6. The value of density was calculated automatically by dividing the 2002 Census population by the area specified in the infobox. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox is not necessarily reported for the same year as the Census (2002).
  7. Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Территория, число районов, населённых пунктов и сельских администраций по субъектам Российской Федерации (Territory, Number of Districts, Inhabited Localities, and Rural Administration by Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_03.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Constitution, Article 11.1
  9. Official website of the President of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic
  10. Constitution, Article 94.

Sources

External links