Ciscaucasia

Ciscaucasia (Russian: Предкавказье, Predkavkaz'ye), also Ciscaucasus or Fore-Caucasus, is a part of the Caucasus region, and of the North Caucasus in particular.

The region is at the northern foothills of the Greater Caucasus range, from the Sea of Azov in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east, separated from the East European Plain in the north by the Kuma-Manych Depression. Ciscaucasia was historically covered by the Pontic steppe, mostly on fertile calcareous chernozem soils, which has been almost completely tilled and grazed. Ciscaucasia includes the Kuban Lowland in the west, the Terek-Kuma Lowland in the east, and the Stavropol Upland separating them. The climate of the region becomes increasingly arid to the east. The major rivers are the Kuban and Terek.