Kabardino-Balkaria

Kabardino-Balkaria (Кабарди́но-Балка́рия), officially the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic,  is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 904,200. Its capital is Nalchik. The area contains the highest mountain in Europe, Mount Elbrus, at 5642 m. Mount Elbrus has 22 glaciers that feed three rivers — Baksan, Malka and Kuban. The mountain is covered with snow year-round.

Geography
The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part. The republic shares an international border with Georgia.
 * Area: 12500 km2
 * Borders:
 * internal: Stavropol Krai (N/NE), North Ossetia–Alania (E/SE/S), Karachay–Cherkessia (W/NW)
 * international: Georgia (Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Zemo Svaneti) (S/SW)
 * Highest point: Mount Elbrus (5,642 m)
 * Maximum N->S distance: 167 km
 * Maximum E->W distance: 123 km

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

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

Lakes


There are about 100 lakes in the Republic, none of which is large. Just over half (55) 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:
 * Tserikkel Lake (area 26,000 m2; depth 368 m)
 * Lower Goluboye Lake
 * Kel-Ketchen Lake (depth 177 m)
 * Upper Tserikkel Lake (depth 18 m)
 * Sekretnoye Lake
 * Tambukan Lake (area 1.77 km2; depth 1.5 to 2 m), partially within Stavropol Krai.

Mountains
Other major mountains include:
 * Mount Elbrus (5,642 m), a volcanic mountain and the highest peak in Europe, Russia, and the Caucasus
 * Mount Dykhtau (5,402 m)
 * Mount Koshtantau (5,151 m)
 * Mount Shkhara (5,068 m)
 * Pushkin Peak (5,033 m)
 * Mount Mizhergi (5,025 m)

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

Climate
The republic has a continental-type climate.
 * Average January temperature: -12 C (mountains) to -4 C (plains)
 * Average July temperature: +4 C (mountains) to +23 C (plains)
 * Average annual precipitation: 500–2,000 mm.

History
It is known that modern-day Circassians also called Kassogs were inhabiting Kabardino Balkaria since at least the 6th century BCE, then known as Zichia. On 1 July 1994 Kabardino-Balkaria became the second republic after Tatarstan to sign a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy.

Politics
The head of government in Kabardino-Balkaria is the Head. The current Head is Kazbek Kokov. The legislative body of the Republic is the Parliament comprising 72 deputies elected for a five-year term.

The republic adopted a new constitution in 2001 which prevents the republic from existing independently of the Russian Federation.

Demographics
Population:

Life expectancy:



Vital statistics

 * Source:

Note: TFR 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 source.

Ethnic groups
Kabardino-Balkaria includes two major ethnic communities, the Kabardins (Circassians), who speak a North-West Caucasian language, and the Balkars who speak a Turkic language. According to the 2021 Census, Kabardins make up 57.1% of the republic's population, followed by Russians (19.8%) and Balkars (13.7%). Other groups include Cherkess (3.0%), Turks (1.9%), Ossetians (0.8%), Romani (0.5%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.

Religion
According to a 2012 survey which interviewed 56,900 people, 70.8% of the population of Kabardino-Balkaria adhered to Islam, 11.6% to the Russian Orthodox Church, 3.8% were non-Orthodox Christians, and 1.8% followed Adyghe (Kabardian) folk religion and other indigenous faiths. In addition, 12% of the population declared to be "spiritual but not religious" and 5.6% was atheist or followed other religions, including Jehovah's Witnesses.