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Circassia (Cherkessia)

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Circassia
CountryRussia
Federal district[1]
Economic region[2]
Time zoneUTC+ ([4])
Official languagesRussian[5]

Circassia (or Cherkessia, Russian: Черкесская) is a historical region and/or "country" located South of Russia (Russian: Росси́я) of the North Caucasus (or Greater Caucasus) region which lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. To be more specific, Circassia is located Northwest of the Caucasus region. Historically, Circassia, bounded by the Kuban River, comprised the Northeastern shore of the Black Sea to the highest peak of Mount Elbrus (or Uesh'hemakhue - Mount of Happiness) and the current Krasnodar territory and Stavropol territory.


Geography

Adygea is in south-east Europe in the north foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, with plains in the north, and mountains in the south. Forests cover almost 40% of its territory.

Time zone

Adygea is in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).

Rivers

Kuban River (870 km) is one of the major rivers in the Caucasus region, and it is navigable. It forms part of the northern border between Adygea and Krasnodar Krai. Other rivers include:

Lakes

There are no large lakes in the republic. There are several reservoirs, such as:

Mountains

The republic's major mountains range in height from 2,000 to 3,238 m and include:

Natural resources

The republic is rich in oil and natural gas. Other natural resources include gold, silver, tungsten, and iron.

Climate

  • Average January temperature: -2°C
  • Average July temperature: +22°C
  • Average annual precipitation: 70 cm

History

Map of Adygea

The Adyghe people were the ancient dwellers of the North-West Caucasus, sometimes known as Circassians since the 13th century.

Cherkess (Adyghe) Autonomous Oblast was established within the Russian SFSR on July 27, 1922, in the territories of Kuban-Black Sea Oblast, primarily settled by the Adyghe people. At that time, Krasnodar was the administrative center. It was renamed Adyghe (Cherkess) Autonomous Oblast on August 24, 1922, soon after its creation. In the first two years of its existence the autonomous oblast was a part of the Russian SFSR, but on October 17, 1924, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the newly created North Caucasus Krai within the RSFSR.[6]

It was renamed Adyghe Autonomous Oblast in July 1928. On January 10, 1934, the autonomous oblast became part of new Azov-Black Sea Krai, which was removed from North Caucasus Krai. Maykop was made the administrative center of the autonomous oblast in 1936. Adyghe AO became part of Krasnodar Krai when it was established on September 13, 1937.

On July 3, 1991, the oblast was elevated to the status of a republic under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The first president of Adygea was Aslan Aliyevich Dzharimov, elected in January 1992. From 2002 to 2007 Hazret Sovmen was president. He, and most of the rest of the political elite in Adygea, are Adyghes. As a reaction to that, an organisation calling itself the Union of Slavs was established, claiming that ethnic Russians are discriminated against in Adygea. They advocate the merger of Adygea with Krasnodar Krai, but have so far have had little support for that proposition from the Russian government.

Politics

The head of government in Adygea is the President of Adygea, who is elected for a five-year term. Proficiency in Adyghabze (Adyghe language) is a prerequisite for presidential candidacy.

The current president, Aslan Tkhakushinov (since January 13, 2007), succeeded Hazret Sovmen, appointed by Vladimir Putin although he received only 2% of the vote in 2002.[7] There is also a directly elected State Council (Khase or Xase—not to be confused with the Adyghe Khase, a union of Adyghe who supported Sovmen for a second term), which comprises the Council of Representatives and the Council of the Republic. Both councils are elected every five years and have 27 deputies each.

The Prime Minister of Adygea is appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly. The acting prime minister of Adygea is Kazbek Paranuk (since September 16, 2006).

The republic sends three representatives to the parliament of the Russian Federation; one to the Duma and the other two to the Federation Council.

Adygea's constitution was adopted on May 14, 1995.

Divisions

Main article: Administrative and municipal divisions of Adygea
Administrative divisions of the Republic of Adygea

Adygea is administratively divided into seven districts (raions), two cities/towns, and five urban-type settlements. Municipally, Adygea is divided into two urban okrugs, five urban settlements, and 46 rural settlements.

Demography

  • Population: 447,109 (2002)
    • Urban: 234,900 (52.5%)
    • Rural: 212,209 (47.5%)
    • Male: 208,019 (46.5%)
    • Female: 239,090 (53.5%)
  • Females per 1000 males: 1,149
  • Average age: 37 years
    • Urban: 36.6 years
    • Rural: 37.4 years
    • Male: 34 years
    • Female: 39.6 years
  • Number of households: 151,597 (with 440,449 people)
    • Urban: 82,949 (with 230,286 people)
    • Rural: 68,648 (with 210,163 people)
  • Vital statistics (2005)
    • Births: 4,550 (birth rate 10.3)
    • Deaths: 6,726 (death rate 15.2)
  • Ethnic groups
    • According to the 2002 Census, ethnic Russians make up 64.5% of the republic's total population, while the ethnic Adyghe are only 24.2%. Other groups include Armenians (3.4%), Ukrainians (2.0%), Kurds (3,631, or 0.8%), Tatars (2,904, or 0.7%), and a host of smaller groups, each less than 0.5% of the population.
census 1926 census 1939 census 1959 census 1970 census 1979 census 1989 census 2002
Adyghe 50,821 (44.8%) 55,048 (22.8%) 65,908 (23.2%) 81,478 (21.1%) 86,388 (21.4%) 95,439 (22.1%) 108,115 (24.2%)
Russians 29,102 (25.6%) 171,960 (71.1%) 200,492 (70.4%) 276,537 (71.7%) 285,626 (70.6%) 293,640 (68.0%) 288,280 (64.5%)
Armenians 738 (0.7%) 2,348 (1.0%) 3,013 (1.1%) 5,217 (1.4%) 6,359 (1.6%) 10,460 (2.4%) 15,268 (3.4%)
Ukrainians 26,405 (23.3%) 6,130 (2.5%) 7,988 (2.8%) 11,214 (2.9%) 12,078 (3.0%) 13,755 (3.2%) 9,091 (2.0%)
Others 6,415 (5.7%) 6,313 (2.6%) 7,289 (2.6%) 11,198 (2.9%) 13,939 (3.4%) 18,752 (4.3%) 26,355 (5.9%)


  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", No. 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. ^ "Сведения о наличии и распределении земель в Российской Федерации на 01.01.2019 (в разрезе субъектов Российской Федерации)". Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). 3 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  5. ^ Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
  6. ^ под ред. М. Макфола и Н. Петрова (1998). ""Политический альманах России 1997. Том 2. Социально-политические портреты регионов" (Political Almanac of Russia 1997. Vol. 2. Social and Political Portraits of the Regions), online edition" (PDF) (in Russian). Московский Центр Карнеги. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  7. ^ Transitions Online: Friends in High Places
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