Karachayevsk (russian: Карача́евск; krc, Къарачай шахар, ''Qaraçay şaxar'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the

Karachay-Cherkess Republic The Karachay-Cherkess Republic (russian: Карача́ево-Черке́сская Респу́блика, ''Karachayevo-Cherkesskaya Respublika''; krc, Къарачай-Черкес Республика, ''Qaraçay-Çerkes Respublika''; Cir ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, located on the Kuban River in the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

. Population:

History

It was founded in 1929 as Georgiyevskoye and by the resolution of the

All-Russian Central Executive Committee The All-Russian Central Executive Committee ( rus, Всероссийский Центральный Исполнительный Комитет, Vserossiysky Centralny Ispolnitelny Komitet, VTsIK) was the highest legislative, administrative and r ...

of August 26, 1929, the name of Mikoyan-Shahar was approved and the town was given the status of a city. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from August 1942 to January 1943, the area was occupied by the German forces. From October 5, 1944 to January 1, 1957, when the Karachays were in exile into the

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

n deserts, by the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of November 6, 1943, for alleged collaboration with the Germans, Mikoyan-Shahar was renamed Klukhori and the territory of the former Karachay Autonomous Region was assigned to the Georgian SSR. The vicinity is rich in early medieval monuments, such as the ruins of the

Khumar Khumarinskoye gorodishche (Russian: Хумаринское городище) or Khumar is a ruined medieval fortress on the top of Mount Kalezh above the Kuban Gorge in the Greater Caucasus, near Khumara village, Karachaevsky district, Karachay ...

fortress and the early 10th-century

Shoana Church The Shoana church (russian: Шоанинский храм, os, Суаны Уастырджы) is a Christian church that belongs to the historical Alanian Diocese. The church was built at the end of the tenth century, and is located on the terri ...

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Karachayevsk serves as the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

Karachayevsky District Karachayevsky District (russian: Карача́евский райо́н; krc, Къарачай район, ''Qaraçay rayon''; kbd, Къэрэшей район) is an administrativeLaw #84-RZ and a municipalLaw #10-RZ district (raion), one of t ...

, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with one town ( Teberda), three

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

s ( Elbrussky, Ordzhonikidzevsky, and the resort settlement of

Dombay Dombay (russian: Домбай) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Urban localities *Dombay, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, a resort settlement under the administrative jurisdiction of the city of republic significance of Karacha ...

), and two rural localities (the settlements of Mara-Ayagyy and Malokurganny), incorporated separately as the town of republic significance of Karachayevsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

.Law #84-RZ As a municipal division, the town of republic significance of Karachayevsk is incorporated as Karachayevsky Urban Okrug.Law #9-RZ

Demographics

In 2002, the population included: * Karachays (72.7%) *

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

(16.3%) *

Ossetians The Ossetians or Ossetes (, ; os, ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ, translit= ir, irættæ / digoræ, digorænttæ, label=Ossetic) are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the no ...

(3.0%) *

Cherkess The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia in ...

(1.4%) * Nogays (1.1%)

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

Official website of Karachayevsk

Karachayevsk Business Directory
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Karachay-Cherkessia Populated places established in 1929