Karachay-Cherkess Republic
// GENERAL INFORMATION
The Karachay-Cherkess Automonous Region was formed on April 12, 1922. By a law of the RSFSR of July 3, 1991, it was transformed into the Karachay-Cherkess Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the RSFSR. For the purposes of upgrading constitutional legislation, the words Karachay-Cherkess Soviet Socialist Republic were replaced with the words Karachay-Cherkess Republic in December 1992. The administrative Center of the republic is Cherkessk.
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| Emblem |
Emblem: the State Emblem of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic was approved on February 3, 1994.
Description of the emblem: "The State Emblem of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic has a round heraldic form. The background is yellow, symbolizing sunny Karachay-Cherkessia. In the center of the composition, there is a stylized silhouette of Mt. Elbrus representing eternity, strength, and grandeur. It is superimposed on a blue circle symbolizing the eternal heavens and blue waters. The ratio of the circle's diameter to the common circle is 1 : 2. On two sides there are branches and flowers of the rhododendron, one of the most typical alpine plants of Karachay-Cherkessia. These flowers symbolize peace, health, and purity. Below the emblem is the date 1922, the year the autonomy of Karachay-Cherkessia was formed. The year is inscribed in figure resembling a cup, a symbol of hospitality. Above the emblem, the letters RF (Russian Federation) are inscribed in a small circle. The cup and the small circle extend slightly beyond the boundary of the large circle, creating a very attractive emblem."
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| Flag |
Flag: the Russian tricolor initially functioned as the flag of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic starting in 1993, when it represented Karachay-Cherkessia among the flags of the autonomies on the pediment of the building of the RF Supreme Soviet. Foreign flag experts thus spoke of the white, purple, and blue (or white, violet, and blue) flag of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Karachay-Cherkessia's first flag was actually approved on February 3, 1994. It consists of three equal horizontal stripes: bright blue, green, and red. A round emblem representing an 11-rayed sun with 5 rays of double width and 6 short thin ones rising over the mountains) is depicted in the center of the green stripe. The flag's length is twice its width. The flag was introduced by Resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic No. 76-XXI of February 3, 1994.
The following is the official definition of the symbolism of the colors (from the text of the Statute on the state flag):
- bright blue: peace, clear and good intentions, serenity;
- green: nature, fertility, wealth, creation, wisdom, discretion;
- red: warmth and closeness between peoples.
The Karachay-Cherkess Republic occupies an area of 14 300 sq. km. Its population is about 500 700 people, 44% of them live in urban areas and 56% in rural areas. The population density is 29.9 people per sq. km. The original inhabitants make up 40.9% of the population of the republic; they include Karachays (31.2% or 129 400 people) and Cherkessians (9.7% or 40 200 people; also known historically as Circassians). Altogether, there are155 900 Karachays in Russia, 83% of whom live in their native republic and 8.5% in Stavropol Territory. Large communities remain in their places of deportation in Kyrgyzstan (2500 people) and Kazakhstan (2000 people). There are 52 300 Cherkessians in Russia, 76.9% of whom live in their native republic and 5% in Stavropol Territory. The rest are dispersed in small groups in the Caucasus and former Soviet republics. About 150 000 Cherkessians live in Turkey (in Turkey, this ethnic designation also includes Abkhazians, Adygeans, Ossetians, and others). Russians make up 42.4% of the population of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic; Abazians, 6.6%; and Nogai, 3.2%. There are also members of other ethnic groups, including Ukrainians, Ossetians, Tatars, Armenians, Greeks, and Kabardins.
The republic is situated in the foothills of the Northwest Caucasus. It is bounded on the west by Krasnodar Territory, on the north and northeast by Stavropol Territory, and on the east by the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. The southern boundary runs along the Main Caucasus range with Georgia and Abkhazia.
The climate is relatively warm, with short winters and long, warm, fairly moist summers. Long sunny periods are characteristic of the climate. The average January temperature is 3.2°C, and the average July temperature is 20.6°C; the highest recorded temperature is 39°C, and the lowest is -29°C.
Most of the territory of the republic (about 80%) is mountainous. The Front Ranges of the Greater Caucasus extend through the northern part, while in the south, the Dividing and Lateral ranges of the Greater Caucasus reaching heights of 4000 m stretch from the Malaya Laba River. Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in the Caucasus, is situated on the border with Kabardino-Balkaria. The Marukh and Klukhor passes lead through the range extending to the Black Sea coast. To the north stretch the Rocky and Pasture ranges.
RESOURCES
The republic has an abundance of water resources. There are about 130 glacial alpine lakes and numerous alpine waterfalls; 172 small and large rivers flow through the republic, the largest of which are the Kuban, Bolshoi and Maly Zelenchuk, Urup, and Laba rivers. The Bolshoi Stavropolsky canal system supplying water to Stavropol Territory was built and operates in the republic.
The republic's wildlife includes deer, Caucasian goats, chamois, roe deer, bears, squirrels, foxes, muskrats, martens, mink, jackals, wolves, raccoon dogs, European hares, otters, forest cats, badgers, lynx, gray partridge, pheasants, Caucasian grouse, Caucasian snow cocks, whitefaced owls, and ducks. Game reserves occupy 1 360 000 hectares in the republic, including 400 000 hectares of forest.
The republic's flora includes more than 1260 species of higher vascular plants based on Caucasian species (235 endemic). There are survivors of the Tertiary Period, as well as steppe and even desert elements. Twenty-four species of flowering plants are listed in the Red Book of Russia.
Deciduous and mixed forests cover a large part of the mountainous territory; subalpine and alpine meadows valued as mountain pastures are located at higher elevations. Forests cover an area of 416 201 hectares of the republic's total forest area of 432 997 hectares.
The main tree species include conifers (pine, spruce, and fir), deciduous hardwoods (high- and low-boled oak, beech, hornbeam, ash, maple, and elm), deciduous softwoods (birch, aspen, gray and black alder, poplar, and willow), and shrubs (hazel, juniper, and rhododendron).
The most abundant species in the subalpine meadows are primrose, forget-me-not, windflower, Hedysarum, betony, scabious, and anemone. The richness of species in many subalpine meadows reaches as many as 50 species per 100 sq. m or 25 species per sq. m.
Subalpine meadows give way to alpine meadows consisting of three types of vegetation: short-grass meadows, open talus (scree) vegetation, and rock vegetation. The most characteristic talus species include delphinium, dead-nettle, saxifrage, and valerian.
Rock vegetation occupies the upper limit of vegetation growth in general. The most typical species here are lady's mantle, violet, and bluebell. Still higher, on the snow- and ice-covered peaks and ridges of the mountain ranges, there is neither soil nor higher plants, and the only plant organisms found here are algae.
The republic has various deposits of commercial minerals, including copper pyrite and polymetallic ores, gold ore and alluvial gold, coal, barite, red lead, granite and marble of various colors, feldspar, raw materials for cement, limestone, fire clays, chalk, silicate building sand, sand-gravel mix, and refractory, ceramic, and brick clays. The republic also has large reserves of medicinal mineral waters like Narzan and many thermal springs.
ECONOMY
The breakdown by industry (in % of the total) is as follows: chemical, 27.7% (general rubber goods, insulation materials); building materials, 25.8% (cement, reinforced concrete items, granite); food, 14.5%; power, 12.7%; engineering and metalworking, 8.3%; light industry, 5.3%; nonferrous metallurgy, 3.1%; and forest and woodworking, 1.9%.
Enterprises located in Cherkessk, the capital of the republic with a population of 118 700, produce more than 2/3 of all industrial goods. The engineering, chemical, cement, and food industries are well developed in Cherkessk. Tools and building materials are produced in Karachaevsk and cement in Ust-Dzheguta. The village of Ordzhonikidzevsky is a coal-production center, although production is insignificant (only 30 000 tons). A sugar refinery is located in Erken-Shakher.
Karachay-Cherkessia contributes significantly to the economy of the Northern Caucasus, accounting for 3.2% of sugar production, 3.8% of wool production, and 33% of cement production.
Stock raising for the dairy and wool sectors is the republic's leading agricultural industry (60% of gross output). Karachay-Cherkessia produces 1.3% of all the wool in the Russian Federation, although its share of the total population is only 0.3%. Crops include wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, and sunflowers
AUTHORITIES
The National Assembly (Parliament) elected on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot is the highest legislative authority of the Republic. It consists of 76 members elected for the term of four years.
The government is made up of the Chairman of the Government, the deputy Chairmen of the Government, ministers, chairmen of State committees and committees. The Chairman of the Government is appointed by the President of the Republic with the consent of the National Assembly.
CULTURE AND ARTS
Science in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic has the following institutional structure: two scientific establishments-the Karachay-Cherkess Medal of Honor Institute of the Humanities (KChIGI) and the Zelenchuk astronomical complex of the Russian Academy of Sciences-and scientific institutes of higher education, including Karachay-Cherkess State Teacher's College, a technological institute, and branches of large Russian institutes of higher education.
The Karachay-Cherkess Institute of the Humanities was founded in 1932. There are 53 researchers on staff at the institute, 2 of whom hold doctoral degrees and 26 hold candidate's degrees. The institute is a multidisciplinary scientific establishment where staff members study present-day issues of history, linguistics, literature and folklore, ethnography, culture and life, and the national art of the Cossacks, Karachays, Cherkessians, Abazians, and Nogai and carry out sociological research. The activities of the institute are based on the study of the historical and modern-day state of scientific and cultural development of the peoples of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. The republic's only institute specializing in the humanities helps develop its intellectual and cultural potential and is a training center for scientific personnel. The most important features of scientific development at the institute are its multidisciplinary staff of scientists and its comprehensive approach to understanding the scientific problems of the peoples of Karachay-Cherkessia.
Long-term sociological studies and systemic analysis of the nature and characteristics of ethnopolitical conflicts carried out by researchers A.Kh. Erizheva and E.A. Shcherbina of the Institute of Humanities have been used as the basis for new approaches to the typology and functional classification of ethnopolitical conflicts in the region. Particular emphasis has been placed on developing constructive methods for predicting and preventing ethnopolitical conflicts in the republic. One of the main lines of investigation is the study of sociocultural processes and factors affecting the preservation of the cultural forms of various ethnic groups and development of a cultural dialog and using this as a basis to preserve interethnic accord in the republic.
The first studies of the history of Karachay, Cherkessian, Abazian, and Nogai literature were generated through the efforts of A.N. Karaeva (Candidate of Philology), L.A. Bekizova (Doctor of Philology), V.B. Tugov (Candidate of Philology), and Sh.A. Kurmangulova. Areas of study include issues of genre development of young written literatures, heritage, and continuity; the origin of national literary contacts; and determination of the role of Russian literature in the formation of the national written literary traditions of Karachay-Cherkessia. In light of new trends and methodological approaches, researchers at the Institute of the Humanities have made studies of the problems of cultural diasporas a priority line of investigation.
The study of the republic's national arts began at the Institute of the Humanities in the 1980s.
The main themes on this subject have been analyzed in the monographs and joint works of researchers B.B. Kardanova, L.A. Aslanova, and E.N. Bratkova:
- Traditional Art of the Peoples of Karachay-Cherkessia, collection, Cherkessk, 1993.
- Contemporary Art of the Peoples of Karachay-Cherkessia, collection, Cherkessk, 1991.
- The Artistic Culture of the Cherkessians, Alemedinova, Z.N., Nalchik, 1998
Other works being prepared for publication include the following:
- The Art of the Peoples of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, joint research
- The Folk Song Art of the Nogai, Kardanova, B.B.
- Contemporary Songs of the Nogai, Kardanova, B.B.
- Songs of the Cossacks of the Upper Kuban, Kardanova, B.B.
Great emphasis is placed on publishing dictionaries.
The Institute has contributed considerable material to the Linguistic Atlas of Europe.
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