Кабардино-Балкария: административное деление и население

First level administrative division of Russia

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 Mount Elbrus has 22 glaciers that feed three rivers — Baksan, Malka and Kuban. The mountain is covered with snow year round.

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

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.

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.

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. Ethnicgroup 1926 Census1 1939 Census 1959 Census 1970 Census 1979 Census 1989 Census 2002 Census 2010 Census 2021 Census3 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Kabardin 122,23754.2% 152,23742.4% 190,28445.3% 264,67545.0% 303,60445.5% 364,49448.2% 498,702255.3% 490,45357.2% 502,61557.1% Balkars 33,19714.7% 40,74711.3% 34,0888.1% 51,3568.7% 59,7109.0% 70,7939.4% 104,95111.6% 108,57712.7% 120,89813.7% Russians 32,62214.5% 129,06735.9% 162,58638.7% 218,59537.2% 234,13735.1% 240,75031.9% 226,62025.1% 193,15522.5% 174,76819.8% Ossetians 3,8391.7% 4,6081.3% 6,4421.5% 9,1671.6% 9,7101.5% 9,9961.3% 9,8451.1% 9,1291.1% 6,8770.8% Ukrainians 24,72311.0% 11,1423.1% 8,4002.0% 10,6201.8% 12,1391.8% 12,8261.7% 7,5920.8% 4,8000.6% 1,4610.2% Cherkess 8,803 3.9% 21,328 5.9% 18,315 4.4% 33,790 5.7% 47,246 7.1% 6140.1% 7250.1% 2,4750.3% 26,5443.0% Others 55,0587.3% 53,0595.9% 49,0815.7% 47,7485.7% 1 The results of the 1926 census refer to the present territory, which is a combination of the Kabardo Balkarian AO and a part of the Terek district. The latter area was mainly inhabited by Russians and Ukrainians. 2 In view of the results of the 1989 census and the 2010 census, the number of Kabardins in 2002 seems unlikely high. 3 23,289 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.

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.