CircassiaCircassia (sɜrˈkæʃə ), also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in the North Caucasus along the northeast shore of the Black Sea. It was conquered and occupied by Russia during the Russian-Circassian War (1763–1864), after which 90% of the Circassian people were either exiled from the region or massacred in the Circassian genocide. In the Medieval Era, Circassia was nominally ruled by the elected Grand Prince, however, individual principalities and tribes were highly autonomous.
Krasnodar KraiKrasnodar Krai (Краснода́рский край) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Krasnodar. The third most populous federal subject, the krai had a population of 5,838,273 as of the 2021 Census. Krasnodar Krai is formally and informally referred to as Kuban (Кубань), a term denoting the historical region of Kuban situated between the Sea of Azov and the Kuban River which is mostly composed of the krai's territory.
History of the CossacksThe history of the Cossacks spans several centuries. Several theories speculate about the origins of the Cossacks. According to one theory, Cossacks have Slavic origins, while another theory states that the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk of 1710 attests to Khazar origins. Modern scholars believe that Cossacks have both Slavic and Turkic origins.
BalkarsBalkars (Malqarlıla or Таулула, Tawlula, 'Mountaineers') are a Turkic ethnic group in the Caucasus region, one of the titular populations of Kabardino-Balkaria. Their Karachay-Balkar language is of the Ponto-Caspian subgroup of the Northwestern (Kipchak) group of Turkic languages. The modern Balkars identify as a Turkic people, who share their language with the Karachays from Karachay-Cherkessia and have strong lingual similarities with Kumyks from Dagestan. Sometimes Balkars and Karachays are referred to as to a single ethnicity.
SyriaSyria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea. It is a unitary republic that consists of 14 governorates (subdivisions).
SochiSochi (Со́чи) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, and up to 600,000 residents in the urban area. The city covers an area of , while the Greater Sochi Area covers over . Sochi stretches across , and is the longest city in Europe, the fifth-largest city in the Southern Federal District, the second-largest city in Krasnodar Krai, and the sixth-largest city on the Black Sea.
TurkeyTurkey (Türkiye, ˈtyɾcije), officially the Republic of Türkiye (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ˈtyɾcije dʒumˈhuːɾijeti), is a country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in West Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Cyprus is off the south coast.
KarachaysThe Karachays or Karachai (Qaraçaylıla or таулула, tawlula, 'Mountaineers') are an indigenous Caucasian-Turkic ethnic group native to the North Caucasus. They are primarily located in Karachay–Cherkess Republic, a republic of Russia in the North Caucasus. Research by Boulygina et al. (2020) shows Karachays' genetic connection to the pre-historic Koban culture. A recent genetic study states the following: "Balkars and Karachays belong to the Caucasian anthropological type.
Ubykh languageUbykh or Päkhy is an extinct Northwest Caucasian language once spoken by the Ubykh people, a subgroup of Circassians who originally inhabited the eastern coast of the Black Sea before being deported en masse to the Ottoman Empire in the Circassian genocide. The Ubykh language was ergative and polysynthetic, with a high degree of agglutination, with polypersonal verbal agreement and a very large number of distinct consonants but only two phonemically distinct vowels.
AdygeaThe Republic of Adygea, (ˌɑːdɪˈɡeɪə; also known as the Adyghe Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is a part of the Southern Federal District, and covers an area of , with a population of roughly 496,934 residents. It is an enclave within Krasnodar Krai and is the fifth-smallest Russian federal subject by area. Maykop is the capital and the largest city of Adygea, home to one-third of the republic's population.
