Karaçay-Circassian Republic        

       The surface area of the Karacay-Circassian Republic is 14.100 km2. The south of the republic is covered thoroughly with the Great Caucasus mountain chain. The northern region extends in the form of plateaus and vast plains. The Great Caucasus mountain chain and the highest hill of Europe, the Elbruz Mountain (Mingi Tav) with the height of 5633 m. constitutes the southeastern border with Kabardey-Balkar Republic. These mountains are covered with glaciers in the heights above 3000 m.

        The middle region of the Republic includes the skirts of the Great Caucasus mountain chain and it is covered with vast plateaus. Biyçe Sin plateau located on the north of the Karacay city is the most important plateau in the region.

       The plain lands located in the north are watered with the rivers of Hurzuk, Ulu Kam and Uçkalan that spring from the Great Caucasus mountain chain and the Kuban River that is formed from the combination of these rivers. These plains are also alimented by the rivers of Duvut, teberdi, Arhız, Maruka, Zelencuk, Urup and Lapa that spring from Karacay Mountains running into the Kuban River.

       The steppes are frequent in the north while there are forests of pine trees spruce trees and fur trees on the south. The skirts of the Great Caucasus with the height below the 2500-m. are covered with grassland of alp type.

        It is not possible to distinguish the Karacay and Markar Turks from one another that constitute the most important part of the Turkish element among the people who live in the Northern Caucasus. Lots of historical, anthropological, archaeological and sociolinguistic researches were carried out about the Turks from Karacay and Malkar that lived in the region of Kuban River for centuries. As a result of these researches, it was found out that Karacay and Malkar people were the descendants of the Turks that dominated this region for long years.

       Huns, Bulgarian Turks, Khazar, Kuman (Kipchaks) Turks were the ancestors of Karacay and Malkar people. It is known that Avars and Peceneks played an important role in the origin of Karacay and Malkar people.

       Karacay and Malkar Turks that had lived under the domination of the Turkish states founded in the region until 1800s had to get under the dominion of the Russians in accordance with the Belgrade Agreement that was concluded as a result of the Ottoman-Russian war between the years of 1806-1812. The rebellions against the Russians in the years of 1822, 1835-1837, 1845-1846 and 1853-1855 were suppressed through bloody and severe means.

       Having dominated over all the Northern Caucasus, the Russians established a special administrative system in the region in 1860. Through this system, they divided the people of Karacay-Malkar into two parts, and they connected the Karacay people to the state of Kuban and Malkar people to the state of Terek.

       Karacay people rebelled against the Russians that continued their regime of oppression in the years of 1873 and 1900. Upon these rebellions, the lands of Karacay people were seized and some of them were permitted to immigrate to Turkey. Pursuant to the revolution in 1905, Karacay people obtained some cultural rights and they rebelled together with the other nations in the Caucasus when the Bolsheviks did not kept their worlds about their independency after the revolution in 1917. Thus, they participated in the United Republics of he Northern Caucasus.

       Karacay people who resisted against the Bolsheviks willing to invade the Caucasus again gave a great struggle between the years of 1920 and 1922. When the entire country was invaded by the Russians in 1922, the Soviet government divided the people of Karacay-Malkar into two sections. They gathered the Karacay people together with the Circassians and the Malkar people together with Kabardey Circassians under the same domination and thus, it divided their powers. Karacay people rebelled again as result of the Russian efforts toward the obligatory collectivisation in Karacay Autonomous Region in 1926 and the collective kolkhoz farms that were made in a forcible manner in 1932-1934. As a consequence, this rebellion turned into a revolt, 40% of Karacay people were killed and exiled to Siberia.

       Karacay was invaded by Germans in the Second World War. When the Germans retreated, Karacay was attacked again by the Red Army in the year of 1943. All the cities were destroyed and all the people of Karacay were exiled to the Middle East and Siberia on the date of the 2nd November 1943. Krushev government gave the permission for the Karacay people to return to their homeland in the year of 1957.

       The population of Karacay-Circassian Republic is 415.000. The distribution of the population is as follows: Karacay people with the rate of 31%, Russians with the rate of 42%, Adige with the rate of 10%, Abazins with the rate of 7%, Nogay Turks with the rate of 3%, and the others with the rate of 7%. Turks generally live in the southern sections and in the basin of Kuban. Furthermore, there are nearly 30-35 thousands of Karacay people in the Middle East and nearly twenty thousands of Karacay people in Turkey.

       Its capital is Çerkessky. The other important cities are Uçkalan, Karaçay, Teberde and Zelençuk. Karacay dialect that is considered as the typical Kipchak Turkish in respect of its fundamental lines is included within the Turkish-north group. The rate of literacy in the country is 99%.

       Due to the geographical conditions of the country full of hills and plateaus, the basic economic structure depends significantly on stockbreeding. Particularly, sheep, goats, cattle, and horses are bred in this country. Due to the insufficient arable fields, the agriculture is continued in the valleys and the plateaus in the south. The agricultural products that are grown up are barley, maize, corn, potato, oats, rice and vegetables.