# Terek Oblast

The Terek Oblast was a province (oblast) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe оblast was created out of the former territories of the North Caucasian Peoples, following their conquests by Russia throughout the 19th century. The Terek Oblast bordered the Astrakhan and Stavropol governorates to the north, the Kuban Oblast to the west, the Kutaisi and Tiflis governorates to the south, and the Dagestan Oblast to the east. The administrative center of the oblast was Vladikavkaz, the current capital of North Ossetia–Alania within Russia.

## Administrative divisions

The districts (okrugs), Cossack districts (otdels), and pristavstvo [ru] of the Terek oblast in 1917 were as follows:
| Name | Administrative centre | Administrative centre | Administrative centre | Population | Population | Area |
| Name | | 1897 | 1917 | 1897 | 1916 | Area |
| Vedensky okrug (Веденскій округъ) | Vedeno | – | – | – | 127,718 | 3,341.69 square versts (3,803.05 km$^2$; 1,468.37 sq mi) |
| Vladikavkazsky okrug (Владикавказскій округъ) | Vladikavkaz | 43,740 | 73,243 | 134,947 | 207,742 | 5,023.10 square versts (5,716.60 km$^2$; 2,207.19 sq mi) |
| Groznensky okrug (Грозненскій округъ) | Grozny | 15,564 | 53,549 | 226,035 | 195,744 | 4,369.22 square versts (4,972.44 km$^2$; 1,919.87 sq mi) |
| Nazranovskiy Okrug (Назрановскій округъ) | Nazran | – | – | – | 59,046 | 1,341.00 square versts (1,526.14 km$^2$; 589.25 sq mi) |
| Nalchiksky okrug (Нальчикскій округъ) | Nalchik | 4,809 | – | 102,908 | 180,534 | 10,458.35 square versts (11,902.25 km$^2$; 4,595.49 sq mi) |
| Kizlyarsky otdel (Килярскій отдѣлъ) | Kizlyar | 7,282 | 16,151 | 102,395 | 136,749 | 5,058.21 square versts (5,756.56 km$^2$; 2,222.62 sq mi) |
| Mozdoksky otdel (Моздокскій отдѣлъ) | Mozdok | 9,330 | 16,510 | – | 107,745 | 3,284.75 square versts (3,738.25 km$^2$; 1,443.35 sq mi) |
| Pyatigorsky otdel (Пятигорскій отдѣлъ) | Pyatigorsk | 18,440 | 38,310 | 181,481 | 200,486 | 5,838.69 square versts (6,644.79 km$^2$; 2,565.57 sq mi) |
| Sunzhensky otdel (Сунженскій отдѣлъ) | Sunzhenskaya (Sunzha) | 3,456 | – | 115,370 | 74,505 | 19,941.18 square versts (22,694.30 km$^2$; 8,762.32 sq mi) |
| Khasavyurtovsky okrug (Хасавюртовскій округъ) | Khasavyurt | 5,312 | – | 70,800 | 87,654 | 4,699.26 square versts (5,348.05 km$^2$; 2,064.89 sq mi) |
| Karanogayskoye pristavstvo (Караногайское приставство) | – | – | – | – | – | – |

## Demographics
### Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Terek oblast had a population of 933,936 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 485,568 men and 448,368 women. The plurality of the population indicated Russian to be their mother tongue, with significant Chechen, Ossetian, Kabardian, and Ingush speaking minorities.
Linguistic composition of the Terek oblast in 1897 :
| Language | Native speakers | % |
| Russian | 271,185 | 29.04 |
| Chechen | 223,347 | 23.91 |
| Ossetian | 96,621 | 10.35 |
| Kabardian | 84,093 | 9.00 |
| Ingush | 47,184 | 5.05 |
| Ukrainian | 42,036 | 4.50 |
| Nogai | 36,577 | 3.92 |
| Kumyk | 31,826 | 3.41 |
| Tatar | 27,370 | 2.93 |
| Avar-Andean | 15,721 | 1.68 |
| Armenian | 11,803 | 1.26 |
| German | 9,672 | 1.04 |
| Jewish | 6,328 | 0.68 |
| Georgian | 5,893 | 0.63 |
| Persian | 4,245 | 0.45 |
| Polish | 4,173 | 0.45 |
| Kalmyk | 3,595 | 0.38 |
| Circassian | 2,565 | 0.27 |
| Belarusian | 1,423 | 0.15 |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 1,416 | 0.15 |
| Dargin | 1,067 | 0.11 |
| Turkmen | 1,057 | 0.11 |
| Greek | 958 | 0.10 |
| Lithuanian | 789 | 0.08 |
| Imeretian | 756 | 0.08 |
| Romani | 493 | 0.05 |
| Bashkir | 398 | 0.04 |
| Karachay | 216 | 0.02 |
| Romanian | 156 | 0.02 |
| Other | 973 | 0.10 |
| TOTAL | 933,936 | 100.00 |
Religious composition of the Terek oblast in 1897 :
| Faith | Male | Female | Both | Both |
| Faith | Male | Female | Number | % |
| Muslim | 254,785 | 234,889 | 489,674 | 52.43 |
| Eastern Orthodox | 190,536 | 178,175 | 368,711 | 39.48 |
| Old Believer | 16,908 | 17,846 | 34,754 | 3.72 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 7,674 | 6,798 | 14,472 | 1.55 |
| Lutheran | 4,863 | 4,494 | 9,357 | 1.00 |
| Judaism | 3,652 | 2,924 | 6,576 | 0.70 |
| Roman Catholic | 4,559 | 1,086 | 5,645 | 0.60 |
| Buddhist | 2,235 | 1,894 | 4,129 | 0.44 |
| Reformed | 129 | 102 | 231 | 0.02 |
| Mennonite | 95 | 103 | 198 | 0.02 |
| Armenian Catholic | 39 | 33 | 72 | 0.01 |
| Baptist | 18 | 14 | 32 | 0.00 |
| Anglican | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Karaite | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Other Christian denomination | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Other non-Christian denomination | 60 | 6 | 66 | 0.01 |
| TOTAL | 485,568 | 448,368 | 933,936 | 100.00 |
Linguistic composition of uezds in the Terek Oblast in 1897
| Okrug | Russian | Russian | Chechen | Chechen | Ossetian | Ossetian | Turkic | Turkic | Circassian | Circassian | Ingush | Ingush | TOTAL |
| Okrug | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | TOTAL |
| Vladikavkaz | 31,205 | 23.12 | 93 | 0.07 | 88,265 | 65.41 | 532 | 0.39 | 155 | 0.11 | 733 | 0.54 | 134,947 |
| Grozny | 12,945 | 5.73 | 202,273 | 89.49 | 15 | 0.01 | 2,297 | 1.02 | 1,041 | 0.46 | 136 | 0.06 | 226,035 |
| Kizlyar | 53,785 | 52.53 | 864 | 0.84 | 105 | 0.10 | 33,593 | 32.81 | 20 | 0.02 | 41 | 0.04 | 102,395 |
| Nalchik | 4,811 | 4.68 | 4 | 0.00 | 2,728 | 2.65 | 23,303 | 22.64 | 64,748 | 62.92 | 36 | 0.03 | 102,908 |
| Pyatigorsk | 123,238 | 67.91 | 80 | 0.04 | 4,620 | 2.55 | 2,195 | 1.21 | 4,551 | 2.51 | 23 | 0.01 | 181,481 |
| Sunzha | 42,013 | 36.42 | 1,906 | 1.65 | 871 | 0.75 | 2,439 | 2.11 | 16,113 | 13.97 | 46,214 | 40.06 | 115,370 |
| Khasavyurt | 3,188 | 4.5 | 18,127 | 25.6 | 17 | 0.02 | 31,414 | 44.37 | 30 | 0.04 | 1 | 0 | 70,800 |
| TOTAL | 271,185 | 25.8 | 223,347 | 21.25 | 96,621 | 9.19 | 95,753 | 9.11 | 86,658 | 8.25 | 47,184 | 4.49 | 1,051,032 |

### Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Terek oblast had a population of 1,377,923 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 722,685 men and 655,238 women, 1,113,608 of whom were the permanent population, and 264,315 were temporary residents:
| Nationality | Urban | Urban | Rural | Rural | TOTAL | TOTAL |
| Nationality | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| North Caucasians | 22,655 | 9.39 | 648,548 | 57.05 | 671,203 | 48.71 |
| Russians | 175,155 | 72.64 | 417,886 | 36.76 | 593,041 | 43.04 |
| Other Europeans | 12,646 | 5.24 | 23,654 | 2.08 | 36,300 | 2.63 |
| Armenians | 23,265 | 9.65 | 7,165 | 0.63 | 30,430 | 2.21 |
| Sunni Muslims | 31 | 0.01 | 28,696 | 2.52 | 28,727 | 2.08 |
| Shia Muslims | 3,232 | 1.34 | 2,925 | 0.26 | 6,157 | 0.45 |
| Jews | 2,769 | 1.15 | 3,091 | 0.27 | 5,860 | 0.43 |
| Georgians | 1,287 | 0.53 | 2,674 | 0.24 | 3,961 | 0.29 |
| Roma | 102 | 0.04 | 1,784 | 0.16 | 1,886 | 0.14 |
| Asiatic Christians | 0 | 0.00 | 358 | 0.03 | 358 | 0.03 |
| TOTAL | 241,142 | 100.00 | 1,136,781 | 100.00 | 1,377,923 | 100.00 |