page_title: Karachay-Cherkessia
section_title: Demographics
hierarchical_section_title: Karachay-Cherkessia / Demographics
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Karatschajewsk. Español: El río Kuban a su paso por Karachayevsk. Français&#160;: La confluence du Kouban et de la Teberda à Karatchaïevsk. Русский: г. Карачаевск, место слияния рек Теберда и Кубань.
context_page_description: The Karachay-Cherkess Republic or Karachay-Cherkessia is a federal subject of Russia. It is geographically located in the North Caucasus region of Southern Russia and is administratively part of the North Caucasian Federal District. Karachay-Cherkessia has a population of 477,859.
  Cherkessk is the largest city and the capital of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.
  Karachay-Cherkessia is one of Russia's ethnic republics, primarily representing the indigenous Turkic Karachay people and the Cherkess or Circassian people. Karachays form the largest ethnic group at around 40% of the population, followed by ethnic Russians and Cherkess. The Cherkess are mostly of the Besleney and Kabardin tribes. The republic has five official languages: Russian, Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay-Balkar, and Nogai.
  The majority of the republic's territory is within the Caucasus Mountains, except for a small strip at the northern edge of the Don Steppe. Karachay-Cherkessia is bordered by Krasnodar Krai to the west, Stavropol Krai to the north-east, Kabardino-Balkaria to the south-east, and an international border with Georgia to the south-west.
context_section_description: Population: 477,859 (2010 Census); 439,470 (2002 Census); 417,560 (1989 Census).
caption: Karachayevsk
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