page_title: Circassia
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Circassia / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Turkey In Asia And The Caucasian Provinces Of Russia. Published By J.H. Colton &amp; Co. No. 172 William St. New York. Entered ... 1855 by J.H. Colton &amp; Co. ... New York. No. 25
context_page_description: Circassia is a region and ex-country in the North Caucasus and along the northeast shore of the Black Sea. It is the ancestral homeland of the Circassian people.
context_section_description: Circassia was located in Eastern Europe, north of Western Asia, near the northeastern Black Sea coast. Before the Russian conquest of the Caucasus (1763–1864), it covered the entire fertile plateau and the steppe of the northwestern region of the Caucasus, with an estimated population of between 3 and 4 million.
  Circassia's historical great range extended from the Taman Peninsula in the west, to the town of Mozdok in today's North Ossetia–Alania in the east. Historically, Circassia covered the southern half of today's Krasnodar Krai, the Republic of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and parts of North Ossetia–Alania and Stavropol Krai, bounded by the Kuban River on the north which separated it from the Russian Empire.
  On the Black Sea coast the climate is warm and humid, while being moderate in the lowlands and cooler in the highlands. Most of Circassia is frost free for more than half the year. There are steppe meadows in the plains, beech and oak forests in the foothills, and pine forests and alpine meadows in the mountains.
  Sochi is considered by many Circassians as their traditional capital city. According to Circassians, the 2014 Winter Olympic village is built in an area of mass graves of Circassians after their defeat by the Russians in 1864.
caption: Circassia in 1856
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