Kabardino-Balkaria profile

The Russian North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria has low living standards, high unemployment, corruption and has had its share of violence, kidnappings and organised crime to contend with.

The economy relies heavily on subsidies from Moscow. It is home to the highest mountain in Europe, Mount Elbrus, (5,642m).

The population is made up of mainly-Muslim Kabardins, as well as minorities of Turkic-speaking Balkars - around 10% of the people - and Russians.

There is friction between the Kabardins and the Balkars, and in 1992 the Balkars voted for secession.

During the early 21st Century, the republic was affected by the instability afflicting other parts of the region and the spill-over from the conflict in nearby Chechnya.

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REPUBLIC OF KABARDINO-BALKARIA: FACTS

• Capital: Nalchik

• Area: 12,500 sq km

• Population: 904,000

• Languages: Russian, Balkar, Kabardian

• Life expectancy: 70 years (male) 77 (female)

MEDIA

Ethnic Balkar men - staging a protest in Moscow - wear traditional winter cloaks

Most of the republic's newspapers are state-owned. There are three local TV services in Nalchik, which broadcast via federal networks.

Television/radio

• GTRK Kabardino-Balkaria TV - state-owned, broadcasts via Russia TV channel

• Independent Social TV and Radio (NOTR) - broadcasts via NTV channel

• TV 27 - broadcasts via TNT channel

Online

• Caucasian Knot - independent regional news website, in Russian and English

• Open Caucasus Media - English-language independent regional news website

TIMELINE

Nalchik, with Mt Elbrus in the background

Key events in the modern history of Kabardino-Balkaria:

17th-19th Centuries - The area is contested by the Russian and Ottoman empires, until it finally comes under Russian control.

1921 - Following the Bolshevik revolution, the Kabardino Autonomous Region is formed, with the Balkar district added a year later.

1936 - The region becomes an autonomous republic within the USSR.

1944 - Accused by Stalin of collaboration with the Nazis, the Balkars are deported to Central Asia during World War Two and their name is dropped from the republic's title.

1957 - Under Khrushchev, the Balkars are allowed to return from exile and their name is restored to the republic's title.

1991 - The region becomes a federal republic of Russia following the collapse of the USSR.

2000s onwards - An Islamist insurgency in North Caucus breaks out between Russia and militants associated with the Caucasus Emirate and, from 2015, Islamic State groups. Incidents are mostly concentrated in the North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria.

2004 - Following the school siege at Beslan in neighbouring North Ossetia, Russia targets what it says are Islamic militants operating in Kabardino-Balkaria.

2005 - Militants stage a large-scale, armed assault on government buildings in Nalchik. Russia deploys hundreds of troops and special forces with orders to shoot to kill. Many dozens are reported dead, including militants, civilians and Russian forces.

Yarmuk, a local militant Islamic group with Chechen links, says its fighters had been involved as part of a Caucasus Front. The Caucasus Front against Russia was decreed in May 2005 by the late Chechen rebel leader Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev, in a bid further to widen Chechnya's conflict with Russia.

2010 - The region's top Muslim cleric is shot dead, in an attack blamed on militants.

2011 - Suspected Islamists attacked ski resorts in what Russia sees as preparations for assaults on the 2014 Winter Olympics in nearby Sochi.

2017 - Russia's FSB internal intelligence agency says that the last insurgent underground group in the North Caucasus has been eliminated.

2022 - Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, up to 500 soldiers from Kabardino-Balkaria and return home, reflecting unease within the region about the war.

2005: Russian special forces storm a shop in Nalchik where gunmen had holed-up