RUSSIA - Stavropol Krai / Ставропольский край

Stavropol Krai (Russian: Ставропо́льский край, tr. Stavropolsky kray,) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia, and is administratively part of the North Caucasian Federal District. Stavropol Krai has a population of 2,786,281 (2010). The krai encompasses the central part of the Fore-Caucasus and most of the northern slopes of Caucasus Major. It borders with Rostov Oblast, Krasnodar Krai, Kalmykia, Dagestan, Chechnya, North Ossetia–Alania, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachay–Cherkessia.  Stavropol is the largest city and the capital of Stavropol Krai, and Pyatigorsk is the administrative center of the North Caucasian Federal District.

Stavropol Krai is bordered by Krasnodar Krai to the west, Rostov Oblast to the north-west, Kalmykia to the north, Dagestan to the east, and Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia-Alania, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia to the south. It is one of the most multi-ethnic federal subjects in Russia, with thirty-three ethnic groups with more than 2,000 persons each. The western area of Stavropol Krai is considered part of the Kuban region, the traditional home of the Kuban Cossacks, with most of the krai's population living in the drainage basin of the Kuban River. The krai was established as North Caucasus Krai on October 17, 1924. After undergoing numerous administrative changes, it was renamed Ordzhonikidze Krai (Орджоникидзевский край), after Sergo Ordzhonikidze, in March 1937, and Stavropol Krai on January 12, 1943.