Terek Oblast
The Terek Oblast[lower-alpha 1] 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.
Terek oblast
Терская область | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Administrative map of the Terek Oblast | |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Viceroyalty | Caucasus |
| Established | 1873 |
| Abolished | 1917 |
| Capital | Vladikavkaz |
| Area | |
| • Total | 72,443.86 km2 (27,970.73 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation (Elbrus) | 5,642 m (18,510 ft) |
| Population (1916) | |
| • Total | 1,377,923 |
| • Density | 19/km2 (49/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 17.50% |
| • Rural | 82.50% |
Administrative divisions
The districts (okrugs), Cossack districts (otdels), and pristavstvo of the Terek oblast in 1917 were as follows:[1]
| Name | Capital | Population | Area | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897 | 1916 | |||
| Vedensky okrug (Веденскій округъ) | Vedeno | – | 127,718 | 3,341.69 square versts (3,803.05 km2; 1,468.37 sq mi) |
| Vladikavkazsky okrug (Владикавказскій округъ) | Vladikavkaz | 134,947 | 207,742 | 5,023.10 square versts (5,716.60 km2; 2,207.19 sq mi) |
| Groznensky okrug (Грозненскій округъ) | Grozny | 226,035 | 195,744 | 4,369.22 square versts (4,972.44 km2; 1,919.87 sq mi) |
| Nazranovskiy Okrug (Назрановскій округъ) | Nazran | – | 59,046 | 1,341.00 square versts (1,526.14 km2; 589.25 sq mi) |
| Nalchiksky okrug (Нальчикскій округъ) | Nalchik | 102,908 | 180,534 | 10,458.35 square versts (11,902.25 km2; 4,595.49 sq mi) |
| Kizlyarsky otdel (Килярскій отдѣлъ) | Kizlyar | 102,395 | 136,749 | 5,058.21 square versts (5,756.56 km2; 2,222.62 sq mi) |
| Mozdoksky otdel (Моздокскій отдѣлъ) | Mozdok | – | 107,745 | 3,284.75 square versts (3,738.25 km2; 1,443.35 sq mi) |
| Pyatigorsky otdel (Пятигорскій отдѣлъ) | Pyatigorsk | 181,481 | 200,486 | 5,838.69 square versts (6,644.79 km2; 2,565.57 sq mi) |
| Sunzhensky otdel (Сунженскій отдѣлъ) | Sunzhenskaya (Sunzha) | 115,370 | 74,505 | 19,941.18 square versts (22,694.30 km2; 8,762.32 sq mi) |
| Khasavyurtovsky okrug (Хасавюртовскій округъ) | Khasavyurt | 70,800 | 87,654 | 4,699.26 square versts (5,348.05 km2; 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.[2]
| 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[lower-alpha 2] | 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 |
| Faith | Male | Female | Both | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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:[1]
| Nationality | Urban | Rural | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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[lower-alpha 3] | 31 | 0.01 | 28,696 | 2.52 | 28,727 | 2.08 |
| Shia Muslims[lower-alpha 4] | 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 |
Notes
- Russian: Те́рская о́бласть, romanized: Térskaya óblast
- Before 1918, Azerbaijanis were generally known as "Tatars". This term, employed by the Russians, referred to Turkic-speaking Muslims of the South Caucasus. After 1918, with the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and "especially during the Soviet era", the Tatar group identified itself as "Azerbaijani".[3][4]
- Primarily Turco-Tatars.[6]
- Primarily Tatars.[6]
References
- Кавказский календарь на 1917 год, pp. 226–237.
- "Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru.
- Bournoutian 2018, p. 35 (note 25).
- Tsutsiev 2014, p. 50.
- "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
- Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.
Bibliography
- Bournoutian, George A. (2018). Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-06260-2. OCLC 1037283914.
- Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971). The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918–1919. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520019843.
- Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
- Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus (PDF). Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300153088. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2023.