North Caucasus in the context of "Caucasus"

Sochi (Russian: Сочи, IPA: [ˈsotɕɪ] , from Ubykh: Шъуача – seaside) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, and up to 600,000 residents in the urban area. The city covers an area of 176.77 square kilometers (68.25 sq mi), while the Greater Sochi Area covers over 3,502 square kilometers (1,352 sq mi). Sochi stretches across 145 kilometers (90 mi), and is the longest city in Europe, the fifth-largest city in the Southern Federal District, the second-largest city in Krasnodar Krai, and the sixth-largest city on the Black Sea.

Sochi hosted the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games in 2014. It hosted the alpine and Nordic Olympic events at the nearby ski resort of Rosa Khutor in Krasnaya Polyana. It also hosted the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix from 2014 until 2021. It was also one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Mount Elbrus is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant stratovolcano rising 5,642 m (18,510 ft) above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the tenth-most prominent peak in the world. It is situated in the southern Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria in the western extension of Ciscaucasia, and is the highest peak of the Caucasus Mountains.

Elbrus has two summits, both of which are dormant volcanic domes. The taller, western summit is 5,642 metres (18,510 ft); the eastern summit is 5,621 metres (18,442 ft). The earliest recorded ascent of the eastern summit was on 10 July 1829 by a Circassian man named Khillar Khashirov, and the western summit in 1874 by a British expedition led by F. Crauford Grove and including Frederick Gardiner, Horace Walker and the Swiss guide Peter Knubel. [fr]

The Western Caucasus is a western region of the North Caucasus in Southern Russia, extending from the Black Sea to Mount Elbrus.

The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia, or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, which are sometimes collectively known as the Caucasian States. The total area of these countries measures about 186,100 square kilometres (71,850 square miles). The South Caucasus and the North Caucasus together comprise the larger Caucasus geographical region that divides Eurasia.

43°42′41″N 44°48′22″E / 43.7114°N 44.8061°E / 43.7114; 44.8061

The North Caucasian Federal District (Russian: Северо-Кавказский федеральный округ, IPA: [ˌsʲevʲɪrə kɐfˈkasːkʲɪj fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnɨj ˈokrʊk]) is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. It is located in extreme southern Russia, in the geographical area of the North Caucasus. The federal district was split from the Southern Federal District on 19 January 2010. The population of the federal subjects comprising the federal district was 10,171,434 according to the 2021 Census, living in an area of 170,400 square kilometers (65,800 sq mi). The current Envoy is Yury Chaika.

Krasnodar Krai (Russian: Краснода́рский край, romanized: Krasnodarskiy kray, [krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj]) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Krasnodar. The third most populous federal subject in Russia, it had a population of 5,838,273 as of the 2021 Census.

Krasnodar Krai is formally and informally referred to as Kuban (Russian: Кубань), a term denoting the historical region of Kuban situated between the Sea of Azov and the Kuban River which is predominantly within the krai. It is bordered by Rostov Oblast to the north, Stavropol Krai to the east, Karachay-Cherkessia to the south-east. Adygea is an enclave entirely within the krai. Krasnodar Krai shares an international border with Georgia and borders annexed Crimea to the west, across the Kerch Strait.

The Pontic–Caspian Steppe is a steppe extending across Eastern Europe to Central Asia, formed by the Caspian and Pontic steppes. It stretches from the northern shores of the Black Sea (the Pontus Euxinus of antiquity) to the northern area around the Caspian Sea, where it ends at the Ural-Caspian narrowing, which joins it with the Kazakh Steppe in Central Asia, making it a part of the larger Eurasian Steppe. Geopolitically, the Pontic–Caspian Steppe extends from northeastern Bulgaria and southeastern Romania through Moldova, southern and eastern Ukraine, through the North Caucasus of southern Russia, and into the Lower Volga region where it straddles the border of southern Russia and western Kazakhstan. Biogeographically, it is a part of the Palearctic realm, and of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome.

The area corresponds to Cimmeria, Scythia, and Sarmatia of classical antiquity. Across several millennia, numerous tribes of nomadic horsemen used the steppe; many of them went on to conquer lands in the settled regions of Central and Eastern Europe, West Asia, and South Asia.

The Greeks in Georgia (Georgian: ბერძნები საქართველოში, romanized: berdznebi sakartveloshi; Greek: Έλληνες στην Γεωργία, romanized: Éllines stin Georgía), which in academic circles is often considered part of the broader, historic community of Pontic Greeks or—more specifically in this region—Caucasus Greeks, is estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 people to 100,000 (15,166 according to the latest census) down from about 100,000 in 1989. The community has dwindled due to the large wave of repatriation to Greece as well as emigration to Russia, and in particular Stavropol Krai in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia. The community has established the Union of Greeks in Georgia and there is a cultural centre and a newspaper entitled Greek Diaspora.