ABSTRACT
The Republic of Adygeya is situated in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, a landlocked region in the basin of the Kuban river, surrounded by Krasnodar Krai. The Republic is in the Southern Federal Okrug and the North Caucasus Economic Area. TheRepublic is characterized by open grassland and fertile soil and covers 7,792 sq km (3,009 sq miles). At the census of October 2010 it had 439,996 inhabitants and a population density of 56.4 per sq km. Some 51.0% of the population lived in urban areas. Of those resident in the Republic who stated their ethnicity at the census, 63.6% were Russian, 25.2% were Adyge, 3.7% were Armenian, 1.4% were Ukrainian and 1.1% were Kurdish. Almost all of the Adyge population speak Adyge (part of the Abkhazo-Adyge group of Caucasian languages), as their native language, although most also speak Russian. 5The dominant religion in Adygeya, owing to the preponderance of ethnic Russians, is Orthodox Christianity, but the traditional religion of the Adyges is Islam. The administrative centre of Adygeya is atMaikop, with a population of 144,246. The Republic is in the time zone GMT+4.
