Terek oblast
Терская область
Oblast
Coat of arms of Terek oblast
Coat of arms
Administrative map of the Terek Oblast
Administrative map of the Terek Oblast
CountryRussian Empire
ViceroyaltyCaucasus
Established1873
Abolished1917
CapitalVladikavkaz
Area
 • Total72,443.86 km2 (27,970.73 sq mi)
Highest elevation
(Elbrus)
5,642 m (18,510 ft)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total1,377,923
 • Density19/km2 (49/sq mi)
 • Urban
17.50%
 • Rural
82.50%

The Terek Oblast[a] 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.

Administrative divisions

The districts (okrugs), Cossack districts (otdels), and pristavstvo [ru] 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]

Linguistic composition of the Terek oblast in 1897[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[b] 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
Religious composition of the Terek oblast in 1897[5]
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[c] 31 0.01 28,696 2.52 28,727 2.08
Shia Muslims[d] 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

  1. ^ Russian: Те́рская о́бласть, romanized: Térskaya óblast
  2. ^ 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]
  3. ^ Primarily Turco-Tatars.[6]
  4. ^ Primarily Tatars.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Кавказский календарь на 1917 год, pp. 226–237.
  2. ^ a b "Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru.
  3. ^ Bournoutian 2018, p. 35 (note 25).
  4. ^ Tsutsiev 2014, p. 50.
  5. ^ "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  6. ^ a b Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.

Bibliography

43°01′00″N 44°39′00″E / 43.0167°N 44.6500°E / 43.0167; 44.6500

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