Ciscaucasia - Ciscaucasia

Ciscaucasia
State	Russia
Region	Southern Russia

	ATTENTION: All of Ciscaucasia is extremely dangerous due to guerrillas. It is not recommended to travel to these areas until the situation has calmed down.

Ciscaucasia is a region of the Russia.

To know

Geographical notes

There Ciscaucasia or North Caucasus is a region of the Southern Russia, bordering to the south with the Georgia and to the north with the Krasnodar Territory, the Stavropol Territory ' and the Kalmykia.

Spoken languages

This region is an incredible patchwork of cultures and languages ​​and the Russian it is only the official language but not the most widely spoken. Depending on the regions you are interested in, you will need to know a little about Chechen, Turkish, stingy, Mongolian, Persian, culmucco, Ingush and many more in up to more than 50 different languages. Russian here has the function of English in the rest of the world: it is the lingua franca that everyone understands but not necessarily everyone is able to express themselves fluently.

Territories and tourist destinations

      Chechnya - Fascinating and full of surprises region that has been devastated by the last two decades of conflicts between local populations and the Russian government. The only moderately safe city is Groznyj which despite its name (in Russian it means threatening), is one of the quietest cities although not the most beautiful. The locals are Chechen and due to tensions with Russia, Chechen is by far the preferred language to Russian and certainly the most widely spoken.

      Dagestan - Featuring a truly exotic landscape, Dagestan shares little with the rest of Russian nature dominated by steppes and swamps. Its selling point is cultural diversity, breathtaking mountain views and ancient archaeological ruins. However, the high risk of attacks, kidnappings and violence also applies here. Avoid going to Dagestan at least until the situation has normalized.

      Ingushetia - Homeland of the ancient Ingush ethnic group, closely related to the Chechen one, this region is one of the poorest in Ciscaucasia. Here, however, the war only came with some aftermath of the struggles in Chechnya and Dagestan.

      Kabardino-Balkaria - Here are the three highest mountains in Europe. The region is mostly inhabited by Muslims divided into Circassian, Kabard and Balkan ethnic groups. Here too, as in the rest of the region, there is a high risk of violence and riots.

      Karachaj-Cherkessia - With its capital Dombaj, this republic is famous for its beautiful nature and is home to Sunni Muslims.

      North Ossetia-Alania - Homeland of the Ossetians, an ethnic group related to the Persians and of some isolated Orthodox groups gathered in tribes in the mountains, this region is also currently very dangerous.

Urban centers

How to get

Given that it is currently not recommended to go here, the main city for the arrival of foreigners is certainly Stavropol ' in the homonymous region.

How to get around

What see

What to do

At the table

Safety

Before embarking on the journey consult:

• Safe travel - Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Farnesina) (Country safety information). 

Unfortunately, even if this region is a true paradise for tourists and travelers of all kinds and preserves unique beauties in the world, a source of inspiration for thousands of poets, writers and artists, on the other hand it is today an extremely unstable area politically and going here is highly discouraged. The levels of corruption and violence, often committed by the authorities themselves, are very high. This region is home to numerous Islamic fundamentalist groups and is, according to Russian official reports, the one in which the rate of legality is among the lowest in the Russian regions.

Beyond the incredible terrorist and military risk, even in times of calm keep in mind that the majority of the population here is Sunni Muslims, so try as much as possible to follow the customs and regulations in force in Islamic countries.

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Ciscaucasia
• Commons contains images or other files on Ciscaucasia

Draft : the article respects the standard template and presents useful information to a tourist. Header and footer are correctly filled out.