VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
The North Caucasus Federal District, also known by its Russian acronym SKFO, is located in southern part of European Russia and central and eastern parts of the North Caucasus. It comprises the Republic of Dagestan, Republic of Ingushetia, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Karachayevo-Chircassian Republic, the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, the Chechen Republic and the Stavropol Territory. Pyatigorsk is the district's administrative centre.
The SKFO shares international land borders with Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and South Ossetia and an international water border with Kazakhstan. Within Russia, the district borders Kalmykia, the Rostov Region and the Krasnodar Territory. The Caspian Sea forms the district's eastern border, and the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range divides the region from Georgia and Azerbaijan in the south.
The total area is 172,360 square kilometres, or 1.0% of the total land area of Russia.
The population is 9,032,300 people (in the first quarter of 2010), or 6.5% of the total population of Russia. Some 48.2% of the district population lives in urban areas and 51.8% in rural areas.
The overall demographic situation is significantly better than that of the country as a whole. The birth rate exceeds the death rate by 17,000 people, and according to data from the first five months of 2010, the rate of natural increase stood at 7.4%. A total of 1,600 people emigrated from the district during that period.
The SKFO has a monthly per capita income (salaries in Russia are usually calculated on a monthly basis) of 10,395 roubles, compared to 15,923 roubles for Russia as a whole.
The average nominal monthly wage reached 11,560 roubles in the first quarter of 2010, a 10.1% increase compared to the same period last year; real wages grew by 1.4%.
According to data from a targeted employment survey, the number of economically active citizens was 4.2 million people, or 46.5% of the total population.
The district's economy is traditionally dominated by the trade and service sector, which account for 20% of the gross regional product, or 142 billion roubles. Agriculture, hunting and forestry account for 15%, or 106 billion roubles, and construction makes up 13%, or 91 billion roubles.
Industry accounts for 11% of the district's economy, and is dominated by petroleum production (accounting for 29% of the region's total industrial revenue), the food industry (23%), the chemical industry (14%), engineering (12%), metalworking (5%), the production of construction materials (6%) and mining (6%).
The district's agricultural sector represents a major contribution to the country's food security. For instance, 45% of the country's total grape harvest is collected in the district, while the figure for grain, fruit, berries and vegetables stands at 10% of the national total, and the figure for sugar beets is more than 5%. The district also accounts for 11% of the total cattle population in Russia and 40.8% of sheep and goat populations. Some 7% of the country's milk and 44.2% of its wool are produced here. The district also accounts for 27.9% of the country's sheep and goats measured by live weight.
Overall, the district's agricultural output accounts for 5.4% of Russia's total.
Large-scale investment is rare in the North Caucasus Federal District. In the first quarter of 2010, investment in the district was 24.3 billion roubles, while total foreign investment in the non-financial sector in 2009 was $100 million, 56% of which was direct investment.
The district had a positive foreign trade balance in 2009 of $300 million ($1.1 billion in exports, $800 million in imports), which accounted for 0.4% of total Russian foreign trade.