The North Caucasus Federal District is located in the south of Russia's European part and in the central and eastern regions of the North Caucasus. It includes the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of Ingushetia, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic, the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, the Chechen Republic and the Stavropol Territory with the district'scapital in Pyatigorsk.
It has land borders with Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and South Ossetia, and a sea border with Kazakhstan. Within Russia it has land borders with Kalmykia, the Rostov Region and the Krasnodar Territory. In the east the district is washed by the Caspian Sea and in the south it hits the Caucasus Main Ridge and the borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The district's territory is 172,360 square km, or 1% of Russia's territory. The population is 9,507,000 people or 6.6% of Russia's total. About 49.1% of the population live in cities and 50.9% in rural areas.
The district has a better demographic status than the national average. The number of births in the first four months of 2011 exceeded that of deaths by 22,500 people, or 1.8 times. The natural increase rate was 7.2% and the migration outflow was 2,400 people.
The living standards are primarily determined by money income. The average for per capita monthly cash earnings amounted to 10,850.7 roubles in May 2011, real per capita incomes made up a 0.3% increase over the same month last year.
In January-May 2011, the nominal average monthly salary amounted to 12,900 roubles, a 9.7% increase over the same period last year.
In 2009 the district's GRP was 2.5% of the national GDP, or 795.5 billion roubles. Trade and services traditionally dominate production with 21.3%; agriculture, hunting and forestry amount to 13.9% and construction to 12.5%.
The share of industry in the district's economy stands at 13.3%, including mineral production amounting to 0.9%, processing industries to 8.1%, production and distribution of electricity, gas and water to 4.3%.
The district's agro-industrial sector makes a tangible contribution to Russia's food security. It accounts for 45% of the nation's grape harvest, over 10% of its grain, fruit, vegetables and berries, and more than 5% of sugar beet. The district's farms raise 11% of the nation's cattle and 40.8% of its sheep and goats.
The investment activity in the district is not high. In the first quarter of this year the investment into its basic assets amounted to 28.2 billion roubles. Foreign investment amounted to $9.4 million over the same period, or 0.02% of Russia's total. 81% in the structure of foreign investments are direct ones.