Terek
Terek People's Republic Республика Казакия (Russian) | |
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Capital and largest city | Stavropol |
| Official languages | Balachka |
| Recognised national languages | Russian |
| Recognised regional languages | Ukrainian, Kalmyk, Circassian, Nogai |
| Demonym(s) | Cossacks, Cossackian |
| Government | Federal semi-presidential constitutional republic |
• President | Mikhail Lev Pribylov |
• Prime Minster | Alexander Tkachyov |
| Legislature | Duma |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .ak |
Terek (Russian: Казакия, Kazakiya), officially known as the Terek People's Republic, is a republic in the Caucasus. It borders Russia to the North, Kalmykia to the east, Circassia to teh south and the Black Sea to the west, sharing a martime border with Crimea The country is hydrographically dominated by the Don River in the north and the Kuban River in the south.
The Cossacks were among the first to fight against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War, with the Don Republic and the Kuban People's Republic declaring their independence following the start of the conflict. These self-proclaimed republics would be absorbed into the Soviet Union early on, with the Cossacks being proclaimed ethnically Russian as part of the USSR's national delimitation (though Vladimir Lenin suggested that Cossacks were ethnically Ukrainians). Later, Joseph Stalin consider the Cossacks too ditnict from the the Russians and set up the Cossack SFSR. The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Cossackia on 31 August 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Cossackia declared independence on 25 November 1991.
Terek currently make up the majority of Cossackia, while ethnic Russia make up slightly less of the population. Armenians, Circassians, Georgians, Ukrainians and Kalmyks are the largest minorities within the republic. Russian is the official language of Terek, with Balachka being the standard dialect. In recent years, many have supported the establishment of a separate "Cossack language," though nothing has come of which. Armenian, Circassian, and Ukrainian are also spoken within the republic. The majority of the population adhere to the Eastern Orthodox Church, with those adhering to Islam and Rodnovery forming a considerable minority. The economy of Terek is dominated by agriculture, commerce, industry, mining, and tourism. Terek has politically been dominated by the right-wing Democratic Party since its independence.