Mozdok
Encyclopedia
Mozdoksky District
Mozdoksky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the eight in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the northern portion of the republic. Its administrative center is the town of Mozdok. District's population: 88,634 ; Population of Mozdok accounts...
of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania in southern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, located on the left shore of the Terek River, 92 kilometres (57.2 mi) north of Vladikavkaz
Vladikavkaz
-Notable structures:In Vladikavkaz, there is a guyed TV mast, tall, built in 1961, which has six crossbars with gangways in two levels running from the mast structure to the guys.-Twin towns/sister cities:...
, the republic's capital. The name of the town literally means "dense forest" in the Kabardian language
Kabardian language
The Kabardian language, also known as East Circassian , is a Northwest Caucasian language, closely related to the Adyghe language. It is spoken mainly in the Russian republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia and in Turkey and the Middle East...
. Population:
History
Mozdok's name comes from the AdygheAdyghe language
Adyghe language , also known as West Circassian , is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh; Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsigh; Zhane,...
/Circassian language, the Kabardian dialect, and means "the good forest". It was founded in 1759; town status was granted to it in 1785. Prince Potemkin founded the fortress in 1763, settling 517 families of Volga Cossacks in stanitsa
Stanitsa
Stanitsa is a village inside a Cossack host . Stanitsas were the primary unit of Cossack hosts.Historically, the stanitsa was a unit of economic and political organisation of the Cossack peoples primarily in the southern regions of the Russian Empire.Much of the land was held in common by the...
s around it. Five sotnia
Sotnia
Sotnia was a traditional division of the Cossack regiments. For example from earliest records of the Zaporizhian Sich, and means 'a hundred'. It is equivalent to company ....
s formed the Mozodksky Regiment, guarding a line of 80 verst along the Terek. Another hundred families were sent from the Don.
In August 1942, it was conquered by German troops during Fall Blau. It was recaptured by the Red Army in January 1943.
In June 2003, a suicide bomber caused havoc in the town, when a bus full of Russian air force personnel was destroyed when it was rammed by the bomber's car. On August 1, 2003, a military hospital in the city was targeted by a suicide bomber driving a large truck bomb. The building was substantially damaged, and over fifty people were killed in the blast. These attacks are just two of a string of attacks on Russian facilities in Mozdok since the start of the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
.
Ethnic groups
Ethnic groups in the city (2002 data):- RussiansRussiansThe Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
(62.73%) - OssetiansOssetiansThe Ossetians are an Iranic ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, eponymous of the region known as Ossetia.They speak Ossetic, an Iranian language of the Eastern branch, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language....
(7.66%) - ArmeniansArmeniansArmenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
(6.12%) - KumyksKumyksKumyks are a Turkic people occupying the Kumyk plateau in north Dagestan and south Terek, and the lands bordering the Caspian Sea. They comprise 14% of the population of the Russian republic of Dagestan. They speak the Kumyk language...
(4.55%) - Chechens (4.25%)
- Kabardians (3.16%)
- Koreans (2.39%)