Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia constitutes a part of the North-Caucasus Federal District. Its capital is Cherkessk. The republic borders on Krasnodar Territory in the west, Stavropol Territory in the north, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic in the south, and Georgia and Abkhazia alongside the Greater Caucasian Mountain Range.
It was founded as the Karachay-Cherkessian Autonomous Province on January 12, 1957 and reorganized into the Republic in 1990.