Mozdok

Mozdok (Russian: Моздо́к; Ossetian: Мæздæг, Mæzdæg) is a town and the administrative center of Mozdoksky District of North Ossetia – Alania, Russia, located on the left shore of the Terek River, 92 kilometers (57 mi) north of the republic's capital Vladikavkaz. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 38,768.[3]

For other places with the same name, see Mozdok (inhabited locality).

Mozdok Моздок
Town[1]
Other transcription(s)
• Ossetic	Мæздæг
Mozdok railway station
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Mozdok
Mozdok Location of Mozdok Show map of Russia Mozdok Mozdok (North Ossetia–Alania) Show map of North Ossetia–Alania
Coordinates: 43°44′N 44°42′E
Country	Russia
Federal subject	North Ossetia-Alania[1]
Administrative district	Mozdoksky District[1]
Town Under District Jurisdiction	Mozdok[1]
Founded	1763[2]
Elevation	131 m (430 ft)
Population  (2010 Census)[3]
• Total	38,768
• Estimate  (2018)[4]	41,728 (+7.6%)
Administrative status
• Capital of	Mozdoksky District[1], Mozdok Town Under District Jurisdiction[1]
Municipal status
• Municipal district	Mozdoksky Municipal District[5]
• Urban settlement	Mozdokskoye Urban Settlement[5]
• Capital of	Mozdoksky Municipal District[5], Mozdokskoye Urban Settlement[5]
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK [6])
Postal code(s)[7]	362028, 363750–363760
Dialing code(s)	+7 86736
OKTMO ID	90630101001

Mozdok population

2010 Census	38,768[3]
2002 Census	42,865[8]
1989 Census	38,037[9]
1979 Census	34,394[10]

Etymology

The town's name comes from the Kabardian word for "the dense forest".[11]

History

It was established in 1763 as a Russian fort at the site of a Kabardian village founded four years earlier, settling the families of the Volga Cossacks in stanitsas around it.[2] Hundreds of Kabardians followed, fleeing their feudal lords from the neighboring areas into the Russian territory. In 1764, the Kabardian leaders' request to the Russian government that the fortress be destroyed went unanswered. In the years that followed, the Kabardians tried to besiege the town, but they were eventually compelled to retreat. With the foundation of Mozdok, Russian authorities encouraged Ossetians, Georgians, Armenians, and other Christians to populate the town. It soon emerged as a key Russian military outpost linked to Kizlyar with a fortified line as well as the center of local trade, ethnic diversity, and Russian-Caucasian interchange. In 1789, 55.6% of its population was Armenian and Georgian. Ossetian settlement particularly increased in the 1820s when the Russian commander Yermolov began removing Kabardians from the area of the Georgian Military Road and settling Ossetians there.[2]

Moving south from Mozdok, Russia established contact with eastern Georgia through the Darial Gorge. Mozdok remained the northern terminal of the Georgian Military Road leading to Tbilisi until being succeeded by Vladikavkaz, founded in 1784 midway between Mozdok and the Darial Pass.[12]

In August 1942, it was conquered by German troops during Case Blue. 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.[13] 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.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Mozdok serves as the administrative center of Mozdoksky District.[1] As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Mozdoksky District as Mozdok Town Under District Jurisdiction.[1] As a municipal division, Mozdok Town Under District Jurisdiction is incorporated within Mozdoksky Municipal District as Mozdokskoye Urban Settlement.[5]

Culture

The Museum of Regional Studies in Mozdok holds an assortment of displays and artifacts related to Mozdok's history.

Ethnic groups

As of 2002, the ethnic composition of Mozdok was as follows:

• Russians: 62.7%
• Ossetians: 7.7%
• Armenians: 6.1%
• Kumyks: 4.6%
• Chechens: 4.3%
• Kabardians: 3.2%
• Koreans: 2.4%

Military

There is an airbase near the town. From 1961 to 1998, the 182nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment of Long Range Aviation, flying Tupolev Tu-95s, was based there.[14] The airbase has been used to support military operations in Chechnya and in the Russo-Georgian War.[15][16][17] In June 2003, a female suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying pilots and other personnel employed at the airbase on the Mozdok-Prokhladnoye motorway, killing approximately 15 and wounding 12.[18][19]

References

Notes

1. Law #34-RZ
2. Burbank, Jane; Ransel, David L. (1998). Imperial Russia: New Histories for the Empire. Indiana University Press. pp. 159–161. ISBN 978-0-253-21241-2.
3. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
4. "26. Численность постоянного населения Российской Федерации по муниципальным образованиям на 1 января 2018 года". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
5. Law #16-RZ
6. "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
7. Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
8. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian).
9. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. 1989 – via Demoscope Weekly.
10. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 г. Национальный состав населения по регионам России" [All Union Population Census of 1979. Ethnic composition of the population by regions of Russia] (XLS). Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 года [All-Union Population Census of 1979] (in Russian). 1979 – via Demoscope Weekly (website of the Institute of Demographics of the State University—Higher School of Economics.
11. Barrett, Thomas M. (1999). At the edge of empire: the Terek Cossacks and the North Caucasus frontier, 1700-1860. Westview Press, ISBN 0-8133-3671-6, p. 44.
12. John Channon and Robert Hudson (1995). The Penguin historical atlas of Russia. Viking, ISBN 0-670-86461-7, p. 72.
13. BBC News mentions bombings
14. Butuwski, International Air Power Review, Summer 2004, No. 13, 82.
15. Cornell, Svante E.; Starr, S. Frederick (2015). The Guns of August 2008: Russia's War in Georgia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-45652-0.
16. De Haas, Marcel (2004). Russian Security and Air Power, 1992-2002. Routledge. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-135-76778-5.
17. Potter, Matt (2011). Outlaws Inc.: Under the Radar and on the Black Market with the World's Most Dangerous Smugglers. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-60819-539-8.
18. Pravda.ru (2003). "Criminal case opened after blast in North Ossetian bus".
19. "Two years of attacks". BBC News. September 12, 2004.

Sources

• Закон №34-РЗ от 9 июля 2007 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Республики Северная Осетия-Алания», в ред. Закона №44-РЗ от 12 ноября 2013 г. «О внесении изменений в Приложение к Закону Республики Северная Осетия–Алания "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Республики Северная Осетия–Алания" и Закон Республики Северная Осетия–Алания "Об установлении границ муниципального образования Алагирский район, наделении его статусом муниципального района, образовании в его составе муниципальных образований — городского и сельских поселений"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Северная Осетия", №148(24949), 16 августа 2007 г. (Law #34-RZ of July 9, 2007 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, as amended by the Law #44-RZ of November 12, 2013 On Amending the Appendix to the Law of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania" and the Law of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania "On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formation of Alagirsky District, Granting It the Status of a Municipal District, Establishing Municipal Formations—Urban and Rural Settlements—Within Its Structure". Effective as of the official publication date.).
• Закон №16-РЗ от 5 марта 2005 г. «Об установлении границ муниципального образования Моздокский район, наделении его статусом муниципального района, образовании в его составе муниципальных образований — городского и сельских поселений и установлении их границ», в ред. Закона №8-РЗ от 24 января 2006 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Республики Северная Осетия–Алания "Об установлении границ муниципального образования Моздокский район, наделении его статусом муниципального района, образовании в его составе муниципальных образований — городского и сельских поселений и установлении их границ"». Вступил в силу с 1 марта 2005 г. Опубликован: "Северная Осетия", №43 (24344), 15 марта 2005 г. (Law #16-RZ of March 5, 2005 On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formation of Mozdoksky District, Granting It the Status of a Municipal District, Establishing Municipal Formations—Urban and Rural Settlements—Within Its Structure and on Establishing Their Borders, as amended by the Law #56 of January 24, 2006 On Amending the Law of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania "On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formation of Mozdoksky District, Granting It the Status of a Municipal District, Establishing Municipal Formations—Urban and Rural Settlements—Within Its Structure and on Establishing Their Borders". Effective as of March 1, 2005.).

External links

• China Daily comments on the attacks