Adygeya (or Adigey or Adygei)

Republic in northwestern Caucasia, entirely surrounded by the Krasnodar krai (territory), in the southwest of the Russian Federation; area 7,600 sq km/2,934 sq mi; population (1996) 450,000 (68% Russians, 22% Adygeans). The capital is Maikop. It occupied its present borders from 1936, and attained the status of a republic when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. It is situated on the left bank of the River Kuban, with plains in the north (providing plentiful fertile black soil called chernozem) and the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains in the south.

Adygeya's main industries include food processing, lumbering, woodworking, and natural-gas extraction. Wheat, maize, fruit, and sunflowers and flowers (especially Crimean roses and lavender) are grown, and cattle and horses are raised.

The region was originally peopled by Circassians, who converted to Sunni Islam in the 17th century. Adygei oblast (region) was established in 1922 with Krasnodar as its administrative centre.