Ethnic Minorities and Migration Processes in the Krasnodar Territory

The Krasnodar Territory is a multinational administrative unit of the Russian Federation. Throughout the last two centuries the ethnic situation in the northwest of the Caucasus has been shaped by numerous migrant flows (organized and spontaneous), therefore all ethnic groups there cannot call the area their historical homeland. Russians, who comprise the majority, came there as late as the end of the eighteenth century when the Russian Empire took up the Kuban steppes (the north of the Krasnodar Territory in today’s terms). The Black Sea Cossacks who had made up the Cossack Troops of the Line (in the Territory’s eastern part) were followed by Russians and Ukrainians who joined the Cossacks. It was at the last stage of the Caucasian War (1816-1864) that Russians reached the Territory’s southern parts and the Black Sea coast. The process went on and on after the war when Russians were joined by Armenians, Greeks, Moldavians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Germans, and Estonians.