Nalchik

Nalchik (Russian: Нальчик IPA: [ˈnalʲtɕɪk]; Kabardian: НалщӀэч IPA: [naːɮɕʼakʲ]; Karachay-Balkar: Нальчик IPA: [naltʃɯk]) is the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, situated at an altitude of 550 meters (1,800 ft) in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about 100 kilometers (62 mi) northwest of Beslan (Beslan is in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania). It covers an area of 131 square kilometers (51 sq mi). Population: 247,054 (2021 Census).
The territory of modern-day Nalchik was formerly known as Slabada. The modern city dates from the early 19th century when the expanding Russian Empire built a fort there together with settling Mountain Jews in 1818; this date is seen at the top of the city's coat of arms. In 1838, a Russian military settlement was founded in the city, and after the Russian Revolution of 1917, in the year 1921, Nalchik was given the status of administrative center of Kabardin Autonomous Oblast. During the Russian Empire, the settlement was the administrative capital of the Nalchiksky Okrug of the Terek Oblast. The word "Nalchik" literally means "small horseshoe" in Kabardian (or Circassian, a Northwest Caucasian language) and Karachay-Balkar (a Turkic language). It is a diminutive of na'l, a common Middle Eastern word (Arabic, Persian, Turkish) for "horseshoe", possibly from the ancient Scythian, 'nalak" (horseshoe). The city of Nalchik was named this way because of how it is shaped as surrounded by the mountains of the land, and the Nalchik River is named after the city it runs across.