Stavropol, the capital of the Stavropol Territory

Stavropol is both the name of the territory and the name of its capital city.

Located on the northern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains, between the Caspian and the Black sea, Stavropol was founded in 1777 around one of a series of fortresses. It was established as a city in 1785, and in 1822 became the center of the North Caucasus Territory. From 1935 to 1943 it was known as Voroshilovsk.

Stavropol sits between the Manych River, and the Caucasus foothills, where it shares common borders with all the North Caucasus republics, including Chechnya. Its climate is moderate, with warm summer days, cool evenings and relatively mild winters.

In 1988 the Agreement formalizing Iowa and Stavropol as Sister States was signed. Stavropol Krai became a Sister State to Iowa because of the many similarities the states share: geographic size, economies based on agriculture or ag-related industries and businesses, and nearly equal populations with a few large cities and many small towns. With so many things in common it seemed a natural fit to link the two peoples and time has proven the assumption to be correct. Both states have benefited through exchanges in the fields of agriculture, the arts, business, education, government, law, medicine, sports and economic development.

Since the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991, Stavropol has attracted many refugees from neighboring regions as a result of political and economic chaos and armed conflict near Russia's borders.

I love my city and I'm glad to tell you about it. Read and see more:

Galina Chaplina,
psychologist and freelance writer,
Stavropol, Russia