Cherkessia

Cherkessia, also called Circassia, historic region of Russia at the western end of the Greater Caucasus Range on the Black Sea. It derives its name from the Circassian (Russian: Cherkess) people. From ancient times Cherkessia acquired the exotic reputation common to lands occupying a crucial area between rival empires. It passed successively under the influence or outright control of the Greeks, Romans, Khazars, Mongols, Crimean Tatars, Turks, and, after 1864, the Russians. Most of historic Cherkessia is now the Russian republic of Karachay-Cherkessia.