Beslan (; , ''Beslæn'', ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Pravoberezhny District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located about north of the republic's

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () or Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus, situated on the Terek (river), Terek River. ...

, close to the border with the Republic of Ingushetia. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 36,728, making it the third largest town in the republic behind

and Mozdok. It was previously known as ''Tulatovo/Tulatovskoye'' (until 1941) and ''Iriston'' (until 1950).

History

Beslan was founded in 1847 by migrants from elsewhere in

Ossetia Ossetia ( , ; or , or , ) is an Ethnolinguistics, ethnolinguistic region on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. The Ossetian language is part of the Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian b ...

and was unofficially called Beslanykau ("the settlement of Beslan") after a local lord, Beslan Tulatov. In official use, however, the town was known after Tulatov's surname as Tulatovo or ''Tulatovskoye''. It was renamed Iriston (lit. ''Ossetia'') in 1941. From 1942 to 1943 the Germans tried to take Beslan, on the Adyghea-Beslan-Mozdok line. In 1950, when the town was rapidly industrialising, it was renamed Beslan.

Beslan school hostage crisis

On 1 September 2004, Beslan's School No. 1 was seized by a group of at least thirty-two

Islamic terrorists Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism, radical Islamic terrorism, or jihadist terrorism) refers to terrorist acts carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Since at least the 1990s, Islamist ...

related to the

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

. The siege ended on 3 September with a bloody shootout between the terrorists and the Russian security forces. According to official data, 334 people were killed, 186 of them children, and hundreds more wounded. All but one of the hostage-takers were killed, with the survivor arrested and later tried and convicted and sentenced to imprisonment.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Beslan serves as the

of Pravoberezhny District.Law #34-RZ As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Pravoberezhny District as Beslan Town Under District Jurisdiction. As a municipal division, Beslan Town Under District Jurisdiction is incorporated within Pravoberezhny Municipal District as Beslanskoye Urban Settlement.Law #17-RZ

Economy

Beslan is an important railway junction, situated on the main line between

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

and

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, and is the starting point of a branch line to Vladikavkaz. It is an industrial-agricultural town dominated by a large corn processing plant established in the 1940s.

Transportation

The town is served by the Beslan Airport.

Geography

Beslan lies about north of

, the

of the republic,Russia School massacre
" ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Retrieved on October 31, 2011. Click the slides until the part about Beslan's location and about south of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Ethnic groups

As of 2021, the ethnic composition of Beslan was: *

Ossetians The Ossetians ( or ; ),Merriam-Webster (2021), s.v"Ossete" also known as Ossetes ( ), Ossets ( ), and Alans ( ), are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the northern and southern side ...

: 87.9% *

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

: 9.2% *

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

: 1.2% *Others: 1.7%

Education

One of the schools in Beslan is the Ivan and Konstantin Kanidis School. It was dedicated in 2010 and named after teacher Ivan (Yanis) Kanidis and his son; the teacher died during the

Beslan school siege The Beslan school siege, also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre, was an Islamic terrorism, Islamic terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004. It lasted three days, and involved the imprisonment of mo ...

in 2004 at School No. 1. The governments of Greece and Norway paid 2.5 million euros through the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Program of Development to have the school built. The school's athletic programs specialize in soccer. Another school is located on Kominterna Street. It replaced School No. 1, which closed after the hostage crisis. Officials chose not to give the replacement school, located across the street from School No. 1, a number. Immediately after School No. 1 closed, classes for children who would have attended it were held at School No. 6.Varoli, John.
Russian Federation: Beslan -- six months on
."

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. Retrieved on October 5, 2011.

Notable people

* Alan Dzagoev (b. 1990), Russian professional association football player * Zaurbek Sidakov (b. 1996), a 2020 Olympic champion and two-time World Champion amateur freestyle wrestler * Yanis Kanidis (b. 1930), former Physical Education

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, who was killed in the

Beslan School Siege The Beslan school siege, also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre, was an Islamic terrorism, Islamic terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004. It lasted three days, and involved the imprisonment of mo ...

, to save the lives of children.

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Official website of Beslan

Beslan Business Directory
{{Authority control Cities and towns in North Ossetia–Alania 1847 establishments in the Russian Empire Populated places established in 1847