03:33, 24 April 2003

Khasavyurt

City of republican subordination, centre of Khasavyurt rayon (sector), Dagestan republic, 82 km north-west of Makhachkala. Located in the southern part of the Terek-Sulak Plain, on the Yaryksu River. Railway station in the Gudermes - Makhachkala line. Highway (Rostov-on-Don - Baku). Population (1992 est.) 74 thousand, (1939 est.) 28 thousand, (1959 est.) 34 thousand, (1979 est.) 65 thousand.

Developed from a trade settlement. City since 1931. Agricultural centre (raising of cereals, wine-growing, fruit-farming, cattle breeding) with a flavouring industry intended to process local agricultural raw materials: a cannery (canned fruit, vegetables, meat), a meat-processing plant, a dairy, a winery, etc. By the beginning of the 1990s, Khasavyurt had an instrument-making factory, a concrete product plant, a clothes factory and a furniture factory, a brickworks, etc.

The city stretches out along the river-banks, has mainly one-storeyed houses, the outskirts being built up with multi-storeyed brick ones; abounds in orchards.