Short answers, pulled from the story.
The North Caucasus sits between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea to the west. To the east, the Caspian Sea marks its boundary. This region includes the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus mountains.
Russian forces completed their conquest of the North Caucasus by 1864. A century earlier, the Caucasian War had pitted the Russian Empire against regional powers. Between the 1850s and World War I, about a million North Caucasian Muslims became refugees.
Rostov-on-Don served as the administrative center until the 10th of January 1934. Pyatigsk took over until January 1936. Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz) followed, and Voroshilovsk (today Stavropol) became the seat from the 15th of December 1936 onward.
FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov announced the final elimination of the insurgent underground on the 19th of December 2017. Official counter-terrorism operations ended that day. Yet violence continued despite the declaration.
The black market serves as the main source of employment for most residents. Organized crime holds significant power over local business and politics. Only two percent of the region's economy comes from tourism income today.