Prokhladny

Town in Kabardino-Balkariya, republican subordination, rayon (sector) centre, 56 km north-east of Nalchik. Located in Ciscaucasia, in the Mozdok steppe, on the left bank of the Malka River (a tributary of the Terek), near its confluence with the Baksan River. A junction of railway lines (to Mineralny Vody, two to Gudermes through Mozdok and Grozny) and highways. Population (1992 est.) 58.7 thousand, (1979 est.) 47 thousand.

The town grew from the stanitsa (Cossack village) of Prokhlanaya, arisen in the 18th century in the Mozdok embattled line. The stanitsa developed especially fast in the 1860s, when the neighbouring railway station became the centre of collection and dispatch of production of the extensive agricultural area of Terek oblast (province) after construction of the railway from Rostov-on-Don to Vladikavkaz. At the end of the 19th century, the population of the stanitsa was about 5 thousand people; there were more than 60 different commercial and industrial establishments here, and markets were held weekly. The environs of Prokhladnaya were famous for their vineyards. In 1937, the stanitsa received the status of town.

Present Prohladny is the second largest city of Kabardino-Balkariya in the number of inhabitants (after Nalchik), a significant industrial centre. A semiconductor device plant, a cable works, a repair and engineering works, flavouring industry (a cannery, a creamery and cheese dairy, etc.), light industry, railway transport.