Semikarakorsk

Rayon (sector) centre in Rostov oblast (province), 137 km north-east of Rostov-on-Don. Located on the left bank of the Don River (a wharf), 26 km south of the terminal railway station of Ust-Donetskaya branch, the Likhaya - Rostov-on-Don line. Population (1992 est.) 23.2 thousand, (1979 est.) 20.2 thousand.

The stanitsa (Cossack village) of Semikarakorskaya, founded by the Don Cossacks, has been known since 1672. Because of frequent floodings caused by high waters of the Don River, the stanitsa was repeatedly transferred; the present site has been held since 1845. In 1959, it was transformed into an urban- type community; a town since 1972. An agricultural centre with irrigation farming (crops of grain and vegetable crops, sunflower; gardening and wine-growing, dairy and meat cattle production, aviculture, pond fishery). Enterprises processing agricultural raw materials (a cannery, a cheese-making factory; a meat-processing plant and a food complex). A brickworks. Production of art ceramics, etc. A tourist centre.

On the outskirts of the town, there are Semikarakorsk ruins at the site of a former Khazar embattled city.