Where is it? Krasnodar Krai, or territory, is located in southwestern Russia between the Black Sea and the Caucasus mountains. It includes the Republic of Adygea and is bordered by Rostov Oblast, Stavropol Krai and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Krasnodar is in the Moscow time zone .

What's the biggest city? Krasnodar, which had a population of 646,175 as of the 2002 census, out of some 5.1 million inhabitants in the region at large. Among the region's other big cities is the Black Sea port and resort town of Sochi (pictured here), which on July 4 was awarded the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Who lives here? Mostly ethnic Russians, but there are still large numbers of Cossacks, an indigenous ethnic group known in Russian lore for their fighting skills, living in the Bryukhovetsky, Kushchevsky and Slavyansky districts. Krasnodar is the fourth most populous region of Russia.

What do they do here? Just about everything. Krasnodar has one of the most highly diversified economies of Russia, with everything from agriculture to tourism. The region is known for its mineral springs and its wine (97% of all the wine produced in Russia comes from here, according to Kommersant).

Does it have any English-language news sources? There's a limited amount of dated news about the region here.

How do I see what it looks like? The Krasnodar pages on Flickr show several statues of Catherine the Great, its patron founder. There are many more shots of Sochi, which can help you understand its attraction as a tourist destination.

How do I get here? Krasnodar is pretty well connected in the transportation department--regionally, nationally and internationally. Its Pashkovsky Airport is served by Kuban Airlines and 14 other carriers. Kuban, which is headquartered in the region, flies from Moscow and St. Petersburg, but it also serves Frankfurt, Germany. You can also fly from Moscow on Aeroflot, Aeroflot-Nord, or S7 Airlines.

Which adoption agencies work here? Adoption Associates is the only one I've found so far. A California-based agency, Yunona, was active in Krasnodar before it was shut down by California authorities in January 2006 for allegedly defrauding prospective adoptive parents. In July 2006, California prosecutors won a $368,000 default civil judgment against the agency's founder. He has, according to news reports, been detained in Russia on child trafficking charges. UPDATE: Adoption Options announced on July 5 that it will begin to operate in Krasnodar.

Which Russian adoption bloggers have been here? Not a lot of people lately. Lesa at "Joy In The Mundane" adopted two girls from Krasnodar in 2005. Also, Russian Adoption forum members DelMarie, blueprints, lakimnafite, mycodybear and ndkaff. There is, however, a large Yahoo! group, KrasnodarAdoption , with more than 300 members.

Truly trivia: Krasnodar was originally named Ekaterinodar, or "Catherine's Gift" because Catherine The Great made a substantial grant of land along the Kuban River to the Cossacks in 1793. The city got its current name, which means "Beautiful Gift" after the Russian Revolution. The area's Cossacks, oddly enough, had fought for both the White and Red armies.

Need more information? There's nothing on "Way To Russia". Thankfully, Kommersant did a thorough job with its profile. The region's official Web site, in Russian, is here. It can get pretty steamy in Krasnodar in the summer; here's the current weather there.

Image Credit: anarcissus