Kizlyar (; ; , Qızlar) is a town in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the border with the Chechen Republic in the delta of the Terek River northwest of Makhachkala, the capital of the republic. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 48,984. Etymology According to some researchers, the name of the city comes from an old name for the Terek River. Another translation of the name Kizlyar is from an unspecified Turkic language, meaning "girls". According to Vyacheslav Nikonov, correct translation of this Turkic toponym is "red cliff". History The first documented reference to Kizlyar dates back to 1609, although some historians associate the place with Samandar, the 8th-century capital of Khazaria. In 1735 the Russian government built a fortress in Kizlyar and laid foundations for the Caucasus fortified borderline. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Kizlyar operated as one of the trading posts between Russia and the Middle East and Central Asia. During this period, the population was largely Armenian and Russian. In 1796 2,800 Armenians and 1,000 Russians lived in Kizlyar. During the Russian Empire, the settlement was the administrative capital of the Kizlyarsky Otdel of the Terek Oblast. In 1942 the Germans briefly took Kizylar (Kizjlar). In January 1996 Chechen separatists raided the local airbase in the course of the Kizlyar raid, which claimed the lives of seventy-eight Russian soldiers. On 18 February 2018 five people were killed and five wounded after a shooting attack took place outside a Christian church in Kizlyar. Police killed the attacker in a shootout. Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of administrative divisions, Kizlyar serves as the administrative center of Kizlyarsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with one urban-type settlement (Komsomolsky) and one rural locality (the railway crossing loop of No. 17), incorporated separately as the Town of Kizlyar—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the Town of Kizlyar is incorporated as Kizlyar Urban Okrug. Demographics As of the 2002 Census, the town's ethnic composition was as follows: Russians (48.6%) Avars (15.4%) Dargins (11.7%) Kumyks (5.0%) Lezgins (4.0%) Laks (3.2%) Azerbaijanis (1.8%) Nogais (1.4%) Tabasarans (1.3%) Rutuls (1.3%) Chechens (1.1%) Economy In the early 19th century, Kizlyar became a center of viticulture and wine making. The local cognac factory (Kizlyar Brandy Factory) produces a variety