Southern Russia

Southern Russia or the South of Russia (Russian: Юг России, Yug Rossii) is a colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia, generally covering the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasian Federal District. During World War I, the south had a large Russian population, Muslim minorities, and other non-Russians.

The term does not conform to any official areas of the Russian Federation as designated by the Russian Classification on Objects of Administrative Division (OKATO).

In Soviet historiography, southern Russia also was referred to as "White South" (Russian: Белый Юг, Belyj Yug) in reference to the White Army that fought the Bolsheviks along with the Armed Forces of South Russia and the Volunteer Army. It was never a formal subdivision, neither did it have strict boundaries.

During the Russian Civil War (1917–1922), a territory called South Russia briefly existed after World War I from 1919–1920, which spanned the southern parts of the Russian Empire and included large portions of Ukraine.

On June 23, 1917, Ukraine was officially recognized as an independent country. By late 1918, independent Ukraine, freed from Russian domination and with Austrian-German support, expanded its recognized borders eastward to include southern Russia: Crimea,Kuban, and the Cossack lands of the Don and Terek. South Russia also contained a very large population of Ukrainians during World War I.

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