The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region in Eastern Europe between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east. The North Caucasus region is a part of Russia, and it consists of the federal subjects of Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan. The region's inhabitants have their own distinct North Caucasian culture, with Islam being a major indigenous belief.