The Stavropol Territory is located on the northern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains.  It shares a border with the Krasnodar Territory, the Rostov Region and the republics of Kalmykia, Chechnya, Dagestan, North Ossetia-Alania, Karachai-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria.  The Stavropol Territory is probably the safest of the federal subjects in the North-Caucasian Federal District, however, terrorist attacks have occurred here.  

  Its administrative centre is the city of Stavropol but its most famous destination is the group of resorts known as the Caucasian Mineral Waters.  This includes the cities of Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk, Yessentuki, Zheleznovodsk and Georgievsk.  The resorts are all located close to each other and all famous for their mineral waters which are said to have various healing properties.  Many heath farms have been set up around the springs and offer special treatment cycles which often include walking routes to breathe in the fresh mountain air.  In addition to the health tourism, the region is closely associated with the poet Mikhail Lermontov who was killed in a duel in Pyatigorsk.  He was also originally buried in the city but his body was later returned to his grandmother’s estate in the Penza Region.

  Several Western governments advise against all travel to the Budyonnovsky, Levokumsky, Neftekumsky, Stepnovsky and Kursky districts in the east of the territory, this area does not include Mineralnye Vody or Stavropol.