Systematization and Assessment of the Settlement Network and Settlement System of Rural Territories of the Subjects if the North Caucasus Federal District

The North Caucasus Federal District unites seven federal subjects with extremely differentiated potential and territorial and economic systems. 5.5% of Russia's agricultural land is located here, 13.7% of the country's rural population lives, 15.1% of those employed in the agricultural sector work, and 9.6% of agro-industrial enterprises are concentrated. The contribution to the total gross output is 8.2%, the net financial result is over 4.1% of the national total. 8.2% of cereals and legumes, 15.6% of vegetables, 27.6% of fruits and berries, 6.1% of livestock and poultry meat, 8.9% of milk and 48.6% of wool are produced in the district. The rural population makes up half of the inhabitants of the North Caucasus Federal District - these are residents of rural areas. At the same time, in the subjects there is a lag in key indicators from the national average in terms of key indicators of economic activity, low returns on the use of existing potential, subsidized budgets and uneven development of its subjects themselves. Most of the subjects of the district are in a state of stable unstable socio-economic development and do not have the ability to independently exit it. The increasing importance of the agricultural sector in the functioning of territorial production systems and processes requires an assessment of the potential of rural areas and an analysis of its socio-economic efficiency. It is precisely this systematization and assessment of the settlement network and the settlement system of rural territories of the subjects of the district that is the purpose of the study, during which the main integral socio-economic indicators were analyzed. The results obtained are of great importance for the development and implementation of effective socio-economic strategies for the development of the region, taking into account the identified features, which will contribute to the development and strengthening of economic and social stability in the North Caucasus Federal District as a whole.