Tuapse is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population:Tuapse is a sea port and the northern center of a resort zone which extends south to Sochi.HistoryEarly historyTuapse was originally known by the name of Nicopsis since its founding as a colony by the Greeks. It was integrated into the kingdom of Abkhazia and then into the kingdom of Georgia, from the eleventh century. With the chaos of the sixteenth century, Georgia lost Nicopsia to the Circassians. Tuapse is a large center (native land) for the Shapsugs tribe with other areas in Circassia, with about 10,000 speakers of the language living in Tuapse. The name of the town is itself Adyghe (literally meaning "two waters") since Tuapse was part of historical Circassia and it became a part of Russia during the rule of Tsar Alexander I in 1801-1825. In early Greek sources the town was also attested as Topsida.Modern historyThe modern settlement dates back to 1838, when the Russian fort of Velyaminovsky was established in the area after this region became a part of Russia in 1829 by Treaty of Adrianople. During the Crimean War, the Ottomans seized the fort and held it for two years (1857–1859). The village of Velyaminovskoye (Вельяминовское) was established here in 1864; it is the village that later became Tuapse. Town status was granted to Tuapse in 1896.