KIZLYAR (KIZLIAR, or K1zLAR)  , a town of Russia, in Caucasia, in the province of Terek, 120 M . N.E. of Vladikavkaz, in the low-lying delta of the river Terek, about 35 m. from the Caspian . The population decreased from 8309 in 1861 to 7353 in 1897 . The town lies to the left of the main stream betweentwo of the larger secondary branches, and is subject to flooding . The town proper, which spreads out round the citadel, has Tatar, Georgian and Armenian quarters . The public buildings include the Greek cathedral, dating from 1786; a Greek nunnery, founded by the Georgian chief Daniel in 1736; the Armenian church of SS Peter and Paul, remarkable for its size and wealth . The population is mainly supported by the gardens and vine-yards irrigated by canals from the river . A government vineyard and school of viticulture are situated 31 M. from the town . About 1,200,000 gallons of Kizlyar wine are sold annually at the fair of Nizhniy-Novgorod . Silk and cotton are woven . Kizlyar is mentioned as early as 1616, but the most notable accession of inhabitants (Armenians, Georgians and Persians) took place in 1715 . Its importance as a fortress dates from 1736, but the fortress is no longer kept in repair .

KIZYL-

KUM, a desert of Western Asia, stretching S.E. of the Aral Lake between the river Syr-darya on the N.E. and the river Amu-darya on the S.W . It measures some 370 by 220 m., and is in part covered with drift-sand or dunes, many of which are advancing slowly but steadily towards the S . W . In character they resemble those of the neighbouring Kara-kum desert (see KARA-KUM) . On the whole the Kizyl-kum slopes S.W. towards the Aral Lake, where its altitude is only about 16o ft. as compared with 2000 in the S.E . In the vicinity of that lake the surface is covered with Aralo-Caspian deposits; but in the S.E., as it ascends towards the foothills of the Tian-shan system, it is braided with deep accumulations of fertile loess .