Nalchik (Russian: Нальчик, IPA: [ˈnalʲtɕɪk]; Kabardian: НалщӀэч, romanized: Nalṣ̂ăčʼ [naːɮɕʼakʲ]; Karachay-Balkar: Нальчик or Налчыкъ, romanized: Nalçik or Nalçıq [naltʃɯk]) is the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, situated at an altitude of 550 meters (1,800 ft) in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about 100 kilometers (62 mi) northwest of Beslan (Beslan is in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania). It covers an area of 131 square kilometers (51 sq mi). Population: 247,054 (2021 Census); 240,203 (2010 Census); 274,974 (2002 Census); 234,547 (1989 Soviet census).

The territory of modern-day Nalchik was formerly known as Sloboda. The modern city dates from the early 19th century when the expanding Russian Empire built a fort there in 1818.

In 1838, a Russian military settlement was founded in the city, and after the Russian Revolution of 1917, in the year 1921, Nalchik was given the status of administrative center of Kabardin Autonomous Oblast. During the Russian Empire, the settlement was the administrative capital of the Nalchiksky Okrug of the Terek Oblast.

The word "Nalchik" literally means "small horseshoe" in Kabardian (or Circassian, a Northwest Caucasian language) and Karachay-Balkar (a Turkic language). It is a diminutive of na'l, a common Middle Eastern word (Arabic, Persian, Turkish) for "horseshoe", possibly from the ancient Scythian, 'nalak' (horseshoe). The city of Nalchik was named this way because of how it is shaped as surrounded by the mountains of the land, and the Nalchik River is named after the city it runs across.

During World War II, on 2 November 1942, Nalchik was occupied by Romanian mountain troops (Vânători de munte) under the command of Brigadier General Ioan Dumitrache, its capture earning the Romanian General the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The city was heavily damaged during the conflict. General Dumitrache went to great length ordering his troops to protect local population during the time Nalchik was occupied by Romanian forces. Professor A. N. Dainaco, the Mayor of Nalchik at that time, thanked General Dumitrache for liberating the city. Although he was accused of war crimes, General Dumitrache was fully exonerated after the war by a joint Soviet and Romanian judicial commission.

In 1990, there was a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Nalchik.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Nalchik and the Kabardino- Balkaria region become a federal republic of Russia.

In 1999 the remains of Kazym Mechiyev, who died in exile in 1945, were reburied in Nalchik.