Dagestan
From Wikinfo
Dagestan (Russian: Дагеста́н) is a constituent republic of the Russian Federation. Bordering Kalmykia to the north, Stavropol Krai to the northwest, Chechnya to the west, Azerbaijan to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the east, it is located in Northern Caucasus mountains, in the Southern Federal District. The oldest and largest city in Dagestan is Derbent.
Contents |
Ethnic groups
Because its mountainous terrain impedes travel and communication, Dagestan is unusually ethnically diverse, and still largely tribal. Most of its people are Muslim.
- Dagestani Peoples - 80% (Includes not only people from the Dagestani language group, but also the Kumyk, Nogay, Azerbaijani, and Balkar (the last only make up a tiny fraction of the population, and are mostly found in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic).)
- Russians - 9%
- Chechens - 3%
- Other - 8%
Of the Dagestani peoples, the largest group is the Avars, followed by the Karghins and Lezghins.
The lingua franca in Dagestan is Russian.
History
Main article: History of Dagestan
In 1999, a group of Muslim fundamentalists from Chechnya under Shamil Basayev, together with local converts, staged an unsuccessful insurrection in Dagestan. This helped prompt the Russian decision to invade Chechnya later that year.
The famous Muslim leader Imam Shamil was from Dagestan.
Economy
As of 2000, the economy of Dagestan was broken down as follows:
- Industry � 24%
- Agriculture � 35%
- Construction � 26%
- Transport and communications � 5%
- Trade and services � 9%
- Other � 1%.
Important industries include food processing, power generation, oil extraction, machine building, chemicals, and instrument making. Dagestan's major exports are oil and fuel. Important agricultural products include fish from the Caspian Sea, wine and brandy, and various garden fruits.
External links
- Sobaka - Independent reporting on Dagestan
- University of Texas - maps of the Dagestan region
- History of Dagestan
- Center for Russian Studies - recent history of Dagestan
- BISNIS report - US government report on the economy of Dagestan (2000).
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Dagestan" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagestan, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
