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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.
Dagestan is divided into 42 districts, 10 cities and 14 urban settlements. The capital is Makhachkala. The oldest city in Dagestan is Derbent.
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. He was an Avar.
Economy
As of 2000, the economy of Dagestan was broken down as follows:
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.
Dagestan continues to be the least urbanized republic in the Caucasus.
Geography
Dagestan has about 400 km of coast line on the Caspian Sea. Its main rivers are the Terek, the Sulak and the Samur.
Most of the Republic is mountainous, with the Greater Caucasus Mountains covering the south. The highest point is the
Bazarduzi peak at 4,466 m. The climate is hot and dry in the summer but the winters are hard in the mountain areas.
Administrative Division
Districts
Dagestan Republic consists of 42 districts (Russian: районы) and 1 area (Russian:
участок):
- Agulsky (Агульский)
- Akhtynsky (Ахтынский)
- Akhvakhsky (Ахвахский)
- Akushinsky
(Акушинский)
- Babayurtovsky
(Бабаюртовский)
- Botlikhsky
(Ботлихский)
- Buynaksky
(Буйнакский)
- Charodinsky
(Чародинский)
- Dakhadayevsky
(Дахадаевский)
- Derbentsky
(Дербентский)
- Dokuzparinsky
(Докузпаринский)
- Gergebilsky
(Гергебильский)
- Gumbetovsky
(Гумбетовский)
- Gunibsky (Гунибский)
- Karabudakhkentsky
(Карабудахкентский)
- Kayakentsky
(Каякентский)
- Kaytagsky
(Кайтагский)
- Kazbekovsky
(Казбековский)
- Khasavyurtovsky
(Хасавюртовский)
- Khivsky (Хивский)
- Khunzakhsky
(Хунзахский)
- Kizilyurtovsky
(Кизилюртовский)
- Kizlyarsky
(Кизлярский)
- Kulinsky (Кулинский)
- Kumtorkalinsky
(Кумторкалинский)
- Kurakhsky (Курахский)
- Laksky (Лакский)
- Levashinsky
(Левашинский)
- Magaramkentsky
(Магарамкентский)
- Nogaysky (Ногайский)
- Novolaksky
(Новолакский)
- Rutulsky (Рутульский)
- Sergokalinsky
(Сергокалинский)
- Shamilsky
(Шамильский)
- Suleyman-Stalsky
(Сулейман-Стальский)
- Tabasaransky
(Табасаранский)
- Tarumovsky
(Тарумовский)
- Tlyaratinsky
(Тляратинский)
- Tsumadinsky
(Цумадинский)
- Tsuntinsky
(Цунтинский)
- Untsukulsky
(Унцукульский)
- Bezhtinsky Area (Бежтинский
участок)
Ethnic groups
Because its mountainous terrain impedes travel and communication, Dagestan is unusually ethnically diverse, and still largely
tribal.
There is no single ethnic group with the name Dagastani. The people of Dagestan include over a dozen sizeable groups,
including:
- Dagestani Peoples -
80%, including:
- people from the Dagestani language
group
- Avars - around 500,000
- Dargins - around 300,000
- Lezgins - over 200,000
- Tabasarans - around 70,000
- Rutuls - around 15,000
- Aguls - around 15,000
- Tsakhurs - around 10,000
- Kumyks - over 200,000
- Laks - around 100,000
- Nogays - around 35,000
- Azeris - around 85,000
- Russians - 9%, around 85,000
- Chechens - 3%, around 65,000
- Other - 8%, including
There are also tiny groups like the Balkars (mostly in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic instead), or the Ginukh, numbering 200, members of a complex family of
indigenous Caucasians — some 40 groups, including other little-known peoples such as the Akhwakh, many of them crowded into Dagestan.
Notable are also Lak people who immigrated after a
Soviet population transfer, and the Hunzib or Khunzal people who live in only four towns in the
interior.
The lingua franca in Dagestan is Russian.
Religion
Most of Dagestan's population is Muslim. As with much of the Caucasus region,
Dagestan's native Islam consists of Sufi orders that have been in place for centuries. In
recent years there has been tension and even violence between local Sufi orders and Wahabbi missionaries who have come to the region seeking converts.
External links
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