Dagestan

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Coordinates: 43°03′26″N 46°54′55″E / 43.05722°N 46.91528°E / 43.05722; 46.91528

Republic of Dagestan (English)
Республика Дагестан (Russian)
Coordinates: n/a
Coat of Arms Flag

Coat of arms of Dagestan
Flag of Dagestan
Anthem: National Anthem of the Republic of Dagestan
Capital Makhachkala
Established January 20, 1921[1]
Political status Republic
Federal District Southern[2]
Economic region North Caucasus[3]
Code
ISO 3166-2:RU		 05
RU-DA
Area
Area[4] 50,300 km² (19,420.9 sq mi)
- Rank within Russia 52nd
Population (as of the 2002 Census)
Population[5] 2,576,531 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia 22nd
- Density 51.2/km² (132.6/sq mi)
- Urban[5] 42.8%
- Rural[5] 57.2%
Official language(s) Russian, Agul, Avar, Azeri, Chechen, Dargin, Kumyk, Lak, Lezgian, Nogai, Rutul, Tabasaran, Tat, Tsakhur[6][7]
Government (as of October 2008)
President[8] Mukhu Aliyev[9]
Legislative body People's Assembly[8]
Constitution Constitution of Dagestan
Official website
http://www.e-dag.ru/

The Republic of Dagestan (pronounced /dɑːɡɨˈstɑːn/ or English pronunciation: /dæɡɨˈstæn/; Russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н; also spelled as Daghestan) is a federal subject — republic — of the Russian Federation, located in the North Caucasus region.

Dagestan has great ethnic diversity, with several dozen ethnic groups and subgroups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, and Lezgin.[10] While Russians form only a small proportion (4.7%) of the population, Russian remains the primary official language. Dagestan has been a scene of low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism since the 1990s. According to International Crisis Group, the militant Islamist organization Shariat Jamaat is responsible for much of the violence.[11]

Contents

[edit] Terminology

The direct romanization of the republic's name is Respublika Dagestan. It is the largest republic of Russia in the North Caucasus, both in area and population.

The word Daghestan or Daghistan means "country of mountains", it is derived from the Turkic word dağ meaning mountain and Persian suffix -stan meaning "land of". The name is written in Arabic alphabet as داغستان. The spelling Dagestan is a transliteration of the Russian name and is rather modern.

[edit] Geography

The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains. It is the southernmost part of Russia.

[edit] Time zone

Dagestan is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).

[edit] Rivers

Map of Dagestan

There are over 1,800 rivers in the republic. Major rivers include:

[edit] Lakes

Dagestan has about 400 kilometers (249 mi) of coast line on the Caspian Sea.

[edit] Mountains

Most of the Republic is mountainous, with the Greater Caucasus Mountains covering the south. The highest point is the Bazardyuzi peak at 4,466 m.

[edit] Natural resources

Dagestan is rich in oil, natural gas, coal, and many other minerals.

[edit] Climate

The climate is hot and dry in the summer but the winters are hard in the mountain areas.

  • Average January temperature: +2 °C (35.6 °F)
  • Average July temperature: +30 °C (86 °F)
  • Average annual precipitation: 200 (northern plains) to 800 mm (in the mountains).

[edit] Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Dagestan

[edit] Demographics

A couple in traditional dress poses for a portrait in Dagestan. Photographed by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, circa 1907 to 1915.
Ethno-Linguistic groups in the Caucasus region

Because its mountainous terrain impedes travel and communication, Dagestan - Russia's most heterogeneous republic - is unusually ethnically diverse, and still largely tribal. Unlike most other parts of Russia, the population of Dagestan is rapidly growing.[12]

  • Population: 2,576,531 (2002)
    • Urban: 1,102,577 (42.8%)
    • Rural: 1,473,954 (57.2%)
    • Male: 1,242,437 (48.2%)
    • Female: 1,334,094 (51.8%)
  • Females per 1000 males: 1,074
  • Average age: 25.2 years
    • Urban: 25.1 years
    • Rural: 25.2 years
    • Male: 24.0 years
    • Female: 26.3 years
  • Number of households: 570,036 (with 2,559,499 people)
    • Urban: 239,338 (with 1,088,814 people)
    • Rural: 330,698 (with 1,470,685 people)
  • Vital statistics (2005)
    • Births: 40,814 (birth rate 15.5)
    • Deaths: 15,585 (death rate 5.9)

Birth rate was 15.2 in the first half of 2007.[13]

[edit] Ethnic groups

The people of Dagestan include a large variety of ethnic groups. According to the 2002 Census, Northeast Caucasians (including Avars, Dargins and Lezgins) make up almost 75% of the population of Dagestan. Turkic peoples, Kumyks, Nogais and Azeris make up 20%, and Russians 5% . Other ethnic groups each account for less than 0.5% of the total population.

It should be noted that such groups as the Botlikh, the Andi, the Akhvakhs, the Tsez and about ten other groups were reclassified as Avars between the 1926 and 1939 censuses.[14]

census 1926 census 1939 census 1959 census 1970 census 1979 census 1989 census 2002
Avars 177,189 (22.5%) 230,488 (24.8%) 239,373 (22.5%) 349,304 (24.5%) 418,634 (25.7%) 496,077 (27.5%) 758,438 (29.4%)
Dargins 125,707 (16.0%) 150,421 (16.2%) 148,194 (13.9%) 207,776 (14.5%) 246,854 (15.2%) 280,431 (15.6%) 425,526 (16.5%)
Kumyks 87,960 (11.2%) 100,053 (10.8%) 120,859 (11.4%) 169,019 (11.8%) 202,297 (12.4%) 231,805 (12.9%) 365,804 (14.2%)
Lezgins 90,509 (11.5%) 96,723 (10.4%) 108,615 (10.2%) 162,721 (11.4%) 188,804 (11.6%) 204,370 (11.3%) 336,698 (13.1%)
Laks 39,878 (5.1%) 51,671 (5.6%) 53,451 (5.0%) 72,240 (5.1%) 83,457 (5.1%) 91,682 (5.1%) 139,732 (5.4%)
Tabasarans 31,915 (4.0%) 33,432 (3.6%) 33,548 (3.2%) 53,253 (3.7%) 71,722 (4.4%) 78,196 (4.3%) 101,152 (4.3%)
Nogais 26,086 (3.3%) 4,677 (0.5%) 14,939 (1.4%) 21,750 (1.5%) 24,977 (1.5%) 28,294 (1.6%) 38,168 (1.5%)
Rutuls 10,333 (1.3%) 20,408 (2.2%) 6,566 (0.6%) 11,799 (0.8%) 14,288 (0.9%) 14,955 (0.8%) 24,298 (0.9%)
Aguls 7,653 (1.0%) 6,378 (0.6%) 8,644 (0.6%) 11,459 (0.7%) 13,791 (0.8%) 23,314 (0.9%)
Tsakhurs 3,531 (0.4%) 4,278 (0.4%) 4,309 (0.3%) 4,560 (0.3%) 5,194 (0.3%) 8,168 (0.3%)
Russians 98,197 (12.5%) 132,952 (14.3%) 213,754 (20.1%) 209,570 (14.7%) 189,474 (11.6%) 165,940 (9.2%) 120,875 (4.7%)
Azeris 23,428 (3.0%) 31,141 (3.3%) 38,224 (3.6%) 54,403 (3.8%) 64,514 (4.0%) 75,463 (4.2%) 111,656 (4.3%)
Chechens 21,851 (2.8%) 26,419 (2.8%) 12,798 (1.2%) 39,965 (2.8%) 49,227 (3.0%) 57,877 (3.2%) 87,867 (3.4%)
Others 43,861 (5.6%) 52,031 (5.6%) 61,495 (5.8%) 63,787 (4.5%) 57,892 (3.6%) 58,113 (3.2%) 25,835 (1.0%)

The indigenous ethnic groups of Dagestan are bolded.

There are also forty or so tiny groups such as the Hinukh, numbering 200, or the Akhwakh, who are members of a complex family of indigenous Caucasians. Notable are also the Hunzib or Khunzal people who live in only four towns in the interior.

The lingua franca in Dagestan is Russian. Over thirty local languages are also commonly spoken.

[edit] Economy

The major industries in Dagestan include oil production, engineering, chemicals, machine building, textile manufacturing, food processing, and the timber. Oil deposits are located in the narrow coastal region. The Dagestani oil is of high quality, and is delivered to other regions. Dagestan's natural gas production goes mostly to satisfy local needs. Agriculture is varied and includes grain-farming, viticulture and wine-making, sheep-farming, and dairying. The engineering and metalworking industries own 20% of the republic's industrial production assets and employ 25% of all industrial workers. Dagestan's hydroelectric power industry is developing rapidly. There are five power plants on the Sulak River providing hydroelectric power. It has been estimated, that Dagestan's total potential hydroelectric power resources is 4.4 billion kW. Dagestan has a well-developed transportation system. Railways connect the capital Makhachkala to Moscow, Astrakhan, and the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. The Moscow-Baku highway also passes through Dagestan, and there are air links with major cities.[15][16]

Conditions for economic development are favorable in Dagestan, but - as of 2006 - the republic's low starting level for a successful transition to market relations, in addition to rampant corruption, has made the region highly dependent on underground economy and the subsidies coming from the central Russian government.[16][17] Corruption in Dagestan is more severe than in other regions of the former Soviet Union, and is coupled with a flourishing black market and clan-based economic system.[11]

[edit] Religion

90.7% percent of Dagestan's population is Muslim, with Christians accounting for much of the remaining 9.3%.[citation needed]

As with much of the Caucasus region, Dagestan's native Islam is a Sunni Islam, that have been in place for centuries . From the middle of the 19th century, after the war of Imam Shamil, Sufi orders were introduced in Dagestan from Azerbaijan. The appearance of heterodox Sufism in Dagestan, as opposed to orthodox Sunni Islam, is a major issue of concern for peaceful co-existence of religious community. Resul Magomedov, who is a contemporary writer of Daghestan, writes about the unifying role of Islam: “Before Islam, all Daghestan tribes were divided in respect of language, religion, ethnic structure and geography like all other Caucasian peoples. This situation caused severe hostility and conflicts. After all native tribes became Muslims, a unity in belief could be sustained among Dagestani tribes which also stopped ethnic conflicts among them. If these conflicts continued, our homeland would face great disasters. This unity could only be established by medressehs spread out all the country. The scientists, scholars, imams graduated from these medressehs had an important role in stopping these conflicts in this multinational region and they helped tribes to establish friendly relations. Islam should also serve such a goal today.” [18]

There is a millennia-old presence of a Jewish community, the "Mountain Jews," in Dagestan. Their influx from Babylonia and Persia occurred from the seventh century B.C. to the sixth century A.D. [19]

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ Всероссийский Центральный Исполнительный Комитет. Декрет от 20 января 1921 г. «Об Автономной Дагестанской Социалистической Советской Республике». (All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Decree of January 20, 1921 On Autonomous Dagestan Socialist Soviet Republic. ).
  2. ^ Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 1. Федеральные округа», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 1. Federal Districts, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
  3. ^ Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
  4. ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Территория, число районов, населённых пунктов и сельских администраций по субъектам Российской Федерации (Territory, Number of Districts, Inhabited Localities, and Rural Administration by Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_03.htm. Retrieved on 2008-10-17. 
  5. ^ a b c Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_04_1.htm. Retrieved on 2008-10-17. 
  6. ^ According to Article 11 of the Constitution of Dagestan, the official languages of the republic include "Russian and the languages of the peoples of Dagestan"
  7. ^ Solntsev, pp. XXXIX–XL
  8. ^ a b Constitution, Article 8
  9. ^ Official website of the Government of the Republic of Dagestan. Biography of Mukhu Gimbatovich Aliyev (Russian)
  10. ^ Dagestan. Encyclopædia Britannica (Online edition)
  11. ^ a b Russia’s Dagestan: Conflict Causes. International Crisis Group Europe Report N°192. 3 June 2008
  12. ^ Islamic Resistance and Political Hegemony in Dagestan Robert Bruce Ware
  13. ^ http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2007/0301/barom04.php
  14. ^ Wixman, Ronald. The Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook. (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc, 1984) p. 11
  15. ^ Dagestan Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2008
  16. ^ a b Dagestan Republic Kommersant 2004-03-10
  17. ^ Dagestan’s Economic Crisis: Past, Present and Future North Caucasus Weekly 2006-12-31
  18. ^ Religion in Dagestan
  19. ^ "World Culture Encyclopedia," http://www.everyculture.com/Russia-Eurasia-China/Mountain-Jews-History-and-Cultural-Relations.html

[edit] Sources

  • В. М. Солнцев и др., ed (in Russian). Письменные языки мира: Российская Федерация. Социолингвистическая энциклопедия.. Москва: Российская Академия Наук. Институт языкознания.. pp. 651. проект №99-04-16158. 
  • 10 июля 2003 г. «Конституция Республики Дагестан», в ред. Закона №45 от 7 октября 2008 г. (July 10, 2003 Constitution of the Republic of Dagestan, as amended by the Law #45 of October 7, 2008. ).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagestan"
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