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Ingushetia

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The Republic of Ingushetia (Russian: Респу́блика Ингуше́тия; Ingush: ГIалгIай Мохк) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). The direct transliteration of the republic's Russian name is Respublika Ingushetiya. Template:Federal subject of Russia

Geography

Ingushetia is situated on the northern slopes of the Caucasus.

Time zone

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

Rivers

Major rivers include:

Mountains

A 150 km stretch of the Caucasus Mountains runs through the territory of the republic.

Natural resources

Ingushetia is rich in timber, rare metals, oil, and natural gas reserves.

Climate

Climate of Ingushetia is mostly continental.

  • Average January temperature: -7°C.
  • Average July temperature: +22°C
  • Average annual precipitation: 1,200 mm.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Ingushetia

Demographics

The Ingush people are closely related to the Chechens and speak a similar language, belonging to the Vaynakh or North-central Caucasian linguistic family. At 361,057, as per the 2002 census, they make up 77% of the population, followed by the Chechens (95,403 or 20.4%), ethnic Russians (5,559 or 1.19%), Turks (903 or 0.2%) and so on. All in all, 78 distinct ethnic groups are listed for the republic.

Most of non-native nationalities represented in the Republic consist of women who became wives of ethnic Ingushs[citation needed]. Nowadays Ingushetia is the most "mono-ethnic" territory in Russia (99% of Chechens reside temporarily while the situation in Chechnya is unstable)[citation needed].

  • Population: 467,294 (2002)
    • Urban: 198,496 (42.5%)
    • Rural: 268,798 (57.5%)
    • Male: 218,194 (46.7%)
    • Female: 249,100 (53.3%)
  • Females per 1000 males: 1,142
  • Average age: 22.2 years
    • Urban: 22.4 years
    • Rural: 22.1 years
    • Male: 21.4 years
    • Female: 22.9 years
  • Number of households: 64,887 (with 463,532 people)
    • Urban: 28,751 (with 197,112 people)
    • Rural: 36,136 (with 266,420 people)

History

Ingushetia shown in green

Ingushetia has been a part of Russia since 1810. From 1921 to 1924 it was part of the Soviet Mountain Republic established in the Caucasus. The Ingush Autonomous Oblast was established in 1924. From 1934 to 1992 it was joined to neighboring Chechnya in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, except for a brief period following World War II (see below).

During World War II, Joseph Stalin accused the Ingush of collaborating with the Nazis and deported the entire population to Central Asia. Their autonomous territory was dissolved, and the Prigorodny District was transferred to adjacent North Ossetia. While the Ingush were rehabilitated in the 1950s and allowed to return to their homes, Prigorodny District remained part of North Ossetia, and the returning Ingush faced considerable animosity from the Ossetian population that has been settled there.

Tensions exploded after the disintegration of the Soviet Union; the northern Caucausus was the site of the first severe interethnic violence to plague the Russian Federation. In late October 1992, tens of thousands of Ingush were forced from their homes in Prigorodny District of North Ossetia, after the day, when uncontrolled Ingush Informal Armed Groups (IAG) from Nazran started the aggressive assault upon North Ossetian territory[citation needed]. This refugee problem has since been a major problem for the beleaguered government of Ingushetia, already faced with soaring unemployment (as high as 50%), a worsening ecological crisis, a high concentration of Russian troops stationed there because of the war in neighboring Chechnya, and a flood of Chechen refugees from that conflict. While some agreements have been reached with North Ossetia concerning the Ingush refugees, the issue is far from being resolved.

The capital was moved from Nazran to Magas in December of 2002.

In June 2004, some 570 militants invaded Ingushetia and attacked the city of Nazran, killing more than 90 people. Russia blamed Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev for organizing the attack.

In September 2004, 32 insurgents (as officially announced)[citation needed] seized the secondary school #1 in Ossetian city Beslan with more than 1,100 hostages (most of them women & children) inside. As a result 330 innocent people were killed.


Military history of Ingushetia

There is no documented aggressive war begun by Ingushetia. However, Ingush were "hired" in a number of wars. For example, when Persians attacked Georgia, King Alexander and his 100 Roman bodyguards took shelter with his wife's Ingush relatives. Half of the Ingush army was sent and defeated the Persians. During the reign of the Russian Empire, Ingush took part in Japanese and Turkish campaigns. During World War I, 500 knights from an Ingush regiment of the Wild Division boldly attacked Austria's feared Iron Division, killing three fourth of the Austrians and capturing 2,500. The Ingush regiment lost only 14 knights in the attack (term "knight" was used by Nikolai II's brother Mikhail Alexandrovich who personally commanded the Wild Division). In 1941 (World War II) when Germans attacked the USSR, the whole Russian front was retreating 40 km a day. Out of 6,500 defenders of Brest Fortress 6,000 surrendered to the advancing German army. The remaining 500 troops were of Ingush and Chechen origin, and they held the fortress for over a month against the Germans. The defenders even managed to stage seven attacks from the Fortress. The last fallen defender of Brest Fortress was buried by Germans with gun salute. Hitler and Mussolini personally visited the ruins of the Fortress. In 1994-1996 Ingush volunteers fought alongside Chechens in the Russian-Chechen war, though the majority of Ingush remained neutral. It is known that an Ingush was able to destroy two Russian tanks with a single rocket propelled grenade.[citation needed] The first president of Chechnya, Dzhohar Dudaev, mentioned this act of bravery and skill in one of his speeches.

Politics

The head of government and the highest executive post in Ingushetia is the President.

Recent presidents :

Recent Chairmen of the Government:

The parliament of the Republic is the People's Assembly comprising 34 deputees elected for a four year term. The People's Assembly is headed by the Chairman. As of 2006, the Chairman of the People's Assembly is Makhmud Sultanovich Sakalov.

The Constitution of Ingushetia was adopted on February 27, 1994.

Economy

With few resources except for mineral water, oil, natural gas, forests, metal ores, and coal[citation needed], Ingushetia has been declared a free economic zone to encourage investment. The local government is considering the development of tourism, however this is problematic due to the tense political situation in the region.

Religion

Most of Ingushes are Sunni Muslims of different sufi orders.

Miscellaneous

Ingushetia is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation.

See also

References

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