ABSTRACT
The Chechen Republic is located on the northern slopes of the Caucasus. It forms part of the North Caucasus Federal Okrug and the North Caucasus Economic Area. To the east, the Republic abuts Dagestan. Stavropol Krai lies to the north-west and North Osetiya-Alaniya and Ingushetiya lie to the west. There is an international boundary with Georgia to the south-west. The Republic comprises lowlands along the River Terek, and around the capital, Groznyi, in the north; mixed fields, pastures and forests in the Chechen plain; and high mountains and glaciers in the south. The Republic has an area of 15,647 sq km (6,041 sq miles). At January 2013 it had an estimated population of 1,324,767 and a population density of 84.9 per sq km. Only 34.8% of the population lived in urban areas. The capital of the Republic, Groznyi, was founded in 1818 and had an estimated population of 277,414 in January 2013, compared with 405,000 in 1989. Of those residents who stated their ethnicity at the 2010 census, 95.3%were Chechen, 1.9%were Russian (a lower proportion than in any other federal subject) and 1.0% were Kumyk. The Chechens are closely related to the Ingush (both of whom are known collectively as Vainakhs). They are Sunni Muslims, and their language is one of the Nakh dialects of the Caucasian linguistic family. Chechnya is in the time zone GMT+4.
