Dagestan - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

One of the 22 republics of the Russian Federation. It is the southernmost region of the Russian Federation and the largest republic in the North Caucasus. It borders with Azerbaijan in the south, with Georgia in the south-west, as well as with the Chechen Republic in the west, with the Stavropol Krai in the north-west and with the Republic of Kalmykia in the north.

The Dagestan ASSR was established in 1921. In 1991 it was renamed the Republic of Dagestan.

It is the only one of the republics of the Russian Federation that does not have a "titular" ethnic group. Dagestani peoples are a conglomerate of different peoples, the most numerous of them, according to the 2010 All-Russia population census - Avars (29.4%), Dargins (17%), Kumyks (14.9%) and Lezgians (13.3%). The defining markers of their differences from the titular nation of the country are language and religion. The Dagestani peoples profess Islam of the Sunni type. There are also differences in language: the Avar, Dargin and Lezghian languages belong to the Nakh-Daghestan group of the North Caucasian family, while the Kumyk belongs to the Kipchak-Cuman language subfamily of the Kypchak group of Turkic languages.

The situation in interethnic relations in the republic is estimated as unstable. The main problems are the expansion of radical Islam, terrorism, traditional ethnic distribution of power, clan system, land disputes between ethnic groups, etc.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer