Dagestan covers an area of 50,300 square kilometres (19,400 square miles), with a population of over 3.1 million,[12] consisting of over 30 ethnic groups and 81 nationalities.[13] With 14 official languages, and 12 ethnic groups each constituting more than 1% of its total population, the republic is one of Russia's most linguistically and ethnically diverse, and one of the mostheterogeneous administrative divisions in the world.[14] Most of the residents speak one of theNortheast Caucasian, orTurkic languages;[13] however,Russian is the primary language and thelingua franca in the republic.[15]
The wordDagestan is ofTurkish andPersian origin, directly translating to "land of the mountains". The Turkish worddağ means "mountain", and the Persian suffix-stan means "land".
The climate is classified as acontinental climate, with a significant lack of precipitation. It is among the warmest places in Russia. In the mountainous regions, it issubarctic.[citation needed]
Average January temperature: +2 °C (36 °F)
Average July temperature: +26 °C (79 °F)
Average annualprecipitation: 250 mm (10 in) (northern plains) to 800 mm (31 in) (in the mountains).[18]
In the first few centuries AD,Caucasian Albania (corresponding to modern Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan) became a vassal and eventually subordinate to theParthian Empire. With the advent of theSasanian Empire, it became asatrapy (province) within the vast domains of the empire. In later antiquity, a few wars were fought as theRoman Empire unsuccessfully attempted to contest Sasanid rule over the region. Over the centuries, to a relatively large extent, the peoples within the Dagestan territory converted toChristianity alongsideZoroastrianism.
In the 5th century, the Sassanids gained the upper hand, and by the 6th century had constructed a strong citadel atDerbent, known from then on as theCaspian Gates, while theHuns overran the northern part of Dagestan, followed by theCaucasian Avars. During the Sassanian era, southern Dagestan became a bastion of Persian culture and civilization, with its center at Derbent.[19] A policy of "Persianisation" can be traced over many centuries.[20]
During theIslamic conquests, the Dagestani people (region ofDerbent) were the first people to become Muslims within current Russian territory, after theArab conquest of the region in 643.[21] In the 8th century Arabs repeatedlyclashed with the Khazars. Although the local population rose against the Arabs of Derbent in 905 and 913,Islam wasstill adopted in urban centers, such asSamandar andKubachi (Zerechgeran), from where it steadily diffused into the highlands. By the 15th century,Christianity had died away, leaving a 10th-centuryChurch of Datuna as the sole monument to its existence.
The Mongols raided the lands in 1221–1222 then conquered Derbent and the surrounding area from 1236 to 1239 during theinvasions of Georgia andDurdzuketia.
Silver coin ofNader Shah, minted in Dagestan, dated 1741–42 (left = obverse; right = reverse)
As Mongolian authority gradually eroded, new centers of power emerged in Kaitagi andTarki. In the early 16th century, the Persians (under theSafavids) reconsolidated their rule over the region, which would, intermittently, last till the early 19th century. In the 16th and 17th centuries, legal traditions were codified, and mountainous communities (djamaats) obtained considerable autonomy. In the 1720s, as a result of the disintegration of the Safavids and theRusso-Persian War (1722–23), the Russians briefly annexed maritime Dagestan from the Safavids. The Russians could not hold on to the interior of Dagestan, and could only be stopped in front of Baku with the help ofOttoman forces under the command of Mustafa Pasha. With a treaty signed between Russia and the Ottoman Empirein 1724, aimed at dividing the territories of Safavid Iran between them, Derbend, Baku and some other places in the region were left to Russia. Dagestan briefly came under Ottoman rule between 1578 and 1606.[22]
Between 1730 and the early course of the 1740s, following his brother's murder in Dagestan, the new Persian ruler and military geniusNader Shah led a lengthycampaign in swaths of Dagestan in order to fully conquer the region, which was met with considerable success, although eventually he was forced to withdraw due to the extremity of the weather, the outbreak of disease and heavy raids by the various ethnic groups of Dagestan, forcing him to retreat with his army. From 1747 onwards, the Persian-ruled part of Dagestan was administered through theDerbent Khanate, with its center at Derbent. ThePersian expedition of 1796 resulted in the Russian capture of Derbent in 1796. However, the Russians were again forced to retreat from the entire Caucasus following internal governmental problems, allowing Persia to capture the territory again.
It was not until the aftermath of theRusso-Persian War (1804–1813) that Russian power over Dagestan was confirmed, and thatQajar Persia officially ceded the territory to Russia. In 1813, following Russia's victory in the war, Persia was forced to cede southern Dagestan with its principal city of Derbent, alongside other vast territories in the Caucasus to Russia, conforming with theTreaty of Gulistan.[23] The 1828Treaty of Turkmenchay indefinitely consolidated Russian control over Dagestan and removed Persia from the military equation.[24]
The Russian administration, however, disappointed and embittered the highlanders. The institution of heavy taxation, coupled with the expropriation of estates and the construction of fortresses (including Makhachkala), electrified highlanders into rising under the aegis of the MuslimImamate of Dagestan, led byGhazi Mohammed (1828–1832),Hamzat Bek (1832–1834) andShamil (1834–1859). ThisCaucasian War raged until 1864.
Dagestan and Chechnya profited from theRusso-Turkish War (1877–1878), rising together against theRussian Empire. Chechnya rose again at various times throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries.
On December 21, 1917,Ingushetia,Chechnya, Dagestan and the rest of the North Caucasus declared independence from Russia and formed a single state called the "United Mountain Dwellers of the North Caucasus" (also known as theMountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus).[citation needed] The capital of the new state was moved toTemir-Khan-Shura.[25][26] The first prime minister of the state wasTapa Chermoyev, a prominent Chechen statesman. The second prime minister was an Ingush statesman Vassan-Girey Dzhabagiev, who in 1917 also became the author of the constitution of the land, and in 1920 was re-elected for a third term.[27] After theBolshevik Revolution,Ottoman armies occupiedAzerbaijan and Dagestan and the region became part of the short-livedMountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus. After more than three years of fighting theWhite Army and local nationalists, the Bolsheviks achieved victory and theDagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on January 20, 1921. As the newly created Soviet Union was consolidating control in the region, Dagestan declared itself a republic within the Russian Soviet federation but did not follow the other ASSRs in declaringsovereignty.[28]
The invaders were supported by part of the local population but were driven back by the Russian military and local paramilitary groups.[29] In response to the invasion, Russian forces subsequentlyreinvaded Chechnya later that year.[30]
The Government Building of the Republic of DagestanSergey Melikov, the Head of Dagestan, with Azerbaijan's PresidentIlham Aliyev on 6 December 2022
Theparliament of Dagestan is thePeople's Assembly, consisting of 72 deputies elected for a four-year term. The People's Assembly is the highest executive and legislative body of the republic.
The Constitution of Dagestan was adopted on July 10, 2003. According to it, the highest executive authority lies with the State Council, comprising representatives of fourteen ethnicities. The Constitutional Assembly of Dagestan appoints the members of the State Council for a term of four years. The State Council appoints the members of the Government.
Formerly, the Chairman of the State Council was the highest executive post in the republic, held byMagomedali Magomedovich Magomedov until 2006. On February 20, 2006, the People's Assembly passed a resolution terminating this post and disbanding the State Council.Russian president,Vladimir Putin offered the People's Assembly the candidature ofMukhu Aliyev for the newly established post of thepresident of the Republic of Dagestan. The People's Assembly accepted the nomination, and Mukhu Aliyev became the first president of the republic. On February 20, 2010, Aliyev was replaced byMagomedsalam Magomedov.Ramazan Abdulatipov then became the head (acting 2013–2017, following the resignation of Magomedov).[citation needed] On October 3, 2017,Vladimir Vasilyev was appointed as head.[39]
Because its mountainous terrain impedes travel and communication, Dagestan is unusually ethnically diverse and still largely tribal. It is Russia's most heterogeneous republic. Dagestan's population is rapidly growing.[42]
Life expectancy in Dagestan in comparison with other regions of the North Caucasus
Interactive chart of comparison of male and female life expectancy for 2021. Open theoriginal svg-file in a separate window and hover over a bubble to highlight it.
Analogious interactive chart of comparison of urban and rural life expectancy. Original interactive file.
147,805 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[53]
More than 30 local languages are commonly spoken, most belonging to theNakh-Daghestanian language family. Russian became the principallingua franca in Dagestan during the 20th century;[54] Over 20 of Russia's 131endangered languages as identified by UNESCO can be found in Dagestan. Most of these endangered languages have speakers in the mountainous region on the Dagestan-Georgia border.[55]
Prior to Soviet rule, the literary lingua-franca status to some extent belonged toClassical Arabic.[56] The northernAvar dialect ofKhunzakh has also served as a lingua franca in mountainous Dagestan where Avar-related peoples lived.[57] And throughout centuries theKumyk language had beenthe lingua-franca for the bigger part of the Northern Caucasus, from Dagestan toKabarda, until the 1930s.[58][59][60] Kumyk also had been an official language for communication of the Russian Imperial administration with the local peoples.[61]
The first Russian grammar written about a language from present-day Dagestan was for Kumyk.[62] Author Timofey Makarov wrote:
From the peoples speaking Tatar language I liked the most Kumyks, as for their language's distinction and precision, so for their closeness to the European civilization, but most importantly, I take in account that they live on the Left Flank of the Caucasian Front, where we're conducting military actions, and where all the peoples, apart from their own language, speak also Kumyk.
Dagestanis adherents of Islam are largelySunni Muslims of theShafii school. On the Caspian coast, particularly in and around the port city ofDerbent, the population (primarily made up ofAzerbaijanis) isShia. ASalafi minority is also present, which is sometimes a target of official repression.[64]
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there has been anIslamic revival in the region. By 1996, Dagestan had 1,670 registered mosques, nine Islamic universities, 25madrassas, 670maktab, and it is estimated that "nearly one in five Dagestanis was involved in Islamic education", while of the 20,000 or so Russian pilgrims for theHajj more than half were from Dagestan.[66]
A relatively large number of nativeTati-speakingJews – the "Mountain Jews" – were[when?] also present in these same coastal areas. However, since 1991 and the collapse of theSoviet Union, many have migrated to Israel and the United States. These[specify] were an extension of much largerAzerbaijani Jewish community across the border in the Azerbaijani districts ofQuba andShamakhi.[67]
The number ofChristians among the non-Slavic indigenous population is very low, with estimates between 2,000 and 2,500. Most of these arePentecostal Christians from theLak ethnicity.[68][69] The largest congregation is Osanna Evangelical Christian Church (Pentecostal) inMakhachkala, with more than 1,000 members.[70]
In 2006, a genetic study of the Dagestan populations, published inHuman Biology, suggested that inhabitants of Dagestan are closely related toAnatolian Turks andCypriot Turks. Yunusbayev et al. pointed out that these findings support the theory that indigenous groups of Dagestan can trace their roots back to ancientAnatolian farming tribes who introduced early agricultural traditions.[71]
Conditions for economic development are favorable in Dagestan, but – as of 2006[update] – 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 itsunderground economy and the subsidies coming from the central Russian government.[73][74] Corruption in Dagestan is more severe than in other regions of the formerSoviet Union and is coupled with a flourishing black market and clan-based economic system.[75]
In 2011Rostelecom started the implementation ofWDM-based equipment on the backbone network for data transmission in the Republic of Dagestan. Due to WDM introduction, the fiber-optic communication lines bandwidth increased to 2.5 Gbit/s. Rostelecom invested about 48 million rubles in the project.[76]
Epic-historical songs about the defeat of the armies of Afshar Turk Nadir Shah and various episodes of the nineteenth-century wars are popular among the Avars. Best-known are the ballads "Khochbar" and "Kamalil Bashir". In the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, Avar culture and literature grew significantly. Well-known Avar literary figures include the poets Aligaji of Inkho (who died 1875) and Chanka (1866–1909), the lyric poet Makhmud (1873–1919), the satirist Tsadasa Gamzat (1877–1951), and the poetRasul Gamzatov (1923–2003). Among his poems was Zhuravli, which became a well-known Russian song.[77]
There is a Dagestani Philharmonic Orchestra and a State Academic Dance Ensemble.Gotfrid Hasanov, who is said to be the first professional composer from Dagestan, wroteKhochbar, the first Dagestani opera, in 1945. Dagestani folk dances include a fast-paced dance called thelezginka. It derives its names from the Lezgin people; nevertheless, Azerbaijanis, Circassians, Abkhazians, Mountain Jews, Caucasian Avars, the Russian Kuban, and Terek Cossacks and many other tribes have their own versions.[78]
Khingal-bat is Dagestan's national dish of small dumplings boiled in ram's broth. Depending on the cook's ethnicity, the dumplings can be oval or round, filled with meat or cheese, and served with a garlic or sour cream sauce. Dairy products and meat constitute a large part of the diet in the mountainous regions, while in the valley zones, vegetables and grain flour are eaten in addition to fruits, edible gourds, edible herbs, and wild grasses.[79]
In recent times, the region has been recognized for producing some of the world's best athletes in combat sports and produces the most MMA fighters of any region relative to population. Dagestani bornKhabib Nurmagomedov was a UFC lightweight champion who retired undefeated.[80][81] His training partner,Islam Makhachev, who is also Dagestani, is the former lightweight champion, and currently the #2 ranked UFC pound-for-pound fighter. Khabib's cousin,Umar Nurmagomedov, is ranked #2 in the UFC's bantamweight division. Umar's younger brother,Usman Nurmagomedov, is the formerBellator lightweight champion and currently fights in thePFL.Magomed Ankalaev, who also hails from Dagestan, is the former UFC light heavyweight champion.Abubakar Nurmagomedov is also a cousin of Khabib's who is Dagestani, he is also a professional MMA fighter with a professional record of 17-4-1.
Dagestan has also historically produced a disproportionate number of Olympic and world champions in freestyle wrestling.Buvaisar Saitiev was a three-time Olympic champion, andAbdulrashid Sadulaev won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2021 Tokyo Olympics; they are both from Dagestan.Magomed Ramazanov, who also hails from Dagestan and is known for his resemblance to Khabib Nurmagomedov, won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In boxing,Artur Beterbiev is a one-time World Cup gold medalist, a two-time Olympian, and held the undisputed light-heavyweight championship between October 2024 and February 2025.
As well, many Dagestanis have collected accolades for other nations,Akhmed Tazhudinov represents Bahrain and won gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics,Nassourdine Imavov represents France and is the #1 ranked middleweight contender in the UFC; both were born in Dagestan.
^Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", No. 20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
^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, 1995Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
^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, 1921On Autonomous Dagestan Socialist Soviet Republic. ).
^"Об исчислении времени".Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. RetrievedJanuary 19, 2019.
^Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of theConstitution of Russia.
^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"
^Kemper, Michael (2011)."An Island of Classical Arabic in the Caucasus: Dagestan". In Françoise Companjen; László Károly Marácz; Lia Versteegh (eds.).Exploring the Caucasus in the 21st Century: Essays on Culture, History and Politics in a Dynamic Context. Amsterdam: Pallas Publications. pp. 63–90.ISBN9789089641830. RetrievedApril 4, 2013.
В. М. Солнцев; et al., eds. (2000).Письменные языки мира: Российская Федерация. Социолингвистическая энциклопедия. (in Russian). Москва: Российская Академия Наук. Институт языкознания. проект №99-04-16158.
10 июля 2003 г. «Конституция Республики Дагестан», в ред. Закона №45 от 7 октября 2008 г. (July 10, 2003Constitution of the Republic of Dagestan, as amended by the Law #45 of October 7, 2008. ).
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