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Chechnya is
situated on the northern flank of the Greater Caucasus range |
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It is
bordered by Stavropol region on the north,
the Dagestan republic on the east and southeast, Georgia on the
southwest, and the Ingushetia republic on the west |
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In the
mid-1990s its population was about 850,000 |
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The Chechen
are Muslim. Their society is based on clan and tribal relations |
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Traditionally, the Chechens’ chief occupations were farming in the
lowlands in the north of the republic and cattle raising in the
mountain areas in the south |
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Under the
Soviets oil drilling and refining became the backbone of the Chechen
economy. Grozny, the capital of Chechnya,
became one of the largest oil-refining centers in Russia |
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Chechnya
is a transport junction, which
accommodates the railway and highway connecting southern Russia with
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan |
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It is also a transit corridor,
which accommodates the pipelines
supplying oil and natural gas from the Caspian and central Asian
regions to Europe. |
Ethnic groups |
2002 census |
Chechens |
1,031,647 (93.5%) |
Russians |
40,645 (3.7%) |
Kumyks |
8,883 (0.8%) |
Ingushes |
2,914 (0.3%) |
Others |
19,597 (1.8%) |
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