Dagestan: population, history and traditions

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

The Republic of Dagestan is considered the southernmost part of the Russian Federation. Its capital for almost 100 years has been the city of Makhachkala. This republic borders on Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Stavropol Territory, Kalmykia and Chechnya.

Population of Dagestan

You can estimate the size of the republic not only by its area, but also by the number of people living in it. The census of the population of Dagestan showed that in 2015, 2.99 million people lived in the republic. The density is 59.49 residents per km2. It is worth noting that back in 1989, according to the census, less than 2 million people lived there, and in 1996 - 2.126 million people.

But you can estimate the true number of citizens of the republic if you know that more than 700 thousand live outside the region. The government of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation speaks about this number. Among all the mountainous regions, the population density in Dagestan is one of the highest. On average, there are 2.13 children for every woman.

The population speaks Russian and the national languages of Dagestan. But at the same time, only 14 of all the ethnic languages of the republic have a written language. The rest are oral. But only 4 language groups are most common.

HeightPopulation

The republic is distinguished by its high birth rate. It takes an honorable third place in this indicator in Russia. Only Ingushetia and Chechnya are ahead of it. Every year, there are 19.5 newborns for every thousand inhabitants. Even 5 years ago, this figure was 18.8 in the Republic of Dagestan.

The population is growing every year. The growth rate of the number of people is the highest in Russia. At the same time, only 45% of people live in cities, the rest live in rural areas. There are slightly fewer men in this subject of the Russian Federation, their share is 48.1%. If we take into account only the population of Dagestan, then this republic ranks 13th among all subjects of the Federation.

Distribution by cities

The most densely populated is the capital of the republic - the city of Makhachkala. 583 thousand people live directly here. And if we take into account all the settlements that are subordinate to the capital, then about 700 thousand people will come out.

Quite a lot of people live in other cities of the Republic of Dagestan. The population of the city of Khasavyurt is almost 137 thousand, Derbent - 121 thousand, Kaspiysk - 107 thousand, Buynaksk - 63 thousand

If you look at the regions of the republic, then Khasavyurtovsky will be the most densely populated: 149 thousand people were counted in it during the census. 102 thousand Dagestanis live in the Derbent region, 78 and 79 thousand people live in the Buynaksky and Karabudakhkent regions, respectively.

National composition

It is worth noting separately that the population of the Republic of Dagestan is a unique community from an ethnic point of view. More than 100 different nationalities and nationalities live on 50 thousand km2. Do not forget that part of the territory is uninhabitable mountain ranges.

The largest group is the indigenous people - the Avars. According to 2010 data, their number was 850 thousand people, which at that time was 29.4% of all residents. The next largest group is the Dargins. These are also the indigenous inhabitants of the republic, so it is important to know how many of them are left. The population of Dagestan is growing, and the number of ethnic groups is also increasing accordingly. In 2010, 490 thousand Dargins lived in the republic (17% of the total), and in 2002 there were noticeably fewer of them - 425.5 thousand

The third largest are the Kumyks. Almost 15% of them, or 432 thousand people, live in Dagestan. There are slightly fewer Lezgins, they make up 13% of the total number of inhabitants. The number of this people in the republic is almost 388 thousand

Also, as a result of the census, it was found that there are noticeably fewer other ethnic groups. For example, slightly more than 5% of Laks live in Dagestan, 4% of Azerbaijanis and Tabasarans each, 3.6% of Russians, 3.2% of Chechens.

Religious Features

The population of the cities of Dagestan is quite diverse. But at the same time, almost 90% of the inhabitants have one religion. The majority in this republic professes Islam. This religion began to spread in this territory in the 7th century. Initially, it appeared in Derbent and on the flat part. Islam became the dominant religion only in the XIII-XIV centuries.

So long its distribution is explained by internecine wars that lasted for two centuries at that time. But only after the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars and the subsequent attack by Tamerlane, Islam became the religion of all the mountainous inhabitants of the republic. At the same time, there are two of its branches in Dagestan: Sunnism and Shiism. The first of them is professed by the absolute majority - 99% of the inhabitants of the Republic of Dagestan.

Population belonging to the remaining 10% of people who are not Muslims profess Christianity and Judaism. At the same time, Orthodox Christians make up 3.8% of the total number of residents there. In the mid 90s. in Dagestan there were more than 1.6 thousand mosques, 7 churches and 4 synagogues. This number of religious objects gives a clear indication of which religion is predominant.

Historical Features

The resulting ethnic diversity is a consequence of the historical development of this region. Dagestan has always been divided into established historical and geographical regions. Separately, the following regions are distinguished in this republic: Accident, Akusha-Dargo, Agul, Andria, Dido, Aukh, Kaitag, Lakia, Kumykia, Salatavia, Lekia, Tabarstan and others.

The territory of modern Dagestan was already inhabited a million years ago. As a result of wars at the beginning of the last millennium, these places were subordinated to the Khazars, and after they were occupied by the Tatar-Mongols.

Imprint on developmentleft the second Russian-Persian war. In the 16th century, the Russians founded the city of Port-Petrovsk (now Makhachkala) and formally annexed the entire coast of the Caspian Sea to the territory of the Russian Empire.

By the 17th century, Dagestan became a province of the Caucasus. But in the middle of the century, an uprising took place in this territory, which grew into the Caucasian War. As a result, the Dagestan region was formed as part of the Empire under military people's control.

In Soviet times, the Dagestan ASSR was created. In 1993, it became the Republic of Dagestan.

Culture and sports in the republic

Due to the diverse ethnic composition, the republic is unique. This leaves an imprint on the cultural development of the region. For example, there are several national theaters here, including the Dargin and Kumyk ones. The Old City, the Citadel and a number of buildings of the city of Derbent are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. There are about 8 thousand monuments in the republic.

One of the largest book depositories in the North Caucasus, which contains more than 700 thousand documents, is located in the Republic of Dagestan.

The population is also actively involved in sports. The region is one of the leaders in Russia in terms of sports achievements. For over 50 years, Dagestan has been famous for its wrestlers. Moreover, 10 people from this region became Olympic champions, 41 people were awarded the title of world champion and 89 - European champion.

National traditions

Separately all researcherscelebrate the unique folklore of Dagestan. The basis of the spiritual heritage of the republic is precisely the multilingualism and multinationality of the region. Oral poetry has been developed since ancient times. It has its own ritual poetry, a mythological genre.

Fine art was developed only in the XX century. There were both painters and sculptors in the republic. But arts and crafts goes back to the Bronze Age. Now in Dagestan they make jewelry that is decorated with enamel, niello, engraving. Certain regions are known for their copper embossing, woodwork with silver notches or bone inlays, painted pottery, and carpets.