home > Experience > Dagestan, population: ethnic composition and population Lyudmila Garkavaya. Ethnic composition of the population of the Republic of Dagestan Groups of nationalities in the Republic

Dagestan, population: ethnic composition and population Lyudmila Garkavaya. Ethnic composition of the population of the Republic of Dagestan Groups of nationalities in the Republic

Has a mixed population. Many say that Dagestan is a constellation of peoples, because among a population of 3 million people, Dagestanis themselves do not exceed 30%. The number of nationalities is compared here with the number of stars in the sky. What common ethnic groups live here, how many of them, what religions do they profess and what languages do they speak? Let's figure it out.

Ethnic composition of the population of Dagestan

Let's start with the ethnic composition. This region of Russia is inhabited by a wide variety of nations, whose number exceeds a hundred. By language, they can be classified into three groups: Turkic, Nakh-Dagestan branch, Indo-European branch.

The first group is part of the Altai family. Approximately 20% of the entire Republic speak the languages of the Turkic group. The Nakh-Dagestan branch belongs to the family of the Iberian-Caucasian languages, most often heard in the republic. Other nations speak Indo-European languages. An interesting fact is that only 14 nations are officially recognized.

Turkic peoples. Almost 15% of the total population of Dagestan are Turks. Kumyks alone from the entire population of Dagestan for 2018 are 13% - about 415 thousand people. Their habitats are the foothills, the Tersko-Sulak lowland. An approximately equal number of the Turkic population is distributed in the cities and rural areas of Dagestan.

Nakh-Dagestan peoples. The Nakh and Dagestan families are the main representatives of this land. The most numerous ethnic group among these families are the Avars, of which there are more than 1 million people - more than a third of the entire population of Dagestan in 2019. There are areas in which only Avars live - Akhvakhsky, Shamilsky, Kazbekovsky. Next come the Dargins. Their number is about half a million people - about 18%. Settled mainly in rural mountainous areas. In addition to them, the Nakh-Dagestan family is represented by Laks, Tabasarans, Chechens.

Indo-European family. There are also Russians among the inhabitants of the Republic. They make up about 300 thousand people - about 10% of the total population of Dagestan in 2019. Most often, Russians can be found in Kizlyar, most of the population of the city, Makhachkala, Kaspiysk. Sometimes there are Ukrainians and Belarusians. Not more than 1% are Tat Jews. Every year there are fewer of them - many are moving to Israel.

National composition in Dagestan

The 2010 census claims that there are more than a hundred peoples in Dagestan. It is almost impossible to give an exact figure, because some peoples do not even have their own written language. This is clearly seen when comparing the 2002 and 2010 censuses, where the number of ethnic groups was reduced from 121 to 117. The most numerous nationalities were: Russians, Kumyks, Avars, Dargins, Chechens, Lezgins and Laks - they amounted to approximately 95-99%.

Population of Dagestan

The population of Dagestan in 2018 is 3,063,885 people. The same number of inhabitants in Rome or Jamaica. The Dagestan Republic ranks fifth in terms of population in Russia. Average life expectancy is 75 years. The population is increasing by about 13% annually.

Linguistic diversity in Dagestan

90% of the inhabitants speak Russian, 28% know Avar, 18% - Dargin. About 10% speak Kumyk, Lezgin, Chechen, Azerbaijani.

Religion of Dagestan

The main religion is Islam, less common are Shiites, Jews, Christians. About how many in Dagestan, can be judged by the census of the last cities. This is one of the few administrative units in Russia where the number of inhabitants is increasing year by year.

Dagestanis- designation of a group of peoples inhabiting the Republic of Dagestan. There is no so-called titular people in Dagestan.

Until the 20s of the XX century, all the mountain peoples of Dagestan were called Lezgins or were considered Lezgin tribes. 14 peoples are recognized as indigenous peoples of the Republic of Dagestan: Avars, Aguls, Dargins, Kumyks, Laks, Lezgins, Tats, Tabasarans, Nogais, Rutuls, Tsakhurs, Chechens-Akkins.

In addition, 14 more nationalities live in southwestern Dagestan (Western "mountainous Dagestan"), which are officially included in the censuses as ethnic groups as part of the Avars: Andians, Archins, Akhvakhs, Bagulals, Bezhtins, Botlikhs, Ginukhs, Godoberins, Gunzibs, Karatas , Tindins, Khvarshins, Chamalins and Tsezes. Also, the Kaitag and Kubachins related to them are included in the number of Dargins. Mountain Jews also live compactly in southern Dagestan.

According to Enver Kirsiev, a number of small communities that were considered groups of Lezgins (Tabasarans, Rutuls, Aguls and Tsakhurs) according to the 1926 census, received the status of separate nationalities in the 1959 census. He also believes that 13 linguistically independent ethnicities of the Ando-Tsez language group (Andians, Akhvakhs, Bagulaly, Bezhtins, Botlikhs, Ginukhs, Godoberi, Gunzibs, Didoys, Karatas, Tindins, Khvarshins, Chamalals) and one group with the language of the Lezgi language group ( Archins) were assigned to the Avar nationality. In the same way, the earlier independent groups of the Kaitag and Kubachi were at the same time assigned to the Dargins.

14 languages of the peoples of Dagestan have been given the status of state languages. These include: Avasr Agul Azerbaijani Dargin Kumyk Lak Lezgin Nogai Russian, Rutul, Tabasaran Tat, Tsakhur and Chechen languages.

For Dagestanis, solidarity is a way of life that has evolved over the centuries in the largest and most multinational republic of the Russian Caucasus. Dagestan is the only place in the world where on an area of 50 thousand square meters. km live 102 nationalities, of which 36 are indigenous, 14 of them have their own script and alphabet. At the same time, there has never been interethnic hatred in Dagestan. How was it possible to reconcile different religions, customs, even views on good and evil?

In ancient times, the Caucasus was called the "mountain of languages", meaning a large number of peoples living in a small area. Everyone knows the legend of a rider who once, in time immemorial, traveled around the world with a bag in which there were different languages. The horseman distributed different languages to different peoples of the earth. When the horseman appeared in the Caucasus, he tore his bag on one of the impregnable rocks of Dagestan. Languages scattered over the mountains, and everything was mixed up. Beautiful legend, isn't it?

The peoples of Dagestan have come a long and difficult path of development: for centuries they have been fighting for national independence. The history of the mountain peoples is not written with a pen - it is written with daggers, sickles, horse hooves, gravestones. Dagestan is one of the oldest centers of agriculture and animal husbandry on Earth. In addition, some historians express the idea of a relationship between the peoples of Dagestan, in particular the Lezgin-speaking peoples, with the ancient peoples of Sumer, Zagros, as well as with the Hittites and Medes.

The whole history of Dagestan proves the unity of its peoples.

In the Middle Ages, many peoples of Dagestan enter the arena of history, they form their own states: Lezgin Lakz (VI-XII centuries), Shirvan (VI-XVII centuries), Avar Avaristan, Tarka Shamkhaldom, Kazikumukh Khanate, Kaitago-Tabasaran Maisumstvo. At this time, the gradual process of the formation of Dagestan as a whole begins.

The main reason for the unification of the Dagestan peoples, who speak different languages and have different cultures, was the war, which forced small peoples to unite together against a multitude of invaders, who, in addition to purely conquering ones, pursued the goal of destroying and dissolving the proud, freedom-loving peoples of Dagestan. To do this, many conquerors deliberately changed the demographic situation in Dagestan, resettling either Arabs, or Iranians, or Shiite Turks, or Sunni Turks, to the best lands. That is why the indigenous people of Dagestan live in the mountains, and the plains turned out to be inhabited by alien peoples. But over the centuries, these non-indigenous peoples gradually drew closer to the indigenous peoples and formed a common Dagestan ethnos, which now acts as a single whole in the face of the outside world.

The pages of history abound with the heroic deeds of the Dagestanis in defense of their homeland and freedom. And although many of these victims were in vain, this cannot detract from the courage of the small, compared with the invaders, people of Dagestan. It took a whole hundred years to conquer small Caucasian Albania by the gigantic Arab caliphate, and a hundred years later the Arabs left its territory forever.

The warriors of Genghis Khan, who conquered China, the states of Central Asia, Iran and Ancient Rus', were unable to storm the fortress of Derbent, but only bypassed it. The Mongols made their second campaign in 1239 under the leadership of Bloody Batu. Even more terrible was the invasion of the lame Timur, who had previously conquered India, Iran, Central Asia, made campaigns in China, and defeated the Golden Horde. It was in the struggle against Timur that the unity of the peoples of Dagestan was determined. After a bloody campaign across Dagestan, his troops stopped at the walls of the village of Ushkudzhan, whose inhabitants were pagans. And how surprised Timur was when Muslims, representatives of other Dagestan peoples, came to their aid. This is what unity means!

Dagestanis have their own Joan of Arc. This is Partu Patima, a simple mountain woman, who inspired the Kumukh warriors defending their village with her example. The detachment led by her was able to defeat the invincible Timur. Dagestan was the arena of the struggle between Turkey and Iran for its possession. And although it was repeatedly conquered by one or the other invader, none of them could conquer the "Land of Mountains" to the end.

The Republic of Dagestan is located on the northeastern slope of the Caucasus and in the southwest of the Caspian lowland. It occupies the southernmost part of the Russian Federation.

Territory, geography, demographic structure.

In terms of size and population, the Republic of Dagestan is the largest of the Caucasian republics within the Russian Federation. The length of the territory from north to south is about 400 km, from west to east - an average of 200 km. Dagestan borders on Kalmykia in the north, on the Stavropol Territory in the northwest, and on the Chechen Republic in the west. Along the Dividing Range of the Greater Caucasus, Dagestan borders on Georgia. In the south, Dagestan borders on the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the east, the territory of Dagestan for almost 530 km. washed by the waters of the Caspian Sea.

The territory of Dagestan is divided into 3 parts. The lowland part of Dagestan (51% of the territory) consists of the Tersko-Kuma, Tersko-Sulak and Primorskaya lowlands. Piedmont (12% of the territory) consists of separate ridges of northwestern and southeastern strike, separated by wide valleys and basins. Mountain Dagestan (37% of the territory) is characterized by a combination of wide plateaus and narrow monoclinal ridges up to 2500 m in height. Alpine Dagestan includes 2 main chains of mountains - the northern slope of the Main or Watershed, ridge. Greater Caucasus and its Lateral ridge. The highest point of Dagestan is the city of Bazarduzi, 4466 m, on the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The population of Dagestan, according to official censuses, was: in 1897 - 571 thousand, in 1926 - 744.1, in 1939 - 1023.3, in 1959 - 1062.5, in 1970 - 1428.5, in 1979 - 1627.8, in 1989 - 1802.2 thousand people . During the years of the Patriotic War, the population of Dagestan declined; the pre-war population was exceeded in 1959. The average annual population growth rate in 1926–39 was 2.7%, in 1959 - 69 - 2.8%, in 1970 - 78 - 1.5%, in 1979 - 89 - 1.1%. In the 30s and 50-70s. there was a large influx of migrants to D. mainly from the northern regions of Russia.

In some mountainous and foothill regions of Dagestan, the population density reaches 55-60 people. per 1 km 52 6. This is the highest population density in Russia for mountainous regions.

Ethnic composition of the population.

According to the 1989 census, representatives of 102 nationalities were recorded on the territory of Dagestan. At the same time, among the so-called. Indigenous include peoples belonging to three language families:

1. The Dagestani-Nakh branch of the Iberian-Caucasian family of languages includes Avars (together with 14 ethnic groups that have independent, but close to Avar, languages, namely, Akhvakhs, Karatas, Andians, Botlikhs, Godoberi, Tindals, Chamalals, Bagulals, Khvarshins, Didoys, Bezhtins, Gunzibs, Ginukhs and Archins), Dargins (including Kubachins and Kaitags), Lezgins, Laks, Tabasarans, Rutuls, Aguls, Tsakhurs and Chechens.

2. The Turkic group of the Altaic language family includes Kumyks, Azerbaijanis and Nogais.

3. Russians, Tats and Mountain Jews belong to the Indo-European language family, speaking the Tat language, which belongs to the Iranian languages.

There is no so-called “titular nationality” in the republic, but 14 nationalities of Dagestan are currently endowed with its political attributes:

1. Avars- the most numerous ethnic group of Dagestan. At present, there are 577.1 thousand of them in the republic, which is 27.9% of the population of the republic. The main area of settlement is the regions of the western mountainous Dagestan. The rural population of the Avars is 68% and settled mainly in 22 districts of the republic. In Akhvakh, Botlikh, Gergebil, Gumbetov, Gunib, Kazbek, Tlyaratinsky, Untsukulsky, Khunzakhsky, Tsumadinsky, Tsuntinsky, Charodinsky and Shamilsky districts, Avars make up 98-100 percent of the population. In the Kizilyurt district, the share of Avars has grown to almost 80%, in Khasavyurt, Kizlyar, Buynaksky and Kumturkalinsky they make up a third, and in Tarumovsky, Babayurtovsky, Levashinsky and Novolaksky - up to a quarter of the total population. 32% of the Avar population lives in cities and urban-type settlements. In Makhachkala they make up 21%. In Kizilyurt, Yuzhno-Sukhokumsk and Buynaksk - 43 - 52%, in Khasavyurt, Kizlyar and Kaspiysk - 12 - 22%. Avars make up a significant part of the population of urban-type settlements: Bavtugay, Novy Sulak, Shamilkala, Dubki, Shamkhal.

2. Dargins- the second largest Dagestan ethnic group - make up 16.1% of the population of the republic (332.4 thousand people). The territory of the traditional settlement of the Dargins is the mountainous and foothill regions of middle Dagestan. About 68% of the Dargins are settled in 16 rural areas. In Akushinsky, Dakhadaevsky, Kaytagsky, Levashinsky and Sergokalinsky districts, Dargins make up from 75 to 100 of the population. Their share is significant in the Kayakent and Karabudakhkent regions (43 and 36%, respectively). They also live in Tarumovsky (19%), Kizlyarsky (15%) and Buynaksky (14%) districts. In Derbent, Nogai, Agul, Babayurt, Khasavyurt and Kumtorkalinsky regions, the proportion of Dargins varies from 4 to 9% of the population of these regions. Dargins - citizens live in Izberbash (57% of the population of this city), in Makhachkala (12.4%), Kizlyar (7.3%), Buynaksk (6.6%), Khasavyurt (4.2%) and Dagestan Lights (9%). The famous Dargin village of Kubachi refers to urban-type settlements. There are also many Dargins in the settlements of Achisu, Manaskent and Mamedkala.

3. Kumyks number 267.5 thousand people and make up 12.9% of the population of the republic. The territory of their traditional settlement is the Tersko-Sulak lowland and the foothill regions of Dagestan. More than half of the Kumyks (52%) live in 8 rural districts. In the Kumtorkalinsky district, there are 67.5% of them, in Karabudakhkent - 62%, Buynaksky - 55%, Kayakent - 51%, Babayurt - 44%, Khasavyurt - 28.5%, Kizilyurt - 13.6%, in Kaitag - 9% of the population of the districts. In Makhachkala they make up 15% of the population, in Buynaksk - a third, Khasavyurt - a quarter, and Kizilyurt - a fifth of the population. In Izberbash - 17% and Kaspiysk - 10%. In Derbent, Kumyks are less than one percent. Some of the Kumyks are settled in urban-type settlements: in Tarki - 91% of the population, Tyube - 36%, Leninkent - 31.3%, Kyakhulai - 28.6%, Alburikent - 27.6%, Shamkhal - 26.8%, Manaskent - 24.9%.

4. Lezgin in Dagestan there are currently 250.7 thousand people, which is 12.2% of the population of the republic. The main territory of the settlement of Lezgins is the upland, foothill and plain South Dagestan. The rural population (about 64%) is settled in 9 districts. In Akhtynsky, Dokuzparinsky, Kurakhsky, Magaramkentsky and Suleiman-Stalsky districts they make up from 93 to 100%, in Khiva - 37.3 and Rutulsky - 8% of the population. Part of the Lezgins lives in the Derbent (15%) and Khasavyurt (6%) regions. Lezgins - townspeople are concentrated mainly in Derbent (26%), Dagestan Lights (22%), Kaspiysk (16%), Makhachkala (9.5%) and Izberbash (8%). They make up the main population of the Belidzhi village and about 10% of the Mamedkala village.

5. Russians are considered one of the peoples of Dagestan. Now there are 150.1 thousand of them in the republic (7.3% of the population). More than 80% of Dagestan Russians are settled in all cities and urban-type settlements, but only in Kizlyar they make up more than half of the population (54%). Their share is quite significant in Makhachkala and Kaspiysk (17 - 18%), in other cities their share varies from 3 to 10% of the population. Russians make up the main population of the urban-type settlement of Komsomolsky (81%), there are relatively many of them in Dubki (16%) and Sulak (12%). The rural population of Russians (Terek Cossacks) is concentrated in the lower reaches of the Terek and its channels in the territory of the Kizlyar and Tarumovsky districts, where their numbers, both relative and absolute, have noticeably decreased in recent years (27.2 and 30.4%, respectively). A small number of rural Russians also live in Babayurt (1.5%), Khasavyurt (0.4%), Nogai (1.8%) and Derbent (0.7%) districts.

6. Laks settled historically in the central part of the mountainous Dagestan on the territory of the Laksky and Kulinsky districts. At present, there are 102.6 thousand of them in the republic, or 5% of the total population. In these mountainous regions, they make up 94% and 99% of the population, respectively. The rural population of the Laks also live in the flat Novolaksky district (48% of the population of the district), Akushinsky (5%), Rutulsky (5%) and Kizlyarsky (3%) regions. However, the majority (64%) of the Laks live in the cities of the republic. Of these, more than half are concentrated in Makhachkala, where they make up more than 12% of the population, in Kaspiysk - 14%, in Buynaksk and Kizilyurt - about 8% of the population of these cities. In a number of urban-type settlements - Sulak, Achisu, Kyakhulai, Manaskent and others, Laks make up from 3 to 9% of the population.

7. Tabasarans number 93.6 thousand people, which is 4.5% of the population of Dagestan. The main territory of their settlement is southeastern Dagestan. Most (64%) of the Tabasarans live in rural areas in the Tabasaran region (80%), Khiva (62%) and Derbent (15%). A small number of them live in the Kayakent and Kizlyar regions. The townspeople are concentrated mainly in Derbent and Dagestan Ogni (up to a third of the population in each), and in Makhachkala and other cities the number of Tabasarans is insignificant.

8. Azerbaijanis number 88.3 thousand, which is 4.3% of the population of the republic. About half of them live in rural areas in Derbent (55.7%), Tabasaran (18%), as well as in Rutul (4%) and Kizlyar (3%) districts. Urban Azerbaijanis live mainly in Derbent and Dagestan Ogni, where they make up about a third of the population, as well as in the settlements of Mammadkala (22.4%) and Belijakh (7.3%). In Makhachkala, there are now slightly more than 6 thousand Azerbaijanis, or 1.6% of the population of the capital of Dagestan.

9. Chechens in Dagestan there are currently 92.2 thousand people. Their numbers have increased significantly in the last two years. Back in 1994, their number in Dagestan was 62,000. Without a doubt, such a sharp increase is due to military operations on the territory of the neighboring Chechen Republic. They now make up 4.5% of the republic's population. The rural population, which is about 48%, is concentrated in the Khasavyurt district (25.6% of the population of this district), Novolaksky (13%), Kazbekovsky (13%) and Babayurtovsky (8%). Urban Chechens live mainly in three cities of Dagestan - Khasavyurt (35.6% of the city's population), Makhachkala (4.3%) and Kizlyar (6.5%).

10. Nogais there are 33.4 thousand people in Dagestan, 16% of the population. The main area of their settlement is the territory of the Nogai steppe in the north of the republic. The rural population of Nogais - about 87% of all Nogais - is settled in four districts: Nogai (82% of the district's population), Babayurtovsky (16), Tarumovsky (8) and Kizlyarsky (7.8%). In the village of Sulak, they make up more than half of the inhabitants. A small number of Nogais live in Makhachkala, Kizlyar and Khasavyurt.

11. tats- Dagestan ethnic group, speaking the Tat language (Iranian branch) and historically professing Judaism. It is somewhat difficult to indicate their number at the present time, since many of them are recorded as Jews and fall into the same nationality column with them. Jews, together with tatami in Dagestan, are now 18.5 thousand people. This is less than one percent of the republic's population. Their number is noticeably decreasing, especially in recent years due to mass exodus to Israel. The vast majority of them live in cities - 98%, mainly in Derbent, Makhachkala, Buynaksk, Khasavyurt, Kaspiysk and Kizlyar.

12. Rutulians- a small ethnic group of Dagestan, numbering 17.1 thousand people (0.8% of the population of the republic). The main territory of settlement is the upper reaches of the Samur River in South Dagestan. The rural population (about 70%) of the Rutuls is settled in the Rutul (55% of the population of the region) and Dokuzparinsky (2.3%) regions, as well as in small groups of several hundred people in the Kizlyar, Magaramkent, and Derbent regions. Most Rutul city dwellers live in Makhachkala and Derbent.

13. Agulov only 16 thousand people. The main area of their settlement is the basin of the Chiragchay and Kurakh rivers in the high-mountainous South Dagestan. Rural Aguls are about 67 percent and they live mainly in the Agul district (90% of the population of the district). Aguly townspeople live in the villages of Shamkhal and Tyube and in the cities of Makhachkala, Derbent and Dagestan Lights.

14. Tsakhury- the smallest people of Dagestan, numbering 6.3 thousand people. (0.3% of the population of Dagestan) - live in the upper reaches of the Samur River. Rural Tsakhurs 82%, who live mainly in the Rutul region. Urban Tsakhurians live in Makhachkala, Yuzhno-Sukhokumsk and Derbent.

Historical reference.

The territory of Dagestan was mastered by man in the Paleolithic era. The oldest monuments of the Stone Age, discovered here, belong to the Acheulian era.

Among the ancient ancestors of the peoples of Dagestan are the tribes of Legs, Gels, Udins, etc., who lived on the territory of modern Dagestan in the 1st millennium BC. At the end of the 1st millennium BC. the territory of Dagestan with these and other tribes was part of Caucasian Albania. At the turn of the two eras, Albania was involved in heavy, exhausting wars between the Romans and the Parthians, who were competing for hegemony in Asia Minor and the Caucasus. In the 3rd century AD southern Dagestan was captured by Sasanian Iran, and the northern plains of Dagestan in the 4th century. the Huns invaded.

Starting from the 5th century, a number of state formations were formed on the territory of Dagestan. These are Derbent, Lakz, Tabasaran, Serir, Zirikhgeran (Kubachi), Kaytag, Gumik, etc. In the 6th century, on the plain north of the Sulak River and to the south on a narrow coastal strip, the "kingdom of the Huns" with the cities of Varachan, Chungars and Semender, the population which consisted of the local population mixed with the Huns. In the middle of the 7th century in the steppes of the North-Eastern Caucasus, the Khazar state (Khazar Kaganate) was formed, which included the northern plains of Dagestan, and from 664 onwards, incessant invasions of Arabs began from the south. Dagestan for a long time turns into an arena of political rivalry between the Khazars and the Arabs and, at the same time, experiences a significant influence of their cultures. Only by the beginning of the IX century. the campaigns of the Arabs and the speeches of the Khazars cease.

From the beginning of the X century. the political disintegration of the Arab Caliphate leads to the formation of independent states. In Derbent, the rule of Arab origin is preserved, subordinate to Shirvan, and the rest of the regions of Dagestan become completely independent. In the middle of the XI century. Dagestan is experiencing an invasion from the south of the Seljuk Turks. In the first half of the 2nd millennium, a number of feudal states were formed on the territory of Dagestan. From the middle of the XII century. until the beginning of the thirteenth century. (Tatar-Mongol invasion) Derbent existed as an independent possession - an independent Derbent emirate. In mountainous Dagestan, the Avar Khanate, the Kazikumukh Shamkhalate, the Kaitag Utsmiystvo and a number of small independent political entities were formed: Akhty, Tsakhur, Rutul, Kurakh, Khiv, Tpig, Khnov, etc. Before the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Tabasaran also retained its independence.

In the 20s of the XIII century. Tatar-Mongols invade Dagestan, and in the XIV century. troops of Uzbek, Tokhtamysh and Timur. During this period, the process of Islamization of Dagestan intensified. From the middle of the XV century. the peoples of Dagestan faced a new political force - Safavid Iran, whose military support was the Turkic-speaking tribes, who later received the common name "Kizilbash".

From the 16th century with the formation of the Russian centralized state, especially after the Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556) khanates were annexed to it, its political influence on Dagestan began to increase. Since that time, Dagestan has been involved in a confrontation between three powerful political forces for a long period; Iran, Turkey and Russia. In 1722, Peter I invaded coastal Dagestan and annexed it to Russia. However, according to the Ganja Treaty of 1735, Russia, interested in an alliance with Iran against Turkey, cedes these territories to it.

The Gulistan peace treaty between Russia and Iran, signed on October 24 (November 5), 1813 in the village of Gulistan in Karabakh after the end of the Russian-Iranian war, legally formalized the recognition by Iran of the transition to Russia of Dagestan, Georgia, Megrelia, Imeretia, Guria, Abkhazia and khanates: Baku, Karabakh, Ganja, Shirvan, Sheki, Derbent, Quba and Talysh. Russian fortified cities began to appear on the territory of Dagestan.

The colonial policy of tsarist Russia gave rise to a political movement for independence and unification in Dagestan. At the turn of the 30s of the XIX century. Under the flag of Islamic muridism, an anti-colonial liberation movement of the highlanders arose under the leadership of the imams of Dagestan Gazi-Magomed, Gamzat-bek and Shamil. In the early 40s, during the war with the Russian colonial troops, the imamate included a significant part of Dagestan and Chechnya. In 1859, Shamil, under the onslaught of Russian troops, was forced to capitulate and surrender to honorable captivity. In 1860, the Dagestan region of the Russian Empire was formed with the so-called. military and people's administration - a bureaucratic system of administration headed by a governor-general with elements of traditional self-government of the population on the ground. In 1877, with the start of another Russo-Turkish war, a major uprising broke out in Chechnya and Dagestan. This time it was crushed with all colonial brutality. According to the verdict of a specially established military field court, in Gunib and Derbent, the leaders of the rebels were executed by hanging: Imam Gadzhi-Magomed, Nika-Kadi, Abas Pasha, Captain Abdul-Majid, Zubair-bek, Abdul Gadzhiev, Kazi-Ahmed and others ., only 300 people. A huge number of active participants in the uprising, together with their families, were arrested, about 5 thousand of them were sent to hard labor and permanent residence in the inner provinces of Russia.

From the middle of the XIX century. and especially after the construction in the 90s of the Vladikavkaz railway, which connected Dagestan with the center of Russia, with Baku and Grozny, Dagestan joined the mainstream of capitalist development. By the beginning of the XX century. in Dagestan, there were about 70 enterprises, the local bourgeoisie and the working class are being formed.

After the revolutions of 1917 and the Civil War in Russia, Dagestan acquired a political status. On November 13, 1920, at the Extraordinary Congress of the Peoples of Dagestan, a declaration was proclaimed on the autonomy of Dagestan, and on January 20, 1921, a Decree on the formation of the Dagestan ASSR was adopted.

In 1991, as a result of the collapse of the USSR and the formation on its territory of independent states from among the former Soviet republics, Dagestan became a republic within the new state - the Russian Federation. On July 26, 1994, a new Constitution of the Republic of Dagestan was adopted, which determines that Dagestan "is a sovereign, unified, democratic state within the Russian Federation, expressing the will and interests of the entire multinational people of Dagestan" (Article 1).

Dagestan, with a population of about 2,711,000, is the largest of the North Caucasian republics. On a territory of 50,300 square kilometers, almost two Armenias can fit. The GDP (gross domestic product) is over a billion US dollars. The nature here is exceptionally picturesque and therefore attracts a huge number of travelers to these lands. The most famous writers, poets and artists sang about this region.

The side of the mountains and the mysteries lurking in them is Dagestan. The population is distinguished by its hospitality, but at the same time, the cruel customs of blood feud have not been completely eradicated. The richness of customs is unique, and, characteristically, they are not honored anywhere as they are here. The beauty of the mountain landscapes pacifies, but wars have been fought here since time immemorial - a variety of people fought for the possession of this land for many thousands of years - from the Mongol-Tatars, Turks, Arabs and Khazars to the Romans and Huns.

Geography

Now, after the collapse of the USSR, Dagestan, whose population is subject to a variety of religious moods, has become the southernmost and border republic in Russia, and also the largest in terms of numbers. Land borders with Azerbaijan and Georgia are now not impenetrable, so the threat of Islamic terrorism is constantly hanging over Russia from the south. By sea, Dagestan has borders with Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, where the situation is also not too calm now.

If it were possible to cut off the terrorist threat in these territories, then it would simply be impossible to find a better place for the development of tourism. Here there are not only magnificent mountains, but also a liana subtropical forest, the only one in Russia, there are also steppes with herbs woven from various flowers, high-mountain glaciers. The entire population of Dagestan is more than two and a half million people, and everyone would find employment, if not in the field of tourism, then in the development of minerals. Oil and gas reserves in the Caspian are very large, and the largest copper deposit has been discovered in the south of Dagestan.

About the population

The population of the Republic of Dagestan is a unique ethnic community, the only one in the world, since there is no other such not too large territory, where more than a hundred nationalities and nationalities live in harmony. About 600 thousand people chose the capital of the republic as their place of residence. This is Makhachkala, the cultural and administrative center of Dagestan.

Dagestan occupies an extremely advantageous position as a transport and important strategic hub, since it is located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe. The largest trade routes that connected the West and the East have always run here. The medieval legendary route called the Great Silk Road also passed here. And now the map of the republic is dotted with dotted lines and lines of the most important automobile, railway, air, sea routes and pipeline routes. All of them are federal.

Economy

The economic potential is very high, it is supported by the transport and fuel and energy complex, industry and agriculture are actively involved in the process. The population of the Republic of Dagestan is constantly growing. According to the 2002 and 2009 censuses, it increased by more than one hundred and eleven thousand people, taking into account only the natural increase. The share of industry in the gross regional product is sixteen and a half percent, in the priority of food production, the chemical industry and engineering. The climate in the republic is favorable for agriculture, soil resources are diverse, the ecology is unique, so many crops are grown here, among which winemaking is one of the most important.

Ninety percent of cognac products are produced in Dagestan, and it is appreciated at its true worth at many international exhibitions, being the basis of the country's alcohol fund. No matter how many people there are in Dagestan, the bulk of them are Muslims who do not consume alcoholic products, therefore all winemaking is aimed at export. This republic is seaside, and the fishery complex is excellently developed: the production of salmon and trout has been established here. And sheep breeding is a permanent occupation, which the population in Dagestan has been practicing for many centuries, and therefore the number of goats and sheep here is the largest in the Russian Federation.

culture

The history of Dagestan, its original and inimitable culture, its art is the main asset of the republic. Ancient monuments - stone fortresses, functioning mosques, minarets and towers - are kept by the population of the Republic of Dagestan like the apple of their eye. Silhouettes of auls have chased lines of silhouettes, and mountain roads are whimsically winding.

This is how modern civilization coexists with hoary antiquity. All this is reflected in the works of the Kubachi masters, in the songlike carpet patterns of the Tabasarans, in the dishes made by the Balkhar potters, in the singing tree of the Untsukul craftsmen, in the patterns on silver of the Gotsatlin chasers. Customs are sacredly revered, native land is loved selflessly here, the elders and the past of their people are unshakably respected.

peoples

The constellation of nationalities in Dagestan is unique: Kumyks, Lezgins, Laks, Nogais live next to the Azerbaijanis, Avars, Aguls and Dargins. Russians coexist with Rutuls and Tabasarans, Tatami and Tsakhurs, Chechens and Akkins. Languages and dialects are completely different, cultural traditions and purely everyday features are also often completely different.

Dagestan is a country of mountains and a mountain of languages, as they used to say in ancient times, describing this region. According to linguistic diversity, three main groups can be distinguished: North Caucasian, Altaic and Indo-European. Some scientists insist on a more fractional division. How good it is that there is such a beautiful and understandable Russian language, which is the state language and has taken on all the problems of interethnic communication!

resettlement

The rural population of Dagestan is slightly more than half - 57.6%, and the urban population - the remaining 42.4%, in addition, according to government republican data, approximately 700,000 more people living outside Dagestan should be added to 2,711,700 people. Its population density is 54 people per square kilometer. The population of the districts of Dagestan is confessionally divided as follows: up to ninety-six percent of believers are Muslims, and among them only five percent are Shiites, the rest are Sunnis.

There are very few Orthodox Christians - only four percent. The birth rate in the republic is very high, higher only in Chechnya and Ingushetia, and it is almost twenty people per thousand of the population. There are no less than three children in Dagestan families. Until the forties of the last century, Germans lived in the Babayurtovsky, Khasavyurtovsky and Kizlyarsky districts - about six thousand, who were resettled at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in Central Asia.

Derbent

The oldest city in Russia, located in the west - near the Caspian Sea, where the spurs of the Greater Caucasus Mountains almost bathe in it. Only three kilometers of the coastal strip - a narrow strip of plains. The city-fortress has existed for one and a half thousand years. Derbent is much older than Rome. It was built just on the seaside lowland, where in ancient times the Caspian Way ran - the only relatively convenient road for traveling from Europe to the Middle East. (From where and now the Middle Eastern terrorists appear in our area - in the opposite way.)

The citadel of the fortress was built on a high plateau, impregnable walls departed from it - stone and high, two of them reached the sea, and the third went far into the mountains. This unique building is compared by many to the Great Wall of China. Numerous strong gates were built in the walls, and the very name of the city from the Persian "Derbent" means "gate lock" or "gate knot".

Kizlyar and Khasavyurt

The center of the richest agricultural region of Dagestan is Kizlyar. It has long been a famous city, associated with the stay there of the most prominent personalities - writers, artists, who created memorials. More recently, this city has become infamous - after the seizure of a school by terrorists and the death of many hostages.

Khasavyurt is the second most important Dagestan city, second in size only to Makhachkala, which is located ninety kilometers away. About one hundred and forty thousand people live here. It was here that an agreement was concluded that deprived Russia of victory in the first Chechen war. The situation there still cannot be called calm.

Dagestan is the most unique region of Russia: in a small area there are more than a hundred peoples and ethnic groups. What nationalities live in Dagestan today? We will answer this question in the article.

The nationalities of the republic make up an extensive list. Historically determined and some modern processes affect the number of a particular nation present in the republic. Peoples left Dagestan, new nationalities appeared. The attitude towards the national palette and its perception were not always positive, which immediately affected the development of the social and economic spheres. And the more Dagestanis develop tolerance towards each other, the easier it is to solve common problems.

Nationalities of the Republic of Dagestan

The first attempt to count the population of Dagestan was made by the military department of the Russian Empire at the end of the nineteenth century. But more accurate data were obtained at the census eleven years later. It turned out that almost 590 thousand people lived in Dagestan within the borders of that time.

If we compare these figures with those obtained in the 2010 Dagestan census, they have increased almost five times - 2 million 323 thousand people. Population growth was noted from the mid-20s to the 40s. last century, also a decade before the 70s. and from 1989 to 2002. The lowest population in Dagestan was noted in the period from 1897 to 1926, and also from 1939 for the next twenty years.

The civil war, the drought of the early 1920s also affected demographic indicators. At the same time, Russians, Ukrainians and Jews began to leave Dagestan, followed by the emigration of part of the Dagestanis to Turkey. This resulted in a 20% drop in population.

However, after the mid-20s of the twentieth century, a sharp increase begins. It is associated with natural growth, which has reached more than 20%. The influx of Russians, Ukrainians, Armenians, Tatars, Jews and representatives of other nationalities also influenced. People moved to the Dagestan Republic in search of work.

Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, almost 970 thousand people lived in Dagestan. The population of the republic, as well as other territories, was affected by the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union. The mobilization covered more than 160 thousand men, some of whom did not return from the battlefields. From the beginning of the 50s. demographers note the highest birth rate and natural increase - almost 34%.

Nationalities who live in Dagestan

Answering the question of what nationalities live in Dagestan, we note right away that today the republic is one of the three most numerous national republics of Russia, yielding to Bashkortostan and Tatarstan. In the North Caucasian Federal District, among seven subjects, Dagestan ranks first in terms of population - more than 30% of the total population of the district. Exceeds Iceland, Latvia, Estonia, Montenegro, Qatar, Cyprus, Kuwait and Bahrain in this indicator. However, in recent decades there has been a downward trend in the birth rate.

Speaking about how many nationalities there are in Dagestan, one should refer to the figures of the censuses and modern data.

According to Rosstat, more than three million people live in Dagestan in 2017. This is the 13th place in terms of population in Russia. The absolute population growth was 26 thousand people - the 5th place in the country. 12th place in terms of relative growth - 0.86%.

In the list of nationalities of Dagestan, the largest groups are Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Lezgins and Laks. Books are printed in the languages of these peoples and mass media work. Small ethnic groups of Dagestan: Chukchi, Arabs, Serbs and Slovaks.

The population in the 1959 census was just over one million people. In 1970 - about one and a half million people. In nine years - two hundred people more. In 1989, the population increased by another two hundred people - 1 million 800 thousand. A census conducted fifteen years ago showed that more than two and a half million people live in Dagestan. The 2010 census gave data with growth - 2 million 900 thousand people.

How has the population changed?

Of the nationalities living in Dagestan, the Avars remain the most numerous:

1959 - 22.5%;
1970 - 24.4%;
1979 - 25.7%;
1989 - 27.5%;
2002 - 29.4%;
2010 - 29.4%.

The second largest group is made up of the Dargins:

1959 - 14%;
1970 - 14.5%;
1979 - 15.2%;
1989 - 15.6%;
2002 - 16.5%;
2010 - 17%.

The third group in terms of numbers is the Kumyks:

1959 - 11.4%;
1970 - 11.8%;
1979 - 12.4%;
1989 - 12.9%;
2002 - 14.2%;
2010 - 14.9%.

The data for Russians and Jews show an increasing decline.

1959 - 20.1%;
1970 - 14.7%;
1979 - 11.6%;
1989 - 9.2%;
2002 - 4.69%;
2010 - 3.6%.

1959 - 2.3%;
1970 - 2.0%;
1979 - 1.6%;
1989 - 1.44%;
2002 - 0.13%;
2010 - 0.08%.

What other peoples live in Dagestan

The list of nationalities of Dagestan includes dozens of names of peoples. The latest population census showed the following data on other peoples: Georgians - almost 700 people, Laks - more than 160 thousand, Lezgins - almost 390 thousand, Nogais - 40 and a half thousand, Ossetians - less than 900, Tatars - almost 4 thousand, Kazakhs and Persians - more than 500, Ukrainians - one and a half thousand, Chechens - almost 94 thousand, Tsukhurs - about 9800 people.

If we consider how many nationalities live in Dagestan, then we can find very interesting data. An analysis of the census of the population of the republic showed that there were fewer nationalities, some of the nationalities left Dagestan, but there were also those that did not exist. Sometimes the names of nationalities, to which some residents consider themselves, made the researchers smile.

Changes in national groups:

2002 - 121 nationalities. 2010 - 117 nationalities and ethnic groups.
During the 2010 census, Bagulals, Americans, Besermen, Veps, Karaites, Tuvans, Udins, Nagaybaks, Nanais, Pashtuns, Eskimos, Yukaghirs and Yakuts, who were previously listed, were no longer found among the inhabitants. Representatives of the Afghan nation, Albanian, Bulgur, Colombian, Nigerian, Turkic, Serbian, French, Ethiopian and Japanese nations settled in Dagestan.

Interestingly, almost 450 people, denoting their nationality, called themselves Akhtyns, Buynaktsy, Dagestanis, Makhachkala residents (this is the name of the inhabitants of the city of Makhachkala, but there is no separate nationality) and Tsumadins, as well as mestizos, Russians and even Afro-Russians. Fifteen years ago, more than 350 people considered themselves to be amazing and extremely unusual in sounding ethnic groups and nationalities.

The number of Cossacks increased - almost 700 people. In 2002, 11 residents of Dagestan called themselves Cossacks. Prior to this, the Cossacks were present only in the 1897 census data.

Avars

In Dagestan, the most numerous peoples are Avars, Dargins and Kumyks.

Avars are settled mainly in the territories of mountainous Dagestan, they speak several dialects and dialects. The literary language of the Avars is called the language of the guest or the language of the troops. Arabic graphics provided the basis for Avar writing in the 15th and 16th centuries. But by the thirtieth year of the twentieth century, the Avars began to massively master the Russian language, because they were trained in it. In 1938, representatives of the nationality begin to use the Cyrillic alphabet. Children in schools were first taught in their native language, and in the middle classes - already in Russian. Today, the Avars speak both the language of their people and Russian, which allowed them to easily integrate into the cultural space of Russia.

Avars are considered Sunni Muslims by religion.

Dargins

The Dargins in the Civil War were among the first to start the fight: they rebelled against Denikin and defeated the White Cossacks in the Aya-Kakak Gorge. These people are very hospitable. Previously, the Dargins tremblingly revered blood feud, but the community, represented by the elders, gradually achieved a change in attitude towards this in the Dargian code of honor. For example, murderers began to be expelled from the community.

Islam as a religion among the Dargians was established by the fourteenth century. They are Sunni Muslims - madhhaba. Before the Islamic faith, they worshiped the forces of nature, they were pagans, like the original Russian population before the adoption of Christianity.

Kumyks

Kumyks are also the indigenous inhabitants of Dagestan. They are Sunni Muslims. It is believed that the Kumyk language began to take shape in the pre-Mongol era. Kumykia was crossed by all travelers of the Great Silk Road. The first national theater in Dagestan appeared precisely among this people.

Kumyks are very proud of their scientists, artists (artists, writers) and athletes. A special pride of the people is the Hero of the Soviet Union Abdulkhakim Ismailov, who, together with Alexei Kovalev from Kyivian and Leonid Gorichev from Minsk, hoisted the Banner of Victory over the defeated Reichstag in Berlin. Two representatives of the Kumyk people became full cavaliers of the Order of Glory.

Russians in Dagestan

Russians have lived side by side with the highlanders for thousands of years. And in Soviet times, they massively went to the republic to teach children in schools, treat people in hospitals, build houses and work in other professions. The Soviet distribution after universities and colleges made the profession of a teacher the most respected and revered in Dagestan. Therefore, it is no coincidence that a monument dedicated to the work of Russian teachers was erected in Makhachkala.

Today, there are more than 8% Russians in Dagestan, about one hundred and fifty thousand people. A large proportion of Russians live in Makhachkala and Kaspiysk, half of the Russian population lives in Kizlyar. In the nineties, many native Dagestan Russians left Dagestan due to the growth of a national movement, radical and violent. At that time, there was a sharp decline in the population - seven to eight thousand Russian citizens a year left the republic.

Lately, however, Caucasian Russians have been making a comeback. Experts attribute this to longing for a small homeland and the land of their ancestors, as well as a special Dagestan character. But they do not return in the same numbers as they left Dagestan: in ten years, only about five thousand people returned to their small homeland.

In addition, today the government pays special attention to protecting the interests and security of Russians in Dagestan. The number of cases of infringement of human rights on a national basis is gradually decreasing.

The linguistic composition of the inhabitants of Dagestan

Almost seven hundred thousand people speak the Avar language, about 420,000 people speak Dargin, and almost 380,000 citizens speak Kumyk. About 140,000 people know Laksky, almost 360,000 people know Lezgi. There are 500 people who speak Chamalin, 230 - Karata, more than 180 Botlikh, and only one citizen Ginukh. This is the data of the last All-Russian population census, which took place in 2010.

More than two and a half thousand Dagestanis constantly use the Russian language in everyday life. From foreign languages, citizens singled out English, German, Arabic, French, Turkish, Persian, Hindi and Japanese. Two answered that they knew Esperanto.

Only Russian is used by almost half a million people, they know two languages - more than two million, three languages - 115 thousand, four languages - 10 thousand, five languages - only seventeen people.

Young Dagestan

More than thirty percent of the population of Dagestan are young people. The average age of Dagestanis does not even reach thirty years. Even less in Chechnya - twenty-five years. Demographers believe that this forecast will continue in the region for the next eighteen to twenty years. The difference between the age of the young population in Dagestan and the elderly people of the republic is almost fifteen years.

Finally

The 1990s had a severe impact on Dagestan, when the struggle for sovereignty that almost began broke the multinational region into dozens of small groups and did not lead to great casualties among the civilian population. They, of course, were. Echoes of that time are still felt by the society in the region and the demographic situation. But the population of Dagestan by nationality is still very diverse.

The Dagestan-Nakh branch of the Iberian-Caucasian family of languages includes Avars (together with 14 ethnic groups that have independent, but close to Avar, languages, namely, Akhvakhs, Karatins, Andians, Botlikhs, Godoberi, Tindals, Chamalals, Bagulals, Khvarshins, Didoys, Bezhtins, Gunzibs, Ginukhs and Archins), Dargins (including Kubachins and Kaitags), Lezgins, Laks, Tabasarans, Rutuls, Aguls, Tsakhurs and Chechens.
The Turkic group of the Altaic language family includes Kumyks, Azerbaijanis and Nogais.
The Indo-European language family includes Russians, Tats and Mountain Jews who speak the Tat language, which belongs to the Iranian languages.
In the republic there is no so-called. "titular nationality", but 14 nationalities of Dagestan are currently endowed with its political attributes:

Avars are the most numerous ethnic group of Dagestan. At present, there are 577.1 thousand of them in the republic, which is 27.9 percent. the population of the republic. The main area of settlement is the regions of the western mountainous Dagestan. The rural population of the Avars is 68 percent. and settled mainly in 22 districts of the republic. In Akhvakh, Botlikh, Gergebil, Gumbetovsky, Gunibsky, Kazbekovsky, Tlyarata, Untsukulsky, Khunzakhsky, Tsumadinsky, Tsuntinsky, Charodinsky and Shamilsky districts, Avars make up 98-100 percent of the population. In the Kizilyurt district, the share of Avars has grown to almost 80 percent, in Khasavyurt, Kizlyar, Buynak and Kumturkalinsky they make up a third, and in Tarumovsky, Babayurtovsky, Levashinsky and Novolaksky - up to a quarter of the total population. 32 percent live in towns and urban-type settlements. Avar population. In Makhachkala they make up 21 percent. In Kizilyurt, Yuzhno-Sukhokumsk and Buynaksk - 43-52 percent, in Khasavyurt, Kizlyar and Kaspiysk - 12-22 percent. Avars make up a significant part of the population of urban-type settlements: Bavtugay, Novy Sulak, Shamilkala, Dubki, Shamkhal.
Dargins - the second largest Dagestan ethnic group - make up 16.1 percent. population of the republic (332.4 thousand people). The territory of the traditional settlement of the Dargins is the mountainous and foothill regions of middle Dagestan. About 68 per cent. Dargins are settled in 16 rural areas. In Akushinsky, Dakhadaevsky, Kaytagsky, Levashinsky and Sergokalinsky districts, Dargins make up from 75 to 100 of the population. Their share is significant in the Kayakent and Karabudakhkent regions (43 and 36 percent, respectively). They also live in Tarumovsky (19 percent), Kizlyarsky (15 percent) and Buynaksky (14 percent) districts. In Derbent, Nogai, Agul, Babayurt, Khasavyurt and Kumtorkalinsky districts, the proportion of Dargins varies from 4 to 9 percent. the population of these areas. Dargins - townspeople live in Izberbash (57 percent of the population of this city), Makhachkala (12.4 percent), Kizlyar (7.3 percent), Buynaksk (6.6 percent), Khasavyurt (4.2 percent) and Dagestan Lights (9 percent). ).The famous Dargin village of Kubachi belongs to the urban-type settlements. There are also many Dargins in the settlements of Achisu, Manaskent and Mamedkala.
Kumyks number 267.5 thousand people and make up 12.9 percent. the population of the republic. The territory of their traditional settlement is the Tersko-Sulak lowland and the foothill regions of Dagestan. More than half of the Kumyks (52 percent) live in 8 rural districts. There are 67.5 percent of them in the Kumtorkalinsky district, 62 percent in Karabudakhkent, 55 percent in Buynaksk, 51 percent in Kayakent, 44 percent in Babayurt, and 28.5 percent in Khasavyurt. Kizilyurtovsky - 13.6 percent, in Kaytagsky - 9 percent. the population of the regions. In Makhachkala they make up 15 percent. of the population, in Buynaksk - a third, Khasavyurt - a quarter and Kizilyurt - a fifth of the population. In Izberbash - 17 percent. and Kaspiysk - 10 percent. In Derbent, Kumyks are less than one percent. Some of the Kumyks are settled in urban-type settlements: in Tarki - 91 percent. population, Tyube - 36 percent. Leninkent - 31.3 percent. Kyahulae - 28.6 percent, Alburikent - 27.6 percent, Shamkhale - 26.8 percent, Manaskent - 24.9 percent.
Lezgins in Dagestan are currently 250.7 thousand people, which is 12.2 percent. the population of the republic. The main territory of the settlement of Lezgins is the upland, foothill and plain South Dagestan. The rural population (about 64 percent) is settled in 9 districts. In Akhtynsky, Dokuzparinsky, Kurakhsky, Magaramkentsky and Suleiman-Stalsky districts they make up from 93 to 100 percent, in Khiva - 37.3 and Rutulsky - 8 percent. population. Some Lezgins live in Derbent (15 percent) and Khasavyurt (6 percent) regions. Lezgins - urban residents are concentrated mainly in Derbent (26 percent), Dagestanskie Ogni (22 percent), Kaspiysk (16 percent), Makhachkala (9.5 percent) and Izberbash (8 percent). They make up the main population of the Belij village and about 10 percent. the village of Mammadkala.
Russians are considered one of the peoples of Dagestan. Now there are 150.1 thousand of them in the republic (7.3 percent of the population). More than 80 percent Dagestani Russians are settled in all cities and urban-type settlements, but only in Kizlyar they make up more than half of the population (54 percent). Their share is quite significant in Makhachkala and Kaspiysk (17-18 percent), in other cities their share varies from 3 to 10 percent. population. Russians make up the main population of the urban-type settlement of Komsomolsky (81 percent), there are relatively many of them in Dubki (16 percent) and Sulak (12 percent). The rural population of Russians (Terek Cossacks) is concentrated in the lower reaches of the Terek and its channels in the territory of the Kizlyar and Tarumovsky districts, where their numbers, both relative and absolute, have noticeably decreased in recent years (27.2 and 30.4 percent, respectively). A small number of rural Russians also live in Babayurt (1.5 percent), Khasavyurt (0.4 percent), Nogai (1.8 percent), and Derbent (0.7 percent) districts.
The Laks are historically settled in the central part of the mountainous Dagestan on the territory of the Laksky and Kulinsky districts. At present, there are 102.6 thousand of them in the republic, or 5 percent. from the entire population. In these mountainous regions, they account for 94 and 99 percent, respectively. population. The rural population of the Laks also live in the flat Novolaksky district (48 percent of the district's population), Akushinsky (5 percent), Rutulsky (5 percent) and Kizlyarsky (3 percent) districts. However, the majority (64 percent) of the Laks live in the cities of the republic. Of these, more than half are concentrated in Makhachkala, where they account for more than 12 percent. of the population, in Kaspiysk - 14 percent, in Buynaksk and Kizilyurt - about 8 percent. the population of these cities. In a number of urban-type settlements - Sulak, Achisu, Kyakhulay, Manaskent and others, Laks make up from 3 to 9 percent. population.
Tabasarans number 93.6 thousand people, which is 4.5 percent. population of Dagestan. The main territory of their settlement is southeastern Dagestan. Most (64 percent) of the Tabasarans live in rural areas in the Tabasaran region (80 percent), Khiva (62 percent) and Derbent (15 percent). A small number of them live in the Kayakent and Kizlyar regions. The townspeople are concentrated mainly in Derbent and Dagestan Ogni (up to a third of the population in each), and in Makhachkala and other cities the number of Tabasarans is insignificant.
Azerbaijanis number 88.3 thousand, which is 4.3 percent. the population of the republic. About half of them live in rural areas in Derbent (55.7 percent), Tabasaran (18 percent), also in Rutul (4 percent) and Kizlyar (3 percent) districts. Urban Azerbaijanis live mainly in Derbent and Dagestanskie Ogni, where they make up about a third of the population, as well as in the settlements of Mamedkala (22.4 percent) and Belijah (7.3 percent). There are now slightly more than 6,000 Azerbaijanis in Makhachkala, or 1.6 percent. population of the capital of Dagestan.
Chechens in Dagestan are currently 92.2 thousand people. Their numbers have increased significantly in the last two years. Back in 1994, their number in Dagestan was 62,000. Without a doubt, such a sharp increase is due to military operations on the territory of the neighboring Chechen Republic. They now make up 4.5 percent. the population of the republic. The rural population, which is about 48 percent, is concentrated in the Khasavyurt district (25.6 percent of the population of this district), Novolaksky (13 percent), Kazbekovsky (13 percent) and Babayurtovsky (8 percent). Urban Chechens live mainly in three cities of Dagestan - Khasavyurt (35.6 percent of the city's population), Makhachkala (4.3 percent) and Kizlyar (6.5 percent).
There are 33.4 thousand Nogais in Dagestan, 16 percent. population. The main area of their settlement is the territory of the Nogai steppe in the north of the republic. The rural population of the Nogais is about 87 percent. of all Nogais - settled in four districts: Nogai (82 percent of the population of the district), Babayurt (16), Tarumovsky (8) and Kizlyar (7.8 percent). In the village of Sulak, they make up more than half of the inhabitants. A small number of Nogais live in Makhachkala, Kizlyar and Khasavyurt.
Tats are a Dagestan ethnic group who speak the Tat language (Iranian branch) and historically profess Judaism. It is somewhat difficult to indicate their number at the present time, since many of them are recorded as Jews and fall into the same nationality column with them. Jews, together with tatami in Dagestan, are now 18.5 thousand people. This is less than one percent of the republic's population. Their number is noticeably decreasing, especially in recent years due to mass exodus to Israel. The vast majority of them live in cities - 98 percent, mainly in Derbent, Makhachkala, Buynaksk, Khasavyurt, Kaspiysk and Kizlyar.
Rutulians are a small ethnic group of Dagestan, numbering 17.1 thousand people (0.8 percent of the population of the republic). The main territory of settlement is the upper reaches of the Samur River in South Dagestan. The rural population (about 70 percent) of the Rutuls is settled in the Rutul (55 percent of the population of the district) and Dokuzparinsky (2.3 percent) districts, as well as in small groups of several hundred people in the Kizlyar, Magaramkent, and Derbent districts. Most Rutul city dwellers live in Makhachkala and Derbent.
Aguls are only 16 thousand people. The main area of their settlement is the basin of the Chiragchay and Kurakh rivers in the high-mountainous South Dagestan. Rural Aguls are about 67 percent and they live mainly in the Agul district (90 percent of the population of the district). Aguls are city dwellers living in the villages of Shamkhal and Tyube and in the cities of Makhachkala, Derbent and Dagestan Lights.
Tsakhurs are the smallest people of Dagestan, numbering 6.3 thousand people. (0.3 percent of the population of Dagestan) - live in the upper reaches of the Samur River. There are 82 percent of rural Tsakhurs, who live mainly in the Rutul region. Urban Tsakhurians live in Makhachkala, Yuzhno-Sukhokumsk and Derbent.
The modern ethnic composition of the population of the republic is dynamic. According to the All-Union census of 1989, representatives of 102 nationalities were recorded on the territory of Dagestan, which belong to three language families:

Nakh-Dagestan branch of the North Caucasian family (Avars (and 14 small peoples included in them: Akhvakhs, Karatas, Andians, Botlikhs, Godoberi, Tyndals, Chamalals, Bagulals, Khvarshins, Didoys, Bezhtins, Gunzibs, Ginukhs, Archins), Dargins (including Kubachins and Kaitags), Lezgins (Kyurins), Laks (Kazikumukhs), Tabasarans, Rutuls, Aguls, Tsakhurs, Chechens);
the Turkic group of the Altaic language family (Kumyks, Azerbaijanis (Turks), Nogais (Karanogays), Tatars);
Indo-European language family (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Jews, Mountain Jews, Tats, Armenians and other peoples).
The ethnic composition, the main trends in the ethno-demographic development of modern Dagestan determine its most numerous nationalities: Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Lezgins, Russians, Laks, Tabasarans, Azerbaijanis, Chechens, Nogais, Jews, Rutuls, Aguls, Ukrainians, Armenians, Tatars, Tsakhurs, which account for 99.9% of the population.

The ethno-demographic characteristics of the most numerous nationalities of Dagestan are presented by the following data as of 01.01.1995:

Avars - 577.1 thousand people. The most numerous people of the republic, is 27.9% of the total population. The main territory of settlement is a vast region of the western mountainous Dagestan, bounded by closed ranges: Andi, Gimrinsky, Salatau, etc.

About 69% of all Avars live in rural areas, 22 districts of the republic.

Dargins - 332.4 thousand people - the second largest people of Dagestan, make up 16.1% of the total population of the Republic of Dagestan. The main territory of settlement is the mountainous and foothill zones of middle Dagestan in the basins of the Khalagork, Akusha, Bugam and Ulluchay rivers (up to the foothills). Most of them (68%) are settled in 16 rural districts.

Kumyks - 267.5 thousand people, make up 12.9% of the population of the Republic of Dagestan. They are mainly located on the territory of the Terek-Sulak lowland, stretching from the Terek in the north to the Ulluchay river in the south, and the foothill regions of Dagestan. About half (52%) of Kumyks live in 8 districts of rural areas.

Lezgins - 250.7 thousand people, make up 12.2% of the population of the republic. The main territory of the settlement of Lezgins is the overmountain and foothill southern Dagestan. The main part of the Lezgi auls is located along the basins of the Samur, Kurakh, Gyulgerychay rivers. The rural population (about 64%) is settled in 9 districts of the Republic of Dagestan.

Russians - 150.1 thousand people, make up 7.3% of the population of the republic. Settled mainly (more than 80%) in all cities. However, in the places of traditional settlement of the Russian population (Kizlyarsky, Tarumovsky districts), only in the city of Kizlyar they make up more than half of the population (54%).

Laks - 102.6 thousand people, make up 5% of the population of Dagestan. The settlement area is the central part of mountainous Dagestan, in the basin of the Kazikumukhskoye Koysu river. The rural population of the Laks is concentrated mainly in three districts and amounts to 36%.

Tabasarans - 93.6 thousand people, make up 4.5% of the population of the Republic of Dagestan. The main territory of settlement is southeastern Dagestan, in the basin of the Rubas and Chiragchay rivers, and in the upper reaches of the Karchagsu river.

Azerbaijanis - 88.3 thousand people, which is 4.3% of the population of Dagestan. About half of them live in rural areas.

Chechens - 62.1 thousand people, which is 3.2% of the RD. The rural population is about 48%.

Nogais - 33.4 thousand people, this is 1.6% of the population. The main area of their settlement is the territory of the Nogai steppe in the north of Dagestan. Rural population - about 87% of all Nogais are settled in four districts of the Republic of Dagestan.

Jews - 18.5 thousand people (they include European Jews, Mountain Jews and Tats), which is less than one percent of the population of the Republic of Dagestan. They overwhelmingly 98% live in cities.

Rutulians - 17.1 thousand people, make up 0.8% of the population of the Republic of Dagestan. One of the small peoples of Dagestan. The main territory of settlement is the upper reaches of the Samur River in southern Dagestan. The rural population makes up 70% of all Rutulians.

Aguly - 16.0 thousand people, about 0.8% of the population of Dagestan. Settled in the basins of Chiragchay and Kurakh in the high-mountainous southern Dagestan. Rural residents make up 67% of all aguls.

Tsakhurs - 6.3 thousand people, which is 0.3% of the population of Dagestan. The main territory of their settlement is the upper reaches of the Samur River. The overwhelming majority of Tsakhurs are rural residents (about 82%).

Ukrainians - 6.6 thousand people, which is 0.3% of the population of Dagestan. The overwhelming majority (about 90%) live in the cities of the republic.

Tatars - 5.3 thousand people - this is 0.3% of the population of Dagestan, which in their majority (about 85%) are concentrated in urban areas.

22.05.2023

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