Note: This material was originally written by W.B. Bland in January 1995 for Marxist-Leninist Research Bureau, of which Bland was the principal author. The material uses the alternate transliteration “Chechenya” throughout.
CHECHENYA
(Introductory note)
CHECHENYA (pronounced chech-en-YA) is a republic situated on the northern flank of the Caucasus Mountains, which form the republic’s southern boundary. Its area is 5,000 square miles and its population 700 thousand.
Chechenya is surrounded by the territory of the Russian Federation on all sides — being bordered on the north by Kalmykia, on the east by Dagestan, on the south by Georgia, and on the west by North Ossetia and Ingushetia.
The climate in the north is continental and semi-arid, with cold winters and hot summers. In the foothills, temperatures are more moderate and the rainfall higher.
Agriculture is largely confined to the valleys of the Terek and Sunzha rivers.
The backbone of the economy is petroleum. Grozny is a large refining centre, while pipelines run to the Caspian and Black Seas. There are also extensive deposits of natural gas in the area.
The predominant national group consists of Chechens (58%), but there are Russian (23%) and Ingush (13%) minorities. The Chechen and Ingush languages belong to the closely related Nakh linguistic group. The majority of both Chechens and Ingush are Sunni Muslims.
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