Republic of Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a republic of the Russian Federation, located in the eastern part of the North Caucasus. It is the southernmost part of Russia. The republic borders the Republic of Kalmykia, the Chechen Republic, and the Stavropol Territory, as well as Azerbaijan and the Republic of Georgia. It also has water borders (via the Caspian Sea) with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The capital of Dagestan is Makhachkala. Other major cities are Derbent, Kizlyar, Izberbash, Kaspiysk, and Buynaksk.
Dagestan covers an area of 50 300 square kilometres, with a population of over 3.1 million. The republic is one of Russia's most linguistically and ethnically diverse, consisting of over 30 ethnic groups, 81 nationalities, and 22 official languages. Most of the residents speak one of the Northeast Caucasian or Turkic languages, but Russian is the primary language and the lingua franca in the republic.
Economy
The economy of Dagestan is based on agriculture, industry, and tourism. Agriculture is the biggest economic sector, at 35 percent of the economy. Livestock raising is the main activity, especially sheep farming. Industry contributes 24 percent of GDP. Dagestan has oil and natural gas, coal, iron ore, nonferrous and rare metals, and hydroelectric-power resources, but the rugged terrain has limited development.
Some of the tourist attractions of Dagestan are the Derbent Wall, the Derbent Lighthouse, the Dzhuma Mosque, the Naryn Kala part of the Derbent Fortress, and the Armenian Church of the All-Saviour.
