The Chechen Republic is a tiny region in the southwestern part of Russia. In terms of its area, Chechnya occupies less than 0.1% of the country's territory. What is interesting about this region? What does it produce? How many cities are there within Chechnya? Our article will tell about all this.
Chechnya: area and geographical location
The Republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District. It is located within the Caucasian mountainous country. The total area of Chechnya is 15.6 thousand square kilometers (76th place in the list of subjects of the Russian Federation). About 30% of its territory is occupied by mountain ranges and intermountain basins.
The capital of Chechnya is the city of Grozny. It is located in the geometric center of the republic. The head of the Chechen Republic is Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (since 2007).
The climate of Chechnya is continental and very diverse. Differences in the amount of atmospheric precipitation are especially striking: in the north of the republic they fall no more than 300 mm, and in the south - about 1000 mm. There are quite a few lakes and rivers in Chechnya (the largest of them are Terek, Argun, Sunzha and Gekhi).
Despitesmall area, Chechnya is distinguished by an extraordinary variety of relief and landscapes. In physical and geographical terms, the republic can be divided into four zones: flat (in the north), foothills (in the center), mountainous and high-mountainous (in the south).
Main resource of Chechnya
The main natural resource of the republic is oil. Together with neighboring Ingushetia, Chechnya is one of the oldest oil and gas regions in Russia. Most of the oil fields are historically concentrated in the vicinity of Grozny.
Today, industrial oil reserves in Chechnya amount to about 60 million tons. And for the most part, they are already exhausted. The total reserves of black gold within the republic are estimated by experts at 370 million tons. True, it is quite difficult to develop them due to the high depth of the horizons. Today, only 200 out of 1,300 wells are producing oil in Chechnya.
In addition to oil, natural gas, gypsum, marl, limestone and sandstone are produced in the republic. There are also several valuable mineral springs here.
General features of the regional economy
Perhaps the main and most famous feature of the Chechen economy is its subsidies. On average, the republic receives up to 60 billion rubles in annual material assistance from the center. And according to this indicator, Chechnya is one of the three most subsidized regions of Russia.
Another anti-record: the Chechen Republic ranks fourth in the country in terms of unemployment (almost 17%). The most difficult situation is observed in villages, where per 100 inhabitantsonly 2 to 10 employees. Paradoxically, but the total income of the population of Chechnya is growing every year. The reasons for this growth are various social payments, benefits, “shadow earnings”, as well as money from labor migrants earned in Moscow and other countries.
In terms of gross domestic product, the Chechen economy ranks only 85th among the subjects of the Russian Federation. As before, the structure of the economy of the republic is dominated by the oil and gas sector. In addition, the construction industry, chemical and food industries are developed here. Construction of a thermal power plant continues in Grozny.
The lion's share of agricultural products is provided by animal husbandry (in particular, sheep and poultry farming). Cereals, sugar beets, potatoes and vegetables are grown on the lands of Chechnya.
Population and cities of Chechnya
In demographic terms, Chechnya is a young and actively giving birth republic, and in religious terms, it is deeply religious. It boasts the highest natural population growth in the country. Today, 1.4 million people live in Chechnya. 65% of them are rural residents. Chechnya also has the lowest divorce rates in Russia.
The most numerous ethnic group of the republic is Chechens (95%), the dominant religion is Sunni Islam. By the way, according to research in 2012, Chechnya is one of the twenty regions of the planet where the rights of Christians are most infringed (according to the Open Doors organization). There are two state languages in the republic - Chechen and Russian.
There are few cities in Chechnya. Themfive in all: Grozny, Urus-Martan, Gudermes, Shali and Argun. The largest city in Chechnya is Grozny. Almost 300 thousand people live here. The oldest is Shali. This city was founded in the XIV century.
The city of Grozny is the capital of the republic
Grozny is the capital of Chechnya and the center of the administrative region of the same name. The city is located on the banks of the Sunzha River. He traces his chronology from 1818, when the fortress was founded here. Russian soldiers erected it in just four months. Since at that time this area was a "hot spot" on the map of the North Caucasus, the fortress was nicknamed Grozny.
Modern Grozny is a fairly well-groomed city with dozens of industrial enterprises and a solid number of new buildings. The main sights of Grozny are the grandiose mosque "Heart of Chechnya" and the no less impressive skyscraper complex "Grozny City". The latter is located in the heart of the city and includes five residential buildings, an office building and a five-star hotel.
