From The New Encyclopædia
Britannica.
Chicago et al.: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1994,
vol. 3, p. 145
Chechenia, republic in southwestern Russia, situated on the northern flank of the Great Caucasus Range. The republic falls into three physical regions from south to north. In the south is the main Caucasus Range, the crestline of which forms the republics southern boundary. The highest peak is Mount Tebulos-Mta (14,741 feet [4,493 m]), and the areas chief river is the Argun, a tributary of the Sunzha. The second region is the foreland, consisting of the broad valleys of the Terek and Sunzha rivers, which cross the republic from the west to the east, where they unite. Third, in the north are the level, rolling plains of the Nogay Steppe.
The great variety of relief is reflected in the soil and vegetation cover. The Nogay Steppe is largely semidesert, with sagebrush vegetation and wide areas of sand dunes. This gives way toward the south and southwest, near the Terek River, to feather-grass steppe on black earth and chestnut soils. Steppe also occupies the Terek and Sunzha valleys. Up to 6,500 feet (2,000 m), the mountain slopes are densely covered by forests of beech, hornbeam, and oak, above which are coniferous forests, then alpine meadows, and finally bare rock, snow, and ice. The climate varies but is in general continental.
The Chechen autonomous oblast (province) was created in November 1920. In 1934 it was merged with the Ingush autonomous oblast to form the Chechen-Ingush autonomous oblast, which two years later was designated a republic. When the Chechen and Ingush were accused of collaboration with the Germans during World War II, however, they were exiled to Central Asia, and the republic of Checheno-Ingushetiya was dissolved. The exiles were returned to their homeland and the republic was reestablished under the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1957. Secessionist sentiments emerged in Checheno-Ingushetiya following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, and in 1992 Checheno-Ingushetiya divided into two separate republics: Chechenia and Ingushetia. [Librarians note: This date refers to the resolution of the 7th congress of peoples deputies od Russia (December 1992); Chechen Republic had been proclaimed in Grozny City on November 1st, 1991.]
Chechenias inhabitants include the Chechen, the predominant national group; Russians; and Ingush. The Chechen and Ingush are both Muslim and are two of many Caucasian mountain peoples whose language belongs to the Nakh group. Traditionally independent, the Chechen and other Caucasian tribes long resisted Russian conquest, especially in the 19th century; under the Muslim leader Shāmil they were successful temporarily while the Russians were occupied with the Crimean war. But, when Shāmil was captured in 1859, many of his followers migrated to Armenia. The Terek River remained a Cossack defensive frontier until the 1860s. The constant skirmishes of Chechen and Russians along the Terek form the background to the novel The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy.
The majority of the population are urban dwellers, most of whom live in the capital, Grozny (q. v.). The backbone of the economy is petroleum. Drilling is mainly in the Sunzha River valley between Grozny and Gudermes. Petroleum refining is concentrated in Grozny, one of the largest such centres in Russia, while pipelines run to the Caspian Sea at Makhachkala and to the Black Sea at Tuapse. Natural gas is also found in the area. Machinery for the petroleum and chemicals industries is manufactured in Grozny. There is also the manufacture of furniture, parquet flooring, and musical instruments and food processing. Agriculture is largely concentrated in the Terek and Sunzha valleys.
Transportation is mainly by rail, following the Terek and Sunzha
valleys and linking with Astrakhan and Baku on the Caspian Sea and with
Tuapse and Rostov on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Motor roads
join Grozny to other centers within and outside the republic. Area
including Ingushetia, 7,450 square miles (19,300 square km). Pop. (1991
est.) including Ingushetia, 1,306,800.
Idem, vol. 5, p. 521
GROZNY, also spelled GROZNIJ, or GROZNYI, city and capital of the republic of Chechenia, Russia, on the Sunzha River at the foot of the Sunzha Range of the Caucasus. Grozny was founded in 1818 as a fortress; the writers Leo Tolstoy and Mikhail Lermontov served there. The presence of local oil deposits was known from 1823, but large-scale production did not begin until 1893. Thereafter Grozny became a major oil centre; with new oil finds in the 1950s, it remains a significant producer. Pipelines run to Makhachkala on the Caspian Sea, Tuapse on the Black Sea, and the Donets Basin. Aside from large-scale refining and gas processing, petrochemicals and machinery for the petroleum industry are manufactured. Grozny has the oldest petroleum institute of Russia (established in 1920) and also a teacher-training institute. Pop. (1991 est.) 401,400.
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