INGUSHETIA

republic in southwestern Russia. The crest line of the Greater Caucasus range forms its southern boundary with Georgia; the Russian republic of Chechnya lies to the east, and that of Alania (formerly North Ossetia) to the west and north. The capital city is Nazran. The northern lowland region, which merges into the southern extreme of the Nogay Steppe, is only 650 feet (200 metres) above sea level in some places, but much of Ingushetia is at least 1,650 feet (500 metres) above, with scattered peaks of the Caucasus in the mountainous southern region rising to 9,850 feet (3,000 metres) and higher. The Sunzha River, a tributary of the Terek, crosses the northern area of Ingushetia from west to east; the Assa, a tributary of the Sunzha, is the main stream in the region. The climate varies with the relief but generally approximates the dry continental type. The majority of the population is Ingush, one of the many Muslim mountain peoples in the Caucasus. Their society is based on clan and tribal relations. Traditionally, the chief occupations were farming in the lowlands and cattle raising in the mountain areas. Petroleum drilling has become increasingly important, especially in the area around Malgobek. The Ingush became Russian subjects in 1810 and, unlike most of their neighbours, did not participate in the mid-19th-century war against the Russian occupation of the Caucasus or in the rebellion against Soviet Russia in 192022. In 1924 the Ingush autonomous oblast (province) was created. It was later combined with the Chechen autonomous oblast, inhabited primarily by the Chechen mountain peoples, who are also Muslim and whose language is closely related to Ingush; the autonomous republic of Checheno-Ingushetiya was established in 1936. During World War II Checheno-Ingushetiya was abolished, and its ethnic inhabitants, who had been accused of collaborating with the Germans, were deported to Soviet Asia. The republic was reestablished in 1957 and the exiles allowed to return. After the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, the Ingush and the Chechen dissolved the union that had been imposed on them and formed two separate republics: Ingushetia and Chechnya.