>
> The origins of modern Iraq were similarly arbitrary
> -- Iraq was made
> of three vilayets (administrative districts) of the
> Ottoman Empire --
> Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra -- that British
> imperialists carved out for
> as a mandate for the British Empire:
The major difference here is that 40% of the population is not British.
This is an extremely good, long historical background piece on Chechnya from 2001 that appears to have been translated from Russian into French and then into English:
CHECHNYA: TOWARDS PARTITION?
Viatcheslav AVIOUTSKII
Chechnya is situated in the Eastern part of the Northern Caucasus. Its area is 16,6 thousand km2. Chechnya borders Georgia in the South, Daghestan in the East (Russian Federation), Ingushetia (Russian Federation) and Northern Ossetia in the West (Russian Federation), and Stavropol Territory in the North (Russian Federation). In spite of the proclamation of the Chechnya's independence by General Jokhar Doudayev, elected Chechen President in october 1991, Chechnya was not officially recognized by any state. Only the taliban movement recognized this republic , but untill 2000 the talibans were recognized only by Pakistan.
Untill 1991 Chechnya had been part of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic, member of the Russian Federation. In 1989, Chechnya-Ingushetia's total population was 1 270 000 persons. Chechen were the majority group - 735 000 persons, or 57,8% of the total population. Russians were concentrated mostly in the administrative capital of Chechnya-Ingushetia, Grozny, and in the North of the Republic. They constituted 23,1% of the population (294 000 persons). Ingushs were 12,9% of the population (164 000 persons) and occupied the Western part of Chechnya-Ingushetia ; in 1992 they split off from Chechnya-Ingushetia, creating an Ingush Republic. Unlike the Chechen, Ingushs did not take part in the Caucasian War in the 19th century, and at present they don't want to split off from the Russian Federation. If they make an effort, Chechen and Ingushs can understand each other, because both belong to the same group of North-Western Caucasus languages. On the other hand, their language is not intelligible for Daghestanis, some of whose languages belong to this group too. The Chechen are the most numerous ethnic group of the Northern Caucasus. They outnumber Avars of Daghestan (496 000), Kabards (364 000) and the Northern Ossetes (335 000).
The Chechen were converted into Islam in the 18th century by Daghestanis. Like other Moslem ethnic groups of the Northern Caucasus, such as Adyges, Shapsugues, Cherkesss, Kabardins, Abazas, Karachais, Balkars, Nogays, Ossetes Digors and Daghestani ethnic groups, they are Sunni. If only ten mosques were active in Chechnya-Ingushetia before 1985, their number was 175 in 1991, and several hundred in the mid-1990s. Their construction was financed by the Gulf "oil monarchies", essentially by Saudi Arabia.
It's important to distinguish two meanings of the term "Chechnya", that have changed over the centuries. Untill 1917, it means "the country of Chechen", the territory where the Chechen live. There were even subdivisons: "Little Chechnya" and "Greater Chechnya"; "Plain's Chechnya" and "Mountain's Chechnya". However, this term becomes purely administrative after the formation, on 20 january 1921, of an Chechen Autonomous District inside of the Mountain ASSR , (ASSR's constituent ethnic groups were Kabardins, Balkars, Karachais, Northern Ossetes, Ingushs, Chechen, Cossacks and Russians). On 30 november 1922, the Chechen Autonomous Region is organised. It was larger than Chechen Autonomous District. The AR included the lands of four Cossack communities, that had belonged to the Sunzha Cossack District, member of the Mountain ASSR . In 1928, the Sunzha Cossack District is shared among the Chechen and Ingush ARs, while the Chechen AR received the mainly Russian Autonomous City of Grozny, that became the administrative capital of the Chechen AR. From then the Chechen AR became a pluriethnic administrative unit.
In 1937, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR (Chechen and Ingush units united in 1934) numbered 189 000 Russians, 34.6% of the Republic's population . In 1957, two districts in the North of the Terek, Shelkovski and Naurski, mainly with Russian population, were included in the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, restored after the Chechen and Ingush return from exile. Thereafter, the Russian population reduced gradually: 367 000 in 1970 (34.5% of the total population), 336 000 in 1979 (29.1% of the total population), 294 000 in 1989 (23.1% of the total population). In 1989, other ethnic minorities were living in Chechnya-Ingushetia : Armenians (14 800 persons), Ukrainians (12 600 persons), Kumyks (9 800 persons), Nogais (6 800), Avars (6 200), Tatars (5 100), Jews (2 600).
During the Soviet period, the term "Chechnya" is first applied to an Autonomous District, then to an Autonomous Region, later to an Autonomous Republic, and finally from 1991, to a self-proclaimed "independent" Republic, where Chechen were only one of the ethnic groups, though majority group (in 1989, 57,8% of the total population of Chechnya-Ingushetia ).
http://www.strategicsinternational.com/3engchechenia.htm
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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