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The Republic of Ingushetia in the Russian North Caucasus borders on Georgia to the south.

Its neighbours within Russia are Chechnya and North Ossetia. The overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim and clan links are an integral part of society.

History

The Ingush and Chechen peoples have close historical, cultural and linguistic ties, although the Ingush have not shared in the fierceness of the resistance to Moscow put up by the Chechens over the past 200 years.

Part of the Russian empire since the early 19th century, Ingushetia was formally joined to Chechnya under Soviet rule in 1936 when it formed around one-fifth of the Ethnic dating Autonomous Republic within Russia.

Like the Chechens, the Ingush, despite their history of relative loyalty to Moscow, were deported to Central Asia towards the end of World War II by Stalin who accused them of dating ethnic site with the Nazis. They were allowed to return only in 1957 when Khrushchev was Soviet leader.

There was tension after Dzhokhar Dudayev came to power as Chechen leader in 1991. When he declared Chechen sovereignty the Ingush resisted. There was some fighting along the border between the two regions and Russian troops were sent in to establish order. The Ingush free online dating personals voted in a referendum to form the Republic of Ingushetia within Russia. Although firmly tied to Moscow, the republic has its own anthem and state symbols.

The Ingush and North Ossetians have a history of rivalry. Ingushetia lays claim to the neighbouring Prigorodny district which was included in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia when Stalin deported the Ingush in 1944. For many years after their return, the district had a substantial Ingush population.

Post-Soviet period

In late 1992 violence erupted in Prigorodny district. The two sides have fundamental differences as to the reasons. The North Ossetians assert that it was sparked by Ingush radicals seeking to include Prigorodny in the newly formed Republic of Ingushetia. The Ingush assert that the North Ossetians attacked first and that they acted in self defence.

The fighting left many dead. Moscow sent troops to establish order. The Ingush population was expelled from the district and Ingushetia faced its first post-independence refugee crisis. Tensions persist and there are differences as to how many refugees have returned home.

Ingushetia has hosted thousands of refugees fleeing violence in Chechnya

Another refugee crisis presented itself when thousands of Chechens fled across the border into Ingushetia when Russian troops returned to Chechnya in 1999. The last refugee camp was reported to have been closed five years later. Russia rejected concerns voiced by human rights groups that many of the former residents had been forcibly repatriated in Moscow’s zeal to expunge indications of continuing conflict in the area.

Ingushetia lives in the shadow of the violence and lawlessness of its Chechen neighbour and poverty is widespread. From time to time, the violence has spilled over the border and Russian forces are regularly targeted by attackers.

There was a major escalation in June 2004 when several dozen people, including the Ingush acting interior minister, were killed in attacks reported to have involved hundreds of gunmen armed with grenades and rockets.

Russian forces have since launched several raids against suspected rebel hideouts in Ingushetia in which there have been numerous deaths.

Ingushetia facts:

• Status: Republic within Russian Federation

• Population: 300,000

• Religion: Islam

• Capital: Magas (previous capital was nearby Nazran)

• Languages: Ingush, Russian

• Currency: Rouble

President: Murat Zyazikov

Murat Zyazikov, then a general in the Russian security service and deputy to the Russian president’s envoy in the region, was first elected Ingush president in April 2002. A key rival was disqualified on a ethnic dating.

President Murat Zyazikov, regarded as a close ally of President Putin

Mr Zyazikov was reappointed for a further term in June 2005 under new Russian legislation. In line with the new procedure, Mr Putin proposed Mr Zyazikov to the Ingush parliament which approved him in the post.

He had faced mounting calls for his resignation earlier in the year from opposition groups which accuse him of presiding over a system rife with corruption and of failing to take action to resolve refugee and other disputes with neighbouring North Ossetia.

Mr Zyazikov was slightly injured when a car packed with explosives crashed into his motorcade in April 2004.

An ethnic Ingush, he was born in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia in 1957. He is married and has three sons.

In recent years the former Spanish colony has become one of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest oil producers.

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Large oil and gas deposits were discovered off Bioko in the mid-1990s and their exploitation has driven spectacular growth. In 2004 Equatorial Guinea had the world’s dating ethnic site economy.

AT-A-GLANCE Politics: President Obiang seized power in 1979; rights groups have condemned his rule as one Africa’s most brutal; he faces a “government in exile” and a separatist movement Economy: Equatorial Guinea is sub-Saharan Africa’s third biggest oil producer International: Equatorial Guinea and Gabon are in dispute over islands in potentially oil-rich off-shore waters Timeline

But few people have benefited from the oil riches and the country ranks near the bottom of a UN human development index. The government has started a scheme to divert a share of oil revenues into social projects.

The corruption watchdog Transparency International has put Equatorial Guinea in the top 10 of its list of corrupt states. Despite calls for more transparency in the sector, President Obiang has said oil revenues are a state secret.

In 1996 Equatorial Guinea’s first multi-party presidential election was held amid reports of widespread fraud and ethnic dating, returning President Obiang Nguema with 99% of the vote.

His government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses and of suppressing political opposition. A government-in-exile has been formed by opposition leaders living in exile in Spain; President Obiang accused its leader of sponsoring a failed coup in 2004.

Equatorial Guinea’s territory includes the island of Bioko, off the Cameroonian coast, which hosts the capital, Malabo.

In the 1970s it became notorious when the widespread human rights abuses of President Francisco Nguema caused a third of the population to flee.

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It was also the first black African nation in the region to achieve independence from a colonial power, in this instance Britain.

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Despite being rich in mineral resources, and endowed with a good education system and efficient civil service, Ghana fell victim to corruption and mismanagement soon after independence in 1957.

Accra: Capital city and Ghana’s economic hub

In 1966 its first president and pan-African hero, Kwame Nkrumah, was deposed in a coup, heralding years of mostly-military rule. In 1981 Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings staged his second coup. The country began to move towards economic stability and democracy.

In April 1992 a constitution allowing for a multi-party system was approved in a referendum, ushering in a period of democracy.

A well-administered country by regional standards, Ghana is often seen as a model for political and economic reform in Africa. Cocoa exports are an essential part of the economy; Ghana is the world’s second-largest producer.

The discovery of major offshore oil reserves was announced in June 2007, encouraging expectations of a major economic boost. However, oil is not expected to flow for some years.

Ghana has a high-profile dating free online place
role; troops have been deployed in Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and DR Congo.

Although Ghana has largely escaped the civil strife that has plagued other West African countries, in 1994-95 land disputes in the north erupted into ethnic violence, resulting in the deaths of 1,000 people and the displacement of a further 150,000.

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