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
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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:
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
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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.
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