Republic, southwestern Russia. Part of the Chechen-Ingush autonomous republic of the former U.S.S.R., it became a republic within Russia in 1992, as did Ingushetia. It is populated mainly by Chechens, a Muslim ethnolinguistic group.
Chechnya's demand for independence from Russia in 1992 led to an invasion by Russian troops in 1994. Fighting led to severe devastation of the area, and a series of cease-fires were negotiated and violated. A provisional peace treaty was signed in May 1997, and Russian troops withdrew but returned in 1999; heavy fighting resumed. In 2003 a new constitution was approved that devolved greater powers to the Chechen government but kept the republic in the federation. The capital, Grozny (pop., 2002 est.: 223,000), a major oil centre with pipelines to the Caspian and Black seas, received heavy damage in the fighting.
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