Magas () is the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Ingushetia Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country o ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It was founded in 1995 and replaced

Nazran Nazran (; ) is the largest city in Ingushetia, Russia. It served as the republic's capital from 1991 to 2000, until it was replaced by Magas, which was built for this purpose. It is the most populous city in the republic: Etymology The name ...

as the capital of the republic in 2002. Due to this distinction, Magas is the smallest capital of a

federal subject The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation () or simply as the subjects of the federation (), are the administrative division, constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political division ...

. In 2019, it had a population of 8,771 inhabitants, up from 5,841 in 2010 and 272 in 2002.

History

The Republic of

came into existence in 1992, having been split from the Chechen–Ingush ASSR. Nazran, the largest of three towns of the new republic, was made a temporary capital. Magas001

In 1995, President Ruslan Aushev founded Magas just a few kilometers south of

, naming it after the medieval city of

Maghas Maghas or Maas, more properly, Mags or Maks, was the capital city of Alania, a medieval kingdom in the Greater Caucasus. It is known from Islamic and Chinese sources, but its location is uncertain, with some authors favouring North Ossetia and o ...

. The new town was supposed to serve purely for administrative needs. Magas/Maghas is 28 miles from the frontline for parts of 1942–1943. It replaced Nazran as capital of the Republic in 2002. The name is given in Persian as ''Magas'' or ''Makas''. The name ''Magas'' is a

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

of the Persian word ''magas'', meaning "fly", and the medieval writers

al-Mas'udi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

and Juvayni made plays on words about the city's name. The Chinese transcription ''Muzashan'' uses the characters for wood (''mu'', 木) and mountain (''shan'', 山), which John Latham-Sprinkle interprets as a possible reference to the city's location in rough terrain.

Geography

Location

Magas is located in the western area of Ingushetia, at the borders with Prigorodny Raion of

North Ossetia-Alania North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. It is surrounded by Nazranovsky Raion, and the nearest settlements are Ekazhevo, the city of

, and Ali-Yurt. The town is also 30 km from the North Ossetian-Alanian capital city,

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () or Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus, situated on the Terek (river), Terek River. ...

Administrative and municipal status

Magas is the

of the republic.Constitution of the Republic of Ingushetia, Article 108 Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the town of republic significance of Magas—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. As a municipal division, the town of republic significance of Magas is incorporated as Magas Urban Okrug.Law #5-RZ

Climate

Magas has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Dfb'') with warm summers and cold winters.

Demographics

Magas' population, with a hundred inhabitants at the beginning, increased in early 2010s.Magas on mojgorod.ru
/ref>

Gallery

Transport

Magas Airport Magas Airport (), also known as Magas Oskanov Airport or Sleptsovskaya Airport is an airport in the Republic of Ingushetia near Sunzha, serving the capital city of Magas and the largest regional city of Nazran. The name comes from the medieval ...

serves the town and the nearby city of

, which is home to the nearest train station.

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Magas official website
* {{Use mdy dates, date=September 2012 Cities and towns in Ingushetia Populated places established in 1995 1995 establishments in Russia