INGUSHETIA - Republic of Ingushetia / Республика Ингушетия / Гӏалгӏай Мохк

The Republic of Ingushetia (Russian: Респу́блика Ингуше́тия, tr. Respublika Ingushetiya,; Ingush: Гӏалгӏай Мохк, Ğalğaj Moxk), also referred to as simply Ingushetia, is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic), located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital is the town of Magas. At 3,000 square km, in terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the federal cities. It was established on June 4, 1992, after the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was split in two. The republic is home to the indigenous Ingush, a people of Vainakh ancestry and primarily Islamic faith. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 412,529.

Largely due to the Islamic insurgency in the North Caucasus, Ingushetia remains one of the poorest and most unstable regions of Russia. Although the violence has declined since the first decade of the 21st century, the insurgency in neighboring Chechnya has occasionally spilled into Ingushetia. According to Human Rights Watch in 2008, the republic has been destabilized by corruption, a number of high-profile crimes (including kidnapping and murder of civilians by government security forces), anti-government protests, attacks on soldiers and officers, Russian military excesses, and a deteriorating human rights situation. According to Russian media, Ingushetia has the lowest alcohol consumption in Russia.

The name Ingushetia is derived from the ancient village Angusht, which was renamed as Tarskoye and transferred to North Ossetia in 1944. The Soviets had conducted the deportation of ethnic Chechen and Ingush peoples from here to Siberia on 23 February 1944, a.k.a. operation "Lentil". The Ingush, a nationality group indigenous to the Caucasus, inhabit mostly Ingushetia. They refer to themselves as Ghalghai (from Ingush: Ghala ("fortress" or "town") and ghai ("inhabitants" or "citizens"). The Ingush speak the Ingush language, which has a very high degree of mutual intelligibility with neighboring Chechen. The Ingush are traditionally a classless society based on a clan system and unwritten law (approximately 350 clans live in Ingushetia today). Every clan, and each clan member, are viewed as equal. Unlike the neighboring nations in the Caucasus (including Chechen), the Ingush did not develop a social system of superiors or inferiors.

In their own language, they have identified as Orstkhoi (self), Nart-Orstkhoi (self), Galash (self), Tsori (self), Dzheirakhoi (self), Khamhoi (self), Metshal (self), Fyappi (self), and Nyasareth (self). The self-namings refer to different Vainakh tribes which make up the Ingush population today. The history of the Ingush is closely related to that of the Chechen. Up until the dissolution of the Soviet state, Ingushetia was part of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic. In the late 1920s – early 1930s the Soviet officials were eager to enforce the Chechen-Ingush merger as an “objective” and “natural” process. The Soviet linguist Nikolay Yakovlev, who was a supporter of the merger, suggested that an inclusive name of "Veinakh" (“our people”) had to be used for both the Chechens and Ingush. According to his views, the rapid urbanization and rapprochement of the Chechens and Ingush within one and the same republic might encourage the formation of a common culture and language and the establishment of a unified “Veinakh” people.

During the late 80s, together with the separatist tendencies across the Soviet Union, the Second Congress of the Ingush People was held in Grozny on September 9–10, 1989. The gathering was directed at the top leadership of the Soviet Union, and included a request to "restore the Ingush people’s autonomy within their historical borders, the Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic with a capital in the right-bank part of the city of Ordzhonikidze".The Ingush Republic was to be organized out of six traditional Ingush districts (including the contested Prigorodny District). The rise of the Russian Federation gave the Ingushetians the independence they vowed for. During the 1990s, Ingushetia was ruled by its elected president Ruslan Aushev, a former Soviet general and hero of the war in Afghanistan. The head of government and the highest executive post in Ingushetia is the Head.

There are some natural resources in Ingushetia: mineral water in Achaluki, oil and natural gas in Malgobek, forests in Dzheirakh, metals in Galashki. The local government is considering the development of tourism; however, this is problematic due to the uneasy situation in the republic itself and the proximity of some conflict zones. However, Ingushetia continues to remain as one of Russia's poorest republics, largely due to the ongoing conflict, corruption and civil disorders. Unemployment is estimated to be around 53%, and growing poverty is a major issue.

Airmail envelopes posted from Magas, the capital city of Republic of Ingushetia. The covers posted by Aina on December 12, 2017 and delivered on December 29,2017. The Miniature sheet is illustrated with the national flag and coat arm of Ingushetia. In 2017, there is a stamp issued by Russian post to commemorate the event of 25th anniversary of Republic of Ingushetia.