A part of Russia, located in the Caucasus Mountains north of Azerbaijan, that along with its neighbor Chechnya, has become another hellhole because of al-Qaeda. Daghestan is home to small tribes of people speaking over thirty languages, some Caucasic (e.g. Avar, Lak, Rutul, Bezhta, Dido, Lezgin, Tsakhur etc.), Turkic (e.g. Noghai and Kumyk), Semitic (e.g. Assyrian, Hebrew and Arabic), Indo-European (e.g. Russian, Armenian, Greek etc.), and even Tungusic (e.g. Kalmyk, a close relative to Mongolian).
The Dept. of the State has issued travelers' advisories for people who want to visit Daghestan from Azerbaijan: don't even think about it. The borders are closed!
by pentozali March 3, 2006