North Caucasus Observatory
Seven republics: profiles, population estimates, languages, institutions and religious life, with documented sources.
Initial research edition
Seven republics 7,927,303
Population · 1 Jan 2025
Population: 1 January 2025. Language provisions follow the cited source editions.
Dagestan
Republic
Ethnic composition
CSVShare of residents who stated their ethnicity in the census.
Published one-decimal shares among residents who stated ethnicity. Andi, Dido, Karata and Bezhta subgroups are included in the Avar aggregate and are not added as separate slices. The source’s Other category is retained.
Religious composition
CSVHistorical survey · 2012[24][25]
Religious self-identification · adult respondents aged 18+ · one answer.
29 May–25 June 2012
Survey results describe 2012 adult respondents, not the present-day population. Percentages are rounded. The publisher reports 500–800 interviews per region; the exact achieved sample for this republic is unverified. Overview groups combine the original response options, listed below.
Survey method & grouping
Historical adult survey, 29 May–25 June 2012; one answer per respondent. Shares concern regional respondents aged 18+, not the current population. The publisher reports 56,900 interviews overall and 500–800 per participating region; the exact achieved sample for this republic was not established. The eight overview groups are our aggregation of the 18 original response options, all retained below, including zero values. Christianity combines seven Christian options; Islam combines three Muslim options; other religions combines Buddhism, Judaism and Eastern religions/spiritual practices. These survey groupings describe self-identification, not practice or ethnicity.
All survey response options
- Orthodox, Russian Orthodox Church2.4%
- Belief without a specific religion8.6%
- No belief in God2.2%
- Islam, neither Sunni nor Shia32%
- Christian, neither Orthodox, Catholic nor Protestant0.8%
- Sunni Islam48.6%
- Other Orthodox affiliation, excluding Old Believers0%
- Traditional ancestral religion1.6%
- Buddhism0.2%
- Old Believers0.2%
- Protestantism0%
- Shia Islam2%
- Catholicism0%
- Judaism0%
- Eastern religions and spiritual practices0%
- Pentecostal Christianity0%
- Other response0.4%
- Unable to choose an answer1%
Language provisions
Russian and the languages of Dagestan’s peoples[7]
Source editions
Article 11 of the posted constitution identifies Russian and the languages of the peoples of Dagestan as state languages. The clause itself does not enumerate a fixed number of languages.[7]
Institutions
The posted constitution names the People’s Assembly and Government among the republic’s institutions. Its published amendment list ends in June 2021; this profile does not certify a consolidated 2026 legal edition.[7]