Grozny

Capital of Chechnya and of the former Soviet republic of Checheno-Ingush; population (1996) 388,000. Situated on the Sunzha River, a tributary of the Terek, it is the biggest city of the Caucasian foothills. From the late 19th century, it became a major oil centre with pipelines to the Caspian Sea at Makhachkala, the Black Sea at Tuapse, and Trudovaya (near Gorlovka in the Donets Basin). Chemical and engineering industries are also located here.

Half its residential areas were damaged beyond repair and its infrastructure destroyed by bombing, shelling, and street fighting during the struggle for Chechen independence from the Russian Federation in 1994-95.

Grozny was founded in 1818 as a Cossack fortress. It has been a town since 1869. Large-scale exploitation of oil began here in 1893. The city is estimated to have only two-thirds of its pre-war population.