Fashionable Dagestani women. The most beautiful Dagestani women (19 photos)

The most beautiful women peoples of Russia. (40 photos)

Representatives of 304 peoples and ethnic groups live in Russia. This is precisely the figure that emerges from the published results of the 2010 Russian population census: 194 peoples are in the main list of nationalities and another 110 peoples are in the list “Indicating other answers about nationality.”
The 41 peoples of Russia, according to the census, number more than 100 thousand people. After the annexation of Crimea to Russia in March 2014, the number of Crimean Tatars in Russia increased from two to 250 thousand. Thus, in Russia there are now 42 peoples numbering over 100 thousand.

This rating is dedicated to the most beautiful (in my opinion or based on the results of voting on the site) women of these largest nations of Russia. Women Russian peoples A separate rating is devoted to those with a population of less than 100 thousand people.

Place of birth was not taken into account when determining affiliation with Russia; only citizenship/permanent residence was taken into account.

The 42nd largest population in Russia is occupied by the Kyrgyz (103.4 thousand). The most beautiful Kyrgyz Russia, according to the results of voting on the site, - a model from Moscow Begimai (Maya) Abibova. Height 175 cm, weight 51 kg, body measurements 86-61-88.

41st place - Nogais (103.6 thousand). The most beautiful foot Russia - Dinara Elgaitarova(born March 25, 1985, Aktau, Kazakhstan) - model, participant in the 3rd season of the reality show “Top Model in Russian”. Lives in Moscow. Dinara's father is Nogai, her mother is Tatar. Height 176 cm, body measurements 83-60-91. VK page - https://vk.com/id2444532

40th place - Turks (105 thousand). The site has a rating of the most beautiful Turkish women, but there are no Russian Turkish women there, because... I don’t yet know a single famous Turkish woman living in Russia.

39th place - Balkars (112.9 thousand). The most beautiful Balkarka- singer Liliya Shaulukhova.

38th place - Adygeis (124.8 thousand). The most beautiful Adyghe- singer Fatima Dzibova(born September 18, 1991, Adygeisk, Adygea). VK page - https://vk.com/fatimadzibova

37th place - Tabasarans (146.3 thousand). The most beautiful tabasaranka- track and field athlete Elena Isinbaeva (born June 3, 1982, Volgograd). Elena's father is Tabasaran by nationality, and her mother is Russian. Elena Isinbaeva set 28 world records in pole vaulting, became an Olympic champion twice (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008), won the World and European Championships many times, earning the title of the best pole vaulter of all time. Isinbayeva was recognized three times (2004, 2005 and 2008) as the best athlete according to the International Association of Athletics Federations, and twice (2007, 2009) won the “Best Athlete” nomination at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.

36th place - Koreans (153.1 thousand). The most beautiful Korean Russia - TV presenter Marina Kim. Her father is Korean, her mother is Russian.

35th place - Moldovans (156.4 thousand). The most beautiful Moldavian Russia - Russian actress Lyanka Gryu(born November 22, 1987, Moscow).

34th place - Jews (156.8 thousand). The most beautiful Jewish Russia - Soviet and Russian actress, People's Artist of the USSR Elina Bystritskaya. In 1999, in a survey by the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Elina Bystritskaya was recognized as “the most beautiful woman of the outgoing century.” Born on April 4, 1928 in Kyiv in a Jewish family.

33rd place - Georgians (157.8 thousand). The most beautiful Georgian Russia - Russian journalist and TV presenter Tina (Tinatin) Kandelaki(born November 10, 1975, Tbilisi).

32nd place - Laks (178.6 thousand). The most beautiful lachka Russia - singer Sabina Alieva.

31st place - Kalmyks (183.3 thousand). The most beautiful Kalmyk - Irina Tumanova- representative of Kalmykia at the Miss Russia 2013 competition, where she became Second Vice-Miss and won in the category " People's choice". Irina Tumanova's height is 177 cm, figure parameters 83-62-92. VKontakte page - http://vk.com/id31671589

30th place - Tajiks (200.3 thousand). The most beautiful Tajik- Russian actress Sayora Safari(born March 21, 1991, Dushanbe, Tajikistan). Her real name is Safarova.

29th place - Roma (204.9 thousand). The most beautiful Gypsy Russia - Lyalya (Olga) Zhemchuzhnaya(born May 31, 1969) - Russian actress and singer, Honored Artist of Russia. Since the age of 16 she has been working at the Moscow Gypsy Theater "Romen" (her mother, Ekaterina Zhemchuzhnaya, also works there). Has acted in films since 1982. The most famous role is the gypsy Aza in the 1987 film of the same name.

28th place - Karachais (218.4 thousand). The most beautiful Karachaevka- singer Alika Bogatyreva(born December 18, 1989, Cherkessk, Karachay-Cherkessia). Official website - http://alikabogatyreva.ru/

27th place - Komi (228.2 thousand). I know very few famous Komi women, so I have not yet decided on the candidacy for the most beautiful representative of this people.

25th place - Tuvans (263.9 thousand). The most beautiful Tuvan - AldynayOorzhak- representative of Tyva at the Miss Asia Moscow 2013 competition (took third place).

23rd place - Germans (394.1 thousand). Most beautiful Germans Russia - Russian actresses Tatiana and Olga Arntgolts(born March 18, 1982). They are twin sisters and German on their father's side.

Tatiana Arntgolts

Olga Arntgolts

22nd place - Ingush (444.8 thousand). The most beautiful Ingushka- actress and singer Tamara Yandieva(born July 23, 1955, Karaganda, Kazakhstan). People's Artist of Ingushetia. She starred in 17 Soviet films. Most of all, viewers remember the actress from the trilogy about Scheherazade from the tales of 1001 nights. In the first film, “And Another Night of Scheherazade...” Tamara Yandieva appeared in the image of Anora, the daughter of the merchant Karabai. And in the next two (“New Tales of Scheherazade” and “The Last Night of Scheherazade”) she played Princess Esmigul. Official website of Tamara Yandieva - http://yandieva.ru/

Tamara Yandieva as Princess Esmigul in the film "New Tales of Scheherazade"

21st place - Buryats (461.3 thousand). The most beautiful Buryat- model Maria Shantanova. After graduating from school in Ulan-Ude, she went to study in China, where she became the face of Nesсafe Gold in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. She played the main role in the 6th episode of the project “Speaking Buryat”. Height 167 cm, body measurements 86-60-88. VK page - https://vk.com/maria_shantanova

19th place - Yakuts (478 thousand). The most beautiful Yakut - Polina Protodyakonova- Miss Virtual Yakutia 2006, the most successful Yakut model, in demand in Russia and abroad. Height 178 cm, measurements 89-58-90. Facebook page - facebook.com/polina.protodyakonova

18th place - Kumyks (503 thousand). The most beautiful Kumychka - Zoya Hasanova- author and presenter of the “Wedding Season” program on Dagestan TV. VKontakte page - https://vk.com/zoya_gasanova

17th place - Kabardians (516.8 thousand). The most beautiful Kabardian Russia - singer Sati (Sataney) Casanova(born October 2, 1982, Verkhny Kurkuzhin, Kabardino-Balkaria).

16th place - Belarusians (521.4 thousand). The most beautiful Belarusian Russia - Russian actress Alesa Kacher(born May 9, 1987, Minsk). Page "In Contact" - http://vk.com/id7184782

15th place - Ossetians (528.5 thousand). The most beautiful Ossetian- model. Instagram page - http://instagram.com/aniaguri

14th place - Mari (547.6 thousand).

13th place - Udmurts (552.3 thousand). I have not yet found any famous beauties either among the Udmurts or the Maris.

12th place - Dargins (589.3 thousand). The most beautiful Darginka- singer Marina Mustafaeva.

9th place - Mordovians (744.2 thousand). Mordva is the Russian collective name for two different nations: Moksha and Erzya.

The most beautiful Mordovian-Erzyanka Russia - Olga Kaniskina(born January 19, 1985, Saransk) - track and field athlete, Olympic champion in 2008, the first three-time world champion in the history of race walking (2007, 2009 and 2011), European champion in 2010, two-time Russian champion.

The most beautiful Mordovian Moksha - Svetlana Khorkina(born January 19, 1979, Belgorod) - Russian gymnast, two-time Olympic champion in parallel bars (1996, 2000), three-time absolute world champion and three-time absolute European champion.

8th place - Avars (912 thousand). The most beautiful avarka- singer, former member of the group VIA Gra Meseda Bagaudinova. She was born in Grozny (Chechnya) on October 30, 1983. Her father is an Avar, her mother is of Ukrainian-Belarusian origin.

6th place - Chechens (1.431 million). The most beautiful Chechen - Chechen singer and dancer of the ensemble "Lovzar" Makka Sagaipova(born February 14, 1987, Grozny). Sagaipova released two albums, “I am your daughter - Chechnya” (2004) and “Bezam / Love” (2005), but after marriage, due to the disapproval of her husband’s relatives, she was forced to temporarily stop her creative activity. At the end of 2011, Makka Sagaipova returned to singing again.

(1.584 million). The most beautiful Bashkir, according to the results of voting on the site, - Laysan Utyasheva(born June 28, 1985, Raevsky village, Bashkortostan) - Russian athlete, world and European champion in rhythmic gymnastics. After completing her sports career, she became a TV presenter (NTV, NTV +, Russia2). Laysan has repeatedly been among the 100 most beautiful women on the planet according to FHM magazine. Official website - utiasheva.com

3rd place - Ukrainians (1.927 million). The most beautiful Ukrainian Russia - Tatiana Navka(born April 13, 1975, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) - Russian figure skater, paired with Roman Kostomarov, she became the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time world champion, and three-time European champion.

Favorites

(about Dagestani women, women of the Caucasus
Women of Dagestan - culture, customs.
Dagestan bride - who is she?)

Dagestan woman.

Nepotism and family ties are of particular importance for the peoples of the Caucasus. Main family form for a long time there was an undivided family (hebna khizan, hedin hav) of 30-35 people, three to four generations. In Dagestan families, divorces are very rare.

First commandment Caucasian hospitality- the guest must be fed and watered. The guest’s desire is the law, and people were even evicted for disrespect for the guest and poor hospitality. The traditional treats of Dagestanis are food made from flour, meat and dairy products. Common dishes are khinkal served with meat, feta cheese and tomato and garlic sauce, dumplings stuffed with pumpkin (called “chudu”), cottage cheese with eggs, nettles with nuts or herbs, porridge, dried apricots, pumpkin, soups, pies (chudu) with various fillings. Everyone knows the customs and traditions of Dagestan cuisine perfectly. Dagestan woman- a wonderful housewife, wife and mother. A large Dagestan family raises their daughters and instills in them the most important qualities, preparing them to be wonderful wives and housewives worthy of the highest praise.

The most important qualities every Caucasian woman - hospitality and cordiality, respect for the history and culture of not only her own, but also other peoples, loyalty to friendship and this word, respectful and respectful attitude to elders, modesty and politeness, hard work, knowledge of the customs of twinning and mutual assistance, national holidays and rituals. And also the unique burning beauty is the undeniable advantage of a Caucasian woman, tenacity of character and willpower, hard work, restraint in showing emotions, knowledge of the rules of etiquette, physical strength, capable of having healthy offspring and performing numerous duties around the house, home and raising children.

Undoubtedly modern life left its mark on Dagestan women. Most Big city in Dagestan - Makhachkala, where people come from all districts and regions of Dagestan in search of work, study and business. Dagestan women living in Makhachkala differ from women in villages. This is manifested in outlook on life, in clothing style, and in clearer and more demanding plans for the future.

Speaking about Dagestan women, it is impossible not to emphasize their elegance and unsurpassed ability to dress beautifully. It’s not for nothing that legends are made about the style of Dagestani women. Beauties, tall, stately, modest, but able to stand up for themselves. Intelligent and at the same time homely, modern and sweetly feminine. Precisely feminine, with the graceful gait of a swan. Dagestan women who even go to hard work in exclusive and at the same time modest outfits. In Dagestan, you will almost never meet a woman in trousers or jeans. A woman should remain a woman and emphasize her beauty and feminine mystery. This is exactly what Dagestani women think. And exactly Caucasian women before today, despite the passing fashion, remain faithful but always pleasing male eye beautiful dresses, long skirts and elegant stiletto heels!

Dagestanis are the collective name of the peoples who have long inhabited the modern territory of the Republic of Dagestan, which is part of Russia. Based on language, Dagestanis are divided into three groups. Avars, Aguls, Dargins, Laks, Lezgins, Tabasarans, Rutulians, Tsakhurs speak languages ​​of the Nakh-Dagestan language family. The Tats speak the Tat language, which, along with Farsi, Dari and Tajik, belongs to the southwestern group of Iranian languages. The Turkic-speaking Kumyks also belong to the Dagestanis. Often, the Turkic-speaking Nogais are also considered among the indigenous peoples of Dagestan, but the Nogais of the steppe arrived in the Caucasus only in the 17th century, so calling them the indigenous people of Dagestan can only be a stretch, and besides, they are alien to the rest of the Dagestanis in anthropological terms, i.e. To. belong to the South Siberian small race, transitional between the Mongoloid and Caucasian races. Therefore, in this rating of the most beautiful, in my opinion, famous Dagestani women, I decided not to include Nogays.
At the moment, the ranking includes Lezginka, Darginka, Lachka, Avarka, Kumychka and Tabasaranka. The list will gradually expand.

19th place: - Dagestan singer. By nationality - Lezginka. VKontakte page - http://vk.com/samira_official

18th place. Dina Mereutsa

17th place. Anora Bagomedova(born May 25, 1989, Samarkand, Uzbekistan) - singer. By nationality - Darginka.

16th place. Marina Mustafaeva- singer. By nationality - Darginka.

15th place. Madina Manapova(born February 18, 1996) - Dagestan singer. By nationality - Avarka. Instagram page - https://www.instagram.com/madi_manapova/

14th place: Diana Yuzbekova(born July 1, 1989, Moscow) - correspondent for the Muz-TV channel. By nationality - Lezginka.Height - 164 cm. VKontakte page - https://vk.com/diana_yuzbekova

13th place: Alina Alieva- model from Tver, winner of the “Young Beauty of Tver 2010” competition. By nationality - Lezginka. Height - 172 cm, body measurements 88-63-93.

12th place: Meseda Bagaudinova- singer, former member of the group VIA Gra. Born in Grozny (Chechnya) on October 30, 1983. Her father is an Avar, her mother is of Ukrainian-Belarusian origin.

11th place. Ashura Shakhrutdinova- Dagestan singer. By nationality - Avarka.

10th place. Marina Suleymanova(born July 24, 1988) - singer, member of the group "Misty". Also known as Marina Angel. By nationality - Avarka. Marina's VKontakte page - https://vk.com/marinamisty

9th place: (born December 5, 1989) - model, Miss Azerbaijan 2010. Lezginka by nationality. Height 171 cm, body measurements 82-59-88.

8th place: Faina Abdullaeva- model from Moscow, worked with the Muslim clothing brand "Rezeda Suleyman". By nationality - Lezginka.

7th place. (born September 23, 1985, Moscow) - Russian writer, literary critic, journalist. In interviews, Alisa has repeatedly said that she is an Avar by nationality. Ganieva's books have been translated into many languages, and she has received several literary awards. In 2015, The Guardian newspaper included Ganieva in the top 30 most talented Muscovites under 30. Alice's VKontakte page - https://vk.com/id1788012

The beauty and dignity of Dagestan women haunt millions of men different nationalities and different religions. The image of Dagestani women is as diverse as the national color of the Land of Mountains: more than 30 bloods, women who have absorbed the culture of the East and West. SmartNews has compiled a portrait of a bright and controversial resident of Makhachkala - in our opinion, a typical Dagestani woman.

As you know, representatives of more than 30 nationalities live in Dagestan, 14 of which are indigenous. Therefore, it would be wrong to characterize all Dagestani women according to a single standard. In Dagestan, as throughout the North Caucasus, the image rural women different from the urban image. Moreover, there are differences not only in appearance, but also in character, the formation of which was greatly influenced by way of life, culture and religion.

“The morals of mountain women (Avarok, Darginok, Lachek) are freer than those of women living on the plain (Kumychek, Nogayk, Azerbaijani). Previously a woman in the mountains she was economically independent of her husband, because in the field she worked the same way as her husband, she could carry firewood on her back and make hay. But the plains did not have such traditions. All the affairs of a lowland woman ended up within the confines of the courtyard and estate. She didn’t go for hay, she didn’t prepare hay, she didn’t chop wood, she didn’t cover the roof - these were all men’s affairs. On the plain they used a cart, but in the mountains the cart could not travel everywhere, so they mostly used donkeys or a woman dragged everything on her back. The lowland woman was mainly concerned with the house and raising children."

The appearance of Dagestani women is varied: here you can find tall dark-skinned women with black eyes and short red-haired blue-eyed girls. But they are all Dagestanis. It is believed that the complexion of true highlanders is fair. That’s why among the Avarkas, Darginoks, and Laches there are many fair-faced women. And the plain Nogays, for example, are dark-skinned, with a pronounced Mongoloid type of face.

Osman Davudov, plastic surgeon: "V Lately It is becoming more and more difficult to determine a woman’s nationality based on her face type, because blood is mixing. But the facial features of the Kumyk women, for example, are more Mongoloid: wide cheekbones, a small lower third of the face, a wide and round skull. Regarding avarkas, they have a more pronounced upper and lower third of the face, often a large nose. And there are differences in body type."

Lezginka

The clothing style of Dagestani women also becomes more and more diverse over time, losing their national identity. It is impossible to determine the nationality of a city dweller by her clothes. But in cities, clothing style can be divided into Muslim and European. Traditional clothes Dagestani women do not wear it in cities, but they wear it in their native villages, and each village has its own traditional clothing.

At the same time, today in Makhachkala you can find clothes even from limited brands. In the 15 main multi-brand boutiques of the capital of Dagestan you can find, without exaggeration, everything that style icons proudly wear on the streets of London right now. Iconic Balmain jackets, Fendi bags or Valentino dresses from the latest collection, sable fur coats, Birkin bags, Cartier watches.

The first boutique in Russia of Michael Cinco, Dubai designer, author wedding dresses(the cost of one dress is approximately 1 million rubles), opened last fall in Makhachkala.

Vera Agoshkina, fashion designer:"Older Makhachkala women prefer more dark tones. Perhaps this is due to the fact that our women tend to be overweight, and it is believed that dark color hides unnecessary outlines. White, pink, yellow - bright, like in Paris and Moscow - are rarely seen here. Mostly young people wear clothes of these colors. They often wear jeans and trousers. Now there are many shops in our city youth clothing. Most women over 40 dress modestly. Hijabs are worn by religious people. But in Dagestan, girls always traditionally covered their heads; regardless of nationality, they wore a chokhto and a headscarf. It’s just that now they began to call it a hijab, and for some reason it became black, brought from distant Arab countries. But our own, dear one, is more beautiful, more elegant, handmade.”

The Dagestani headdress said a lot about its owner. So, for example, by looking at the scarf one could determine which village the girl was from and whether she was married. Unfortunately, these cultural elements have not been preserved in all regions of Dagestan.

Vera Agoshkina, fashion designer:"still in the village of Kubachi, women wear traditional white scarves with gold embroidery. Every girl there knows how to embroider with gold threads. There, even from the scarf you can tell about a woman’s age, about her social status whether she is married. Each scarf has its own individual design. Regardless of where the Kubachi girl comes from - from Moscow, from Europe or somewhere else - she gets to Kubachi and always puts on her traditional outfit. That's very beautiful. But in cities, Kubachi girls don’t walk like that - only in the villages.”

Amina Dagi, a native of Dagestan, became Miss Austria in 2012 // Amina Dagi, MQ Vienna Fashion Week

Mountain woman jewelry, like a scarf, can still tell a lot about its owner.

Vagidat Shamadaeva, Honored Artist of Dagestan, collector of women's jewelry:"since ancient times among some Dagestan peoples women's jewelry divided into age categories: for girls, girls, married women, for old women. Girls, for example, wore thin twisted bracelets. Single girls they wore twisted bracelets with a small number of stones (turquoise, almandine). Married woman wore a large bracelet with a lot of stones. You could tell by the decorations social status women. The rich did not deny themselves expensive stones, and for a woman from the middle class instead natural stones could be simple glass or paste. The very poor decorated themselves only with copper or bronze items."

Since the 19th century, Dagestani jewelry fashion has included first gilding, and then gold. In those days, only women from wealthy families could afford to wear gilded and especially gold jewelry. Gold and gems usually brought from the East. IN modern Dagestan gold still remains one of the favorite metals of Dagestani women. But recently there has also been an interest in expensive, exclusive jewelry.

Guvarsha Batyrova, stylist:"in every family, every woman has both gold and jewelry. The jewelry is good, high quality. Women choose European - Spanish, Italian - companies, handmade. This is not just jewelry, it is a symbol that every woman chooses for herself. But diamonds are a must, just like silver. There is no family in Dagestan that does not have silver jewelry. Because, one might say, Dagestan and silver are inseparable. In addition, now you won’t surprise anyone with diamonds, so exclusive silver has always been in fashion and always appreciated. If girls are going to some kind of party where young people gather, they can afford simpler jewelry, costume jewelry. But girls understand that in a society where older women will be present, it is better to wear gold or silver jewelry. A wealthy man will definitely put diamonds on his wife to show his wealth.”

Representatives of Avars and Kumyks

Many modern Dagestan women are independent. They open their own business, which they then successfully run. And a woman driving in Dagestan is already quite common occurrence. Acting President of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov also decided to create the image of a woman from the Land of Mountains. On his instructions, a project for a monument to the Dagestan woman-mother is now being developed. The winning project will take its place in one of the city parks of Makhachkala, where everyone will be able to see what it is like, the image of a real Dagestani woman.

Recently, people have increasingly begun to talk about the popularity of Islamist and extremist ideas among women. Journalists who come to the republic are usually in hot pursuit of Dagestani suicide bombers. The portrait of a woman turns out like this: a dysfunctional childhood, adolescence in which she did not know what to do with herself, meeting a “forest” on the Internet, marriage (virtual or real), conversion to Islam or first Islam, and then marriage, then arrest or death husband, sometimes a second or even third marriage, a terrorist attack. But, as experts say, ideological women in hijabs are a minority in the republic - 1.5%. The overwhelming majority of Dagestani women are very secular, independent, and their home, family and children come first.

Patimat Takhnaeva historian, Institute of Oriental Studies RAS:"Historically, men either fought or sat on the godekan (a gathering place for men in the village). And women worked. Hijab is not the kind of clothing in which it is possible to work in the field, around the house, collect brushwood in the forest, or go fetch water. Therefore, never "In the history of Dagestan, the woman was not closed or strongly religious, but she was always at work."

It happens that the economic independence of a modern Dagestani woman becomes the reason for divorce from her husband. Unfortunately, in modern society divorces are not uncommon. But this happened in the past too.

Nogayka

Bariyat Alimova, ethnographer, doctor historical sciences, leading researcher at the INAE DSC RAS:"due to the fact that women in the mountains were economically independent, there were more often divorces. But they did not get divorced everywhere in the mountains. For example, at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, if a Rugudzhin woman’s husband died, they did not remarry. But among the Tlyaratina people , Tsumadins, Godoberians, Botlikhs could get married several times. After the wars, there were many unmarried women in the villages, so the highlanders tried to marry off unmarried women. I remember during an expedition to the Tsumadinsky region, a woman told us such a case. Her mother was Russian, and her father is an Avar. She told how during the years of Soviet power all unmarried women were gathered into one large room and all the men gathered, ready to take a wife. There were also married people among them. Men threw their hats out the window. Women knew which hat belonged to whom. Our interlocutor’s father died and her mother once also sat in this room along with other unmarried women. And her mother chose the hat of the first secretary of the district party committee, and he was married. The wife knew who chose her husband’s hat, but the next day our interlocutor’s mother did not go to the secretary’s house. His wife sent a man to find out why she, as the second wife, did not go into the house. To which her mother replied: “Let her live in peace. I chose him so that no one else would. The other one will go and sit down, but I won’t.” On the plains it was more difficult with stains. In modern Dagestan society, spouses who have lived together for a long time, but have not yet had children, get divorced. Previously, even childless couples tried not to get divorced."

Digest

I returned from Dagestan.

Black-haired, bearded Caucasians in national clothes, with daggers on their hips, stand on the street and look approvingly at women in burqas. Tinted sixes with colored carpets on the seats periodically drive by, from the windows of which “Black Eyes” can be heard, at the sound of which men jump up and begin to dance lezginka.

Occasionally, girls appear with their heads uncovered, having mistakenly put on a skirt that does not reach the floor. They whistle after them and shout “Hey! Gorgeous! Let’s get acquainted!”, and those who are not too lazy steal them and take them to the mountains to be re-educated as concubines. From time to time there are explosions - these are terrorist attacks, which no one pays attention to anymore: they are used to it.

This is exactly what my commentators think Dagestan looks like.

When I wrote that I wanted to visit this Caucasian republic, many people not only dissuaded me, but also terribly frightened me: they say, a woman cannot walk down the street there, you will be raped on the plane, and then stoned to death as an infidel. To be honest, I refused two trips that were planned for this time in order to get to Derbent.

And then I found out. Heard, saw, felt. Which is what I’ll tell you about now.

Two and a half hours and now I’m already there. Makhachkala greeted us with sun and sea. I cautiously stayed close to the group and looked around. People were fussing, calling, getting luggage, going about their other business, no one paid any attention to me or the girls of the group at all. Several women who flew with us were in beautiful scarves, V national costume only one young girl, she was incredibly colorful with two tiny snow-white lace bundles (she obviously gave birth to twins in the capital).

The first surprise awaited me at the exit from the airport: our greeter, Camilla, was not only with her head uncovered and bare arms, but also... in black, rather revealing, frankly tight jeans. She stood calmly with the sign “DERBENT” and a stream of men passed by, paying absolutely no attention to this “lawlessness.”

From that moment on, my “Dagestan stereotypes” cracked and began to come apart at the seams.

After boarding the bus, we headed to Derbent, which is about two hours away. Looking around, I got the impression that I was passing one large construction site: something was being built here literally at every step. Everywhere there are buildings in various stages of completion, construction materials stores, piles of bricks and cement.

The very first five minutes in Derbent gave it our own name, since then my friends and I called it nothing less than “Sandy City” - it’s all in yellow tones. Houses and fences, sidewalks and soil, everything is painted by the sun. Shell rock is a cheap, accessible material, as well as red earth, all together creating a conveyable uniqueness. And against the backdrop of this are bright women.

Yes, BRIGHT! The majority have their heads covered, but these are not at all asexual, sullen, downtrodden Muslim women in hijabs. Colorful flowing skirts, like colorful sails, scarves - everything in tone and color, elaborate jewelry, straight, proud posture, clear cosmetics. And most importantly - calmness in the eyes, which was most indicative of all.

I realized that I would not leave here until I found out about local male-female relationships.

We were separated from the group (including some girls) when we were walking and sightseeing, and they never said anything to us, let alone whistled. Yes, for me it was a complete break in patterns, which continued in the place where we came to taste the local cuisine and - especially - lamb shish kebab.

The restaurant was quite large, mostly everyone sat at outdoor tables. It was striking that, as a rule, there are “men’s” and “women’s tables”, and even if it is clear that a husband and wife and child have come, the wife is sitting with the baby and her friends or girlfriends, and the husband is in a male company. They will come out, dance, and everyone will return to their own table.

They dance a lot and willingly, Lezginka - rarely, mainly to modern music, then the dances are very similar to national ones: smooth movements of women who glide along the “dance floor”, temperamental ones of men. At the same time, the same division by gender, each group dances separately. From time to time, husbands and wives go out together, as do future spouses, but if someone’s girlfriend dances, then the guys no longer approach her.

In general, one feels some distance from each other, but this is rather a traditional way of life, and not at all disdainful of female. For example, a girl came out, apparently free, a crowd of young people immediately gathered around her, everyone danced passionately around her, then they dispersed as if nothing had happened - and no one not only touched her, but also did not harass her with a word.

Locals said that after the restaurant they could go home unaccompanied, no one would bother them. It is clear that not in a cardinal mini-way - this can be regarded as a provocation, what can I say, and it’s the same here, and even more so in the Caucasus. I saw women in minis, but they were with friends and company. They sat, smoked hookah, no one threatened them with a finger.

I was told that it is in Derbent that there is an increased respect for women, which comes from the fact that many Armenians lived there and left such an imprint. Although there is no complete equality - the husband is the Head of the Family, he makes decisions, but he also takes on problems.

By the way, about marriages - they get married on average at about 20-23 years old, at 25 everyone is already looking at you sideways (overstayed too long). There are divorces, but very few. By the way, getting a divorce is not a problem at all, but it is then difficult for a woman to get married a second time. Among young people, there are practically no so-called “civil marriages” at all: no one will understand, and even the daughter’s father will not allow her to live like this.

They often marry “for love,” meeting each other and starting a romantic relationship, but most often it looks like this: a young man turns to his mother or aunt and asks to find him a good wife. An analysis of local brides, their families, reputations begins and he is offered options (they even bring photographs, show them, and soon, I think, they will simply throw links to social networks))))). Weddings are often used for such purposes, when girls understand that they themselves are going to the “bride” as future brides, and the “grooms” look closely and choose. An interesting point is that restaurants and cafes do not use them for these purposes.

Perhaps this makes sense, given that when creating a couple, experienced adults have known the future newlyweds since childhood and from the outside they can see better what they are like, what they are like, and whether they will suit each other. Would I want this for myself personally? Most likely, no, this is something that is instilled in childhood, but I don’t see anything bad in it, considering the number of divorces in “modern” marriages.

I looked and saw how much I had done! I will continue in a new post, but for now, ask, what else can I tell you about?...

By the way, here is a part of us, the girls from the press group. Why were we forced to get rid of ourselves like this? Who's to say? I'll give you a tadpole for the correct answer. =)