What the rise of Islam means for Putin’s Russia

The term ‘Russians’, which the world likes to use for the 144 million citizens of my country, is often a misleading one. Granted, in the 2020 census, 71 per cent of those surveyed identified themselves with this label, with only three ethnic groups coming in above one per cent: Tatars (3.2 per cent), Chechens (1.14 per cent and Bashkirs (1.07 per cent). This all suggests a near mono-ethnic state with only minor influences from other nationalities and cultures. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Many non-Russians, provided they master the language well enough, simply prefer to identify themselves with the ‘title nation’. Sticking with the majority and even mimicking it has, in this part of the world, often been a means of survival; a Jewish friend of mine was given the ancient Slavic name of ‘Yaroslav’ for exactly this reason. Second, Russia’s ethnic composition is very uneven – in some areas, like the national republics of the North Caucasus, there are hardly any Russians at all (in Ingushetia they account for a measly 0.6