Chechnya

Chechnya, or Нохчийн Республик (in Chechen), or Чеченская Республика (in Russian) is a republic of the Russian Federation located in the Caucasus region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

It was once a de facto independent nation from 1991 to 2000. Following the attempted August 1991 coup in Russia, Chechnya declared its independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, or Нохчийн Республик Ичкери or Чеченская Республика Ичкерия. This led to the first Chechen War ending in 1996 with Russian forces withdrawing from Chechnya.  File:Chechnya flag.jpg|1992 70r flag and arms. File:Chechen Mansur.jpg|1992 300r Sheik Mansur. File:Chechen 1996 strip.jpg|1996 imperf se-ten strip. 
 * In May 1992, a set of 5 stamps were released. These were imperf and without gum. They came in sheetlets of 25 and a collective sheet/souvenir sheet with all five designs. These were inscribed in Russian, ЧЕЧЕНСКАЯ РЕСПУБЛИКА. In September, these were declared invalid by the Russian Federation although they are reported to have been accepted in the mails without postage due charges.
 * In 1993, definitives were printed showing the national arms, flag, wildlife and a rose. There were six designs in all, printed in sheetlets of 10, perfed and gummed. These were never issued.
 * In November 1996, the first five designs were modified with CHECHENIA in a gray bar and either a romanized NOXÇIYN RESPUBLIKA IÇKERIA or NOXÇIYÇÖ. These exist perf and imperf, in se-tenant strips plus booklets. Printer House of Questa strikes again!
 * In August 1999, the Second Chechen War began. By 2000, the Russian Federation had essentially regained control of Chechnya.

Bogus issues
Bogus issues exist from the early 1990s with surcharges on Russian definitives along with topical images. They are inscribed ISLAM REPUBLIC OF CHECHNYA or РЕСПУБЛИКА ЧЕЧЕНСКАЯ. Topical sheetlets, etc. followed, inscribed ЧЕЧЕНЯ (sic) or bilingually CHECHENIA / NOXÇIYN RESPUBLIKA IÇKERIA. There are probably other inscriptions.  File:Chechnya logo surch.jpg File:Chechnya Islam Rep.jpg File:Chechnya cat.jpg File:Chechnya camel.jpg 

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