Magas

 city, capital city of state/province/region

Magas (Russian: Мага́с) is the capital town of Ingushetia, Russia. It was founded in 1995 and replaced Nazran as the capital of the republic in 2002. Due to this distinction, Magas is the smallest capital of a federal subject in Russia. In 2019, it had a population of 8,771 inhabitants, up from 5,841 in 2010 and 272 in 2002. Magas is located in the western area of Ingushetia, at the borders with Prigorodny Raion of North Ossetia-Alania. It is surrounded by Nazranovsky Raion, and the nearest settlements are Ekazhevo, the city of Nazran, and Ali-Yurt. The town is also 30 km from the North Ossetian-Alanian capital city, Vladikavkaz.
The Republic of Ingushetia came into existence in 1992, having been split from the Chechen–Ingush ASSR. Nazran, the largest of three towns of the new republic, was made a temporary capital. In 1995, President Ruslan Aushev founded Magas just a few kilometers south of Nazran, naming it after the medieval city of Maghas. The new town was supposed to serve purely for administrative needs. Magas/Maghas is 28 miles from the frontline for parts of 1942–1943. It replaced Nazran as capital of the Republic in 2002. The name is given in Arabic sources as Maghasor Ma'as, in Persian as Magas or Makas, and in Chinese as Muzashan (木栅山). The name Magas is a homonym of the Persian word magas, meaning "fly", and the medieval writers al-Mas'udi and Juvayni made plays on words about the city's name. The Chinese transcription Muzashan uses the characters for wood (mu, 木) and mountain (shan, 山), which John Latham-Sprinkle interprets as a possible reference to the city's location in rough terrain.