Dagestan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation in the Caucasus region. The name comes from two combined Turkic and Persian words, dag which means mountain in the Turkic languages, and stan which means land in the Persian language. Therefore, the literal translation of Dagestan is Land of the Mountains. Dagestan has a population of nearly 3 million, and its people are known as Dagestani. Its capital city is Makhachkala.