The Chechen language (Нохчийн мотт / Noxçiyn mott / نوٓخچیین موٓتت (Arabic orthography before latinisation); Medieval Chechen: نوًچین موت) is spoken by more than 1.5 million people, mostly in Chechnya and by Chechen people elsewhere. It is a member of the Northeast Caucasian languages.

Chechen is an ergative agglutinative language. Linguistically, it is, together with Ingush and Bats, a member of the Nakh branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family.

There are a number of Chechen dialects: Akkhiy, Chiantiy, Chiebarloy, Mialkhiy, Nokhchmakhkakhoy, Orstkhoy, Sharoy, Shuotoy and Terloy. The Kisti dialect of Georgia is not easily understood by northern Chechens without a few days' practice. One difference in pronunciation is that Kisti aspirated consonants remain aspirated when doubled (fortis) or after /s/, whereas they lose their aspiration in other dialects in these situations.

According to the Russian Census in October 2002, 1,330,000 people reported being able to speak Chechen.

Chechen is an official language of Chechnya and Dagestan.

Chrystal Callahan (transliterated as Кристалл Каллахан), is a Toronto-born Canadian television personality and fashion model who began hosting Highlights of the Week with Chrystal Callahan in June, 2009. It was a subtitled English-language television show in Russia’s North Caucasus Republic of Chechnya.

In July 2010, Callahan launched a new program called "Chechnya Through The Eyes of Chrystal Callahan". It is focused on travel / tourist destinations in the Chechen Republic, Islam and Chechen Culture.

Callahan has been dubbed the "Maverick Model". She has embarked on a singing career under the stage name of KRISTALL and has become a popstar in the North Caucasus. She performs songs in the Russian and Chechen language.KRISTALL studies and performs traditional Chechen dance.

Callahan has had some criticism for working in Chechnya. Critics see her as a supporter of pro-Russian Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov and accuse her of being a propaganda tool for the Chechen government. Callahan has been compared to Walter Duranty, the British journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for a set of stories written in 1931 on the Soviet Union. CNN featured Callahan in the summer of 2010 and credited her as being a symbol of stability and peace after years of conflict in the unstable region.