The article is concerned with a seemingly unnoticeable phenomenon of the regional political process in the Republic of Dagestan: territoriality. It would seem, that Russian and foreign researchers are aware of that characteristic of the North Caucasus regions. However, the factor of territoriality is often ignored not only in research, but also in real political practice. When it comes to the conflict-geneity of political relations, social, economic, and culturalhistorical factors come to the fore. They are indeed more voluminous in their content and impact than territoriality. The authors draw attention to the fact thatin the Dagestan reality territoriality is a link in the genesis of conflict. Atthe local level, diverse contradictions of a social, economic, and cultural-historical nature are tightly knotted. Guided by the principles of social-cultural approach and based on a broad interpretation of ethnoterritorial conflict, the authors show the importance of the territoriality factor not only for land relations in local ethnic territory and on their borders, but also for the content of regional policy in Dagestan in general. The article provides a retrospective of the main stages in the formation and reproduction of ethnoterritorial communities. Some cases of ethnoterritorial conflicts in recent years demonstrate the danger of underestimating the territoriality factor in local conflict management. The authors conclude that a scientifically substantiated federal policy of regional development in the North Caucasus must be developed, in which territoriality is understood as a central element of the state governance