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Ethnic groups in the Caucasus

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For Caucasian in pseudoscientific racial studies, see Caucasian race.
Ethnolinguistic groups in the Caucasus region (2007)[1]

The peoples of the Caucasus, or Caucasians, are a diverse group comprising more than 50 ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus.[2]

By language group

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Further information: North Caucasian languages

Language families indigenous to the Caucasus

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Caucasian peoples: Georgians, Persians (in Azerbaijan), Circassians, Tatars, and Ingush
The medieval Georgian village of Shatili
Ethnic groups inhabiting the Caucasus region
The village of Tindi, in Dagestan, in the late 1890s
North Caucasian peoples (from left to right): Ossetians, Circassians, Kabardians, and a Chechen

Caucasians who speak languages which have long been indigenous to the region are generally classified into three groups: Kartvelian peoples, Northeast Caucasian peoples and Northwest Caucasian peoples.

Kartvelian languages

Northeast Caucasian languages

Northwest Caucasian languages

The largest peoples speaking languages which belong to the Caucasian language families and who are currently resident in the Caucasus are the Georgians (3,200,000), the Chechens (2,000,000), the Avars (1,200,000), the Lezgins (about 1,000,000) and the Kabardians (600,000), while outside the Caucasus, the largest people of Caucasian origin, in diaspora in more than 40 countries (such as Jordan, Turkey, the countries of Europe, Syria, and the United States) are the Circassians with about 3,000,000-5,000,000 speakers. Georgians are the only Caucasian people who have their own undisputedly independent state—Georgia. Abkhazia's status is disputed. Other Caucasian peoples have republics within Russia: Adyghe (Adygea), Cherkess (Karachay-Cherkessia), Kabardians (Kabardino-Balkaria), Ingush (Ingushetia), Chechens (Chechnya), while other Northeast Caucasian peoples mostly live in Dagestan.

Indo-European

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Ethnolinguistic groups in the Caucasus region in 1887
Terek Cossacks of the North Caucasus

Caucasians that speak languages belonging to the Indo-European language family:

†Although the group does not have any inhabitants physically living anywhere in the Caucasus, genetic tests have proven their affinity to Caucasian populations and shown that their ancestors originated from the Caucasus.

Armenians number 3,215,800 in their native Armenia, though approximately 8 million live outside the republic, forming the Armenian diaspora. Elsewhere in the region, they reside in Georgia (primarily Samtskhe–Javakheti, Tbilisi, and Abkhazia), and the Russian North Caucasus. The Ossetians live in North Ossetia–Alania (an autonomous republic within Russia) and in South Ossetia, which is de facto independent, but is de jure part of Georgia. The Yazidis reside in the western areas of Armenia, mostly in the Aragatsotn marz, and in the eastern areas of Georgia. An autonomous Kurdish region was created in 1923 in Soviet Azerbaijan but was later abolished in 1929. Pontic Greeks reside in Armenia (Lori Province, especially in Alaverdi) and Georgia (Kvemo Kartli, Adjara, the Tsalka, and Abkhazia). Pontic Greeks had also made up a significant component of the South Caucasus region acquired from the Ottoman Empire (following the 1878 Treaty of San Stefano) that centred on the town of Kars (ceded back to Turkey in 1916). Russians mostly live in the Russian North Caucasus and their largest concentration is in Stavropol Krai, Krasnodar Krai, and Adygea. Georgia and the former Russian South Caucasus province of Kars Oblast was also home to a significant minority of ethnic (Swabian) Germans, although their numbers have become depleted as a result of deportations (to Kazakhstan following World War II), immigration to Germany, and assimilation into indigenous communities.

Semitic

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Caucasians that speak languages belonging to the Semitic language family:

Mongolic

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Main article: Mongolic languages

The Kalmyks is the name given to the Oirats, western Mongols in Russia, whose ancestors migrated from Dzungaria in 1607. Today they form a majority in the autonomous republic of Kalmykia on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. Kalmykia has Europe's only Buddhist government.[6]

Turkic

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Caucasians that speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family:

The largest of the Turkic-speaking peoples in the Caucasus are Azerbaijanis who number 8,700,000 in the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the Caucasus region, they live in Georgia, Russia (Dagestan), Turkey and previously in Armenia (before 1990). The total number of Azerbaijanis is around 35 million (15 million in Iran). Other Turkic speakers live in their autonomous republics within Russia: Karachays (Karachay-Cherkessia), Balkars (Kabardino-Balkaria), while Kumyks and Nogais live in Dagestan.

By population

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Ethnicities of the Caucasus by their population.
Name Total population Region Group Languages Subgroup Religion
Mingrelians 288,000[citation needed] Samegrelo Kartvelians Mingrelian Zans Orthodox Christianity
Lazs 1,500,000 [7] Lazistan Kartvelians Laz Zans Sunni Islam
Svans 30,000[8] Svaneti Kartvelians Svan Svans Orthodox Christianity
Georgians 5,000,000 Georgia Kartvelians Georgian Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Ingiloys 14,900[9] Saingilo (Hereti) Kartvelians Ingiloan dialect Georgians Sunni Islam
Meskhetians 77,498[10] Samtskhe Kartvelians Meskhetian dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Gurians 104,338[10] Guria Kartvelians Gurian dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Tushs 30,000[11] Tusheti Kartvelians Tushetian dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Rachians 52,000 Racha Kartvelians Racha dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Pshavs 30,000 Pshavia Kartvelians Pshavian dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Mokhevians 7,000 Khevi Kartvelians Khevi dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Khevsurians 10,000 Khevsureti Kartvelians Khevsur dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Kakhetians 500,000 Kakheti Kartvelians Kakheti dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Imeretians 400,000–600,000 Imereti Kartvelians Imeretian dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Javakhians 5,000 Javakheti Kartvelians Javakhian dialect Georgians Orthodox Christianity
Adjarians 560.000 Adjara Kartvelians Adjarian dialect Georgians Sunni Islam
Fereydani 100,000 Fereydan Kartvelians Pereidnuli dialect Georgians Shia Islam
Andis 40,000 Andia Northeast caucasians Andi Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Akhvakhs 10,000 Akhvakh district Northeast caucasians Akhvakh Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Avars 1,200,000 Avaria Northeast caucasians Avar Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Bagvalals 5,000 Tsumadinsky District Northeast caucasians Bagvalal Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Botlikhs 3,788 Botlikhsky District Northeast caucasians Botlikh Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Chamalals 10,000 Tsumadinsky District Northeast caucasians Chamalal Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Godoberi 4,000 Botlikhsky District Northeast caucasians Godoberi Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Karatas 7,500 Khasavyurtovsky District Northeast caucasians Karata Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Tindi 10,000 Andi-Koysu river Northeast caucasians Tindi Avar–Andic people Sunni Islam
Dargins 700,000 Darginia Northeast caucasians Dargwa Dargins Sunni Islam
Kaitag 25,000–30,000 Kaytagsky District Northeast caucasians Kaitag Dargins Sunni Islam
Kubachi 7,000 Kubachi Northeast caucasians Kubachin Dargins Sunni Islam
Itsaris 2,000 Itsari Northeast caucasians Itsari Dargins Sunni Islam
Chirags 2,000 Chirag Northeast caucasians Chirag Dargins Sunni Islam
Khinalugs 2,233 Shahdag Northeast caucasians Khinalug Khinalugs Sunni Islam
Laks 200,000 Lakia Northeast caucasians Lak Laks Sunni Islam
Lezgins 1,000,000 Lezgistan Northeast caucasians Lezgian Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Aghuls 45,000 Aguldere gorge Northeast caucasians Aghul Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Archin 5,000 Archib Northeast caucasians Archin Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Budukhs 1,000 Shahdag Northeast caucasians Budukh Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Tabasarans 155,000 Tabarstan Northeast caucasians Tabasaran Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Jeks 11,000 Shahdag Northeast caucasianss Jek Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Kryts 10,000–15,000 Shahdag Northeast caucasians Kryts Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Rutuls 120,000 Rutulsky District Northeast caucasians Rutul Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Tsakhurs 30,000 Tsakhur Northeast caucasians Tsakhur Lezgic people Sunni Islam
Udis 10,000 Utik Northeast caucasians Udi Lezgic people Albanian-Udi Church
Bats 3,000 Tusheti Northeast caucasians Bats Nakh people Orthodox Christianity
Chechens 2,000,000 Chechnya Northeast caucasians Chechen Nakh people Sunni Islam
Ingush 700,000 Ingushetia Northeast caucasians Ingush Nakh people Sunni Islam
Tsez 30,000 Tsunta district Northeast caucasians Tsez Tsezic (Didoic) people Sunni Islam
Bezhta 13,000 Tsunta district Northeast caucasians Bezhta Tsezic (Didoic) people Sunni Islam
Hinukh 4,000 Tsunta district Northeast caucasians Hinukh Tsezic (Didoic) people Sunni Islam
Hunzib 6,200 Tsunta district Northeast caucasians Hunzib Tsezic (Didoic) people Sunni Islam
Khwarshis 8,500 Tsumadinsky district Northeast caucasians Khwarshi Tsezic (Didoic) people Sunni Islam
Abaza 150,000 Abasgia Northwest caucasians Abazin Abazins Sunni Islam
Abkhazians 185,000–600,000 Abkhazia Northwest caucasians Abkhaz Abkhazians Orthodox Christianity in Abkhazia

Sunni Islam in Turkey

Circassians 5,300,000 Circassia Northwest caucasians Circassian Circassians Sunni Islam
Kabardians 1,628,500 Kabardia Northwest caucasians Kabardian dialect Circassians Sunni Islam
Ubykhs 20,000 Ubykhia Northwest caucasians Ubykh Circassians Sunni Islam
Armenians 8,000,000–16,000,000 Armenia Indo-Europeans Armenian Armenians Armenian Apostolic
Cherkesogai 100,000–350,000 Circassia Indo-Europeans Circassian,

Armenian

Armenians Armenian Apostolic
Zoks few Goghtn Indo-Europeans Zok dialect Armenians Armenian Apostolic
Hemshins 150,000–200,000 Hemshin Indo-Europeans Homshetsi dialect Armenians Armenian Apostolic in Georgia, Russia

Sunni Islam in Turkey

Pontic Greeks 2,000,000–2,500,000 Pontus Indo-Europeans Pontic Greek Greeks Orthodox Christianity in Greece

Sunni Islam in Turkey

Urums 192,700 Caucasus Indo-Europeans Urum Greeks Orthodox Christianity
Ossetians 700,000 Ossetia Indo-Europeans Ossetian Iranians Orthodox Christianity

Uatsdin

Digors 100,000 Ossetia Indo-Europeans Digor dialect Iranians Sunni Islam
Irons 200,000 Ossetia Indo-Europeans Iron dialect Iranians Orthodox Christianity
Talyshs 1,200,000–2,000,000 Talyshistan Indo-Europeans Talysh Iranians Sunni Islam in Iran

Shia Islam in Azerbaijan

Tats 100,000 Shirvan Indo-Europeans Tat Iranians Shia Islam
Caucasian

Kurds

162,742 Predominantly

Transcaucasia

Indo-Europeans Kurdish Iranians Shia Islam
Caucasian

Yazidis

43,000 Ararat plain Indo-Europeans Kurdish Iranians Yazidism
Assyrians 35,000 Armenia and Georgia Afroasiatic people Eastern Aramaic Semites Assyrian Church of the East
Georgian Jews 65,000–80,000 Georgia Afroasiatic people Judaeo-Georgian Semites Judaism
Mountain Jews 150,000–270,000 Eastern and Northern

Caucasus

Afroasiatic people Judeo-Tat Semites Judaism
Kalmyks 195,000 Kalmykia Mongolic people Kalmyk Oirat Buddhism
Kumyks 600,000 Kumykia Turkic people Kumyk Kipchaks Sunni Islam
Balkars 135,000 Balkaria Turkic people Balkar dialect Kipchaks Sunni Islam
Karachays 250,000 Karachay-Cherkessia Turkic people Karachay dialect Kipchaks Sunni Islam
Nogais 120,000 Nogai Horde Turkic people Nogai Kipchaks Sunni Islam
Ahiska Turks 500,000–600,000 Samtskhe Turkic people Meskhetian

Turkish dialect

Kipchaks Sunni Islam
Azerbaijanis 30,000,000–35,000,000 Azerbaijan Turkic people Azerbaijani Oghuz Turks Shia Islam
Karapapakhs 100,000 Eastern Turkey Turkic people Karapapakh Oghuz Turks Sunni and Shia Islam

By location

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class=notpageimage|
Homeland of peoples of the Caucasus
Abbreviations: mouseover for name

This gives ethnic locations about 1775 before the Russians came.[12] NECLS means 'Northeast Caucasian Language Speakers' and NWCLS means 'Northwest Caucasian Language Speakers'. The linguistic nationalities that we now recognise are somewhat artificial. Two hundred years, ago a person's loyalty was to their friends, kin, village and chief and not primarily to their language group. The difference between steppe, mountain and plain was far more important than difference of language. Only the southern half (and the southernmost part of Dagestan) had organized states, usually Persian or Turkish vassals and few, if any, of these states corresponded well to language groups.

Northern Lowlands: The Turkic-speaking Nogai nomads occupied almost all of the steppe north of the Caucasus. In the nineteenth century they were pushed far southeast to their present location. Formerly part of the eastern steppe was occupied by Kalmyks – Buddhist Mongols who migrated from Dzungaria about 1618. In 1771 many returned to their original homeland and they contracted to their present location in the far northeast, Nogais temporarily taking their place. In the southeast were the isolated Terek Cossacks. Their settlements later grew into the North Caucasus Line. There were a few Turkmens in the center of the steppe.

North Slope: The western two thirds was occupied by Circassians – NWCLS divided into twelve or so tribes. They long resisted the Russians and in 1864 several hundred thousand of them were expelled to the Ottoman Empire. To their east were the Kabardians – NWCLS similar to the Circassians but with a different political organization. The term Lesser Kabardia refers to the eastern area. South of the eastern Circassian-Kabardians were three groups that seem to have been driven into the high mountains about 500 years previously. The Karachays and Balkars spoke similar Turkic languages. East of the Balkars were the Ossetians – Iranian speakers descended from the ancient Alans who controlled the future Georgian Military Road and had a growing Christian minority. East of the future highway was a north-south band of Ingush – NECLS similar to the Chechens. The numerous Chechens to the east were later to wage the long Murid War against the Russians. For the small groups south of the Ingush-Chechens see South Slope below. To the east along the coast were the Turkic Kumyks.

Mountain Dagestan: All the peoples of mountain Dagestan were NECLS except the Tats. In the northwest were a number of small language groups (Tsez people (Dido) and Andi people), similar to the Avars. To their southeast were the numerous Avars with a khanate at Khunzakh who fought in the Murid War. Southeast were the Dargins and west of them the Laks who held the Kumukh Khanate. Southeast along the Samur were the Lezgins with many subgroups and then the Iranian-speaking Tats down to Baku.

Caspian Coast: From Astrakhan to the Terek River there were the Buddhist Kalmyk nomads. Along the Terek were the isolated Terek Cossacks. From the Terek to Derbent were the Turkic-speaking Kumyks with a state at Tarki. The town of Derbent itself had a majority Persian (Russian: персы) population, as it had for many centuries, until the late 19th century.[13] On the coastal plain south of Derbent was a mixed population, mostly Azeri ("Transcaucasian Tatar"), and further south to Baku were the Iranian-speaking Tats. When Baku became a boom town the Tats retained a majority only in the mountains. The Mountain Jews, who had a number of villages inland from the coast, spoke a form of Tat called Judeo-Tat. The lowlands south of Baku were held by Azerbaijanis, Turkic-speaking Shiites. On both sides of the current Iranian border were the Iranian-speaking Talysh. Based on genetic studies the Gilaki and Mazanderani ethnic groups in northern Iran (near the Caspian Sea) have been proven to be genetically similar to Armenians, Georgians and Azeris. This indicates that the Gilaki and Mazanderani ethnic groups are people that immigrated from the Caucasus region to what is now northern Iran.[14]

South Slope: Black Sea coast: In the northwest the mountains came down to the sea and the population was Circassian. Southward the coastal plain broadened and the population was Abkhazians – similar to the Circassians but under Georgian influence.

South Slope proper: On the south side of the Caucasus the mountains fall quickly to the plains and there is only a small transition zone. The inhabitants were either Georgians with mountain customs or northern mountaineers who had moved south. The Svans were Georgian mountaineers. In the center the Iranian Ossets had moved south and were surrounded on three sides by Georgians. East of the Ossets and south of the Ingush-Chechens were three groups of Georgian mountaineers on both sides of the mountain crest: Khevi, Khevsurs, and Tushetians. The Bats were NECLS entangled with the Tushetians and the Kists were Chechens south of the mountains. Near the Georgian-Azeri linguistic border there were some Avars and Tsakhurs (Lezgians) who had crossed the mountains. Associated with the Tsakhurs were the Ingiloy or Georgian-speaking Muslims. In the north Azeri area were a few Udis or southern Lezgians and Lakhij or southern Tats.

Southern Lowlands: The western two thirds were occupied by Georgians – an ancient Christian people with a unique language. The eastern third was Azerbaijanis – a group of Turkic-speaking Shiites under Persian influence. On the fringe of the Georgian area were Georgian speakers who had either adopted Islam or mountain customs.

Armenian Highlands: Further South, the land becomes higher. In the west were the Laz people or Georgian Muslims. In Kars province there were Turks, Kurds and Armenians. The Armenians, which gave the plateau its namesake, were somewhat concentrated in the present-day Armenia but were mostly spread out as a minority all over Asia Minor. There were groups of Azeris west of their main area who tended to blend with the Turks. The Kurds were semi-nomadic shepherds with small groups in various places and concentrations in Kars province and Nakhchivan. In the far southeast were the Iranian Talysh.

Genetic history

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Main article: Prehistoric Caucasus § Genetic history
Further information: Y-DNA haplogroups in populations of the Caucasus

Language groups in the Caucasus are closely correlated to genetic ancestry.[15]

According to a 2021 study, Caucasian hunter-gatherer ancestry (CHG) significantly contributed to the genetic makeup of modern Caucasian populations but the proportion of CHG alleles are highest in modern peoples that live close to the archaeological sites in western Georgia, where the bones of CHG were discovered. The proportion gradually decreases away from this region, being replaced by ancient Anatolian and European alleles. Ancient Anatolian alleles are common in the genomes of modern peoples in Georgia and east Turkey (i.e. Georgians from Meskheti province, Laz and Armenians). But for peoples from north Caucasus, ancient Balkan alleles were common. Intensified immigration to the Caucasus during the early post-Last Glacial Maximum period explains the presence of these alleles.[16]

See also

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Further reading

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  • "The morphological specificity of Caucasian peoples according to craniological materials". V.P.Alekseev. Journal of Human Evolution.
  • Kovalevskaia, V. B "Central Ciscaucasia in Antiquity and Early Middle Ages: Caucasian Substratum and Migrations of the Iranic-Speaking Tribes." (1988).

References

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  1. ^ "ECMI - European Centre For Minority Issues Georgia". Ecmicaucasus.org. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Caucasian peoples". Britannica.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "The Yezidi Kurds and Assyrians of Georgia : The Problem of Diasporas and Integration into Contemporary Society" (PDF). Aina.org. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Персонажи традиционных религиозных представлений азербайджанцев Табасарана". Tabasaran.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  5. ^ Stephen Adolphe Wurm et al. Atlas of languages of intercultural communication. Walter de Gruyter, 1996; p. 966
  6. ^ "Europe - Peace and Harmony in Kalmykia". Buddhistchannel.tv. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Laz in Türkiye". 2023-10-16. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ "Svan/Udi/Tsova-Tush". DOBES. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  9. ^ "Этнический состав Азербайджана (по переписи 1999 года)". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  10. ^ a b Georgian census, 2014
  11. ^ Mjorawrote, Mjora Mjora. "Список картвельских племен с примерной численностью каждого племени". mjora.livejournal.com. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  12. ^ Arthur Tsutsiev and Nora Seligman Favorov (translator) Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, 2014, Map 4 supplemented by Maps 12,18 and 31.
  13. ^ "население дагестана". Ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  14. ^ Nasidze, Ivan; Quinque, Dominique; Rahmani, Manijeh; Alemohamad, Seyed Ali; Stoneking, Mark (April 2006). "Concomitant Replacement of Language and mtDNA in South Caspian Populations of Iran". Curr. Biol. 16 (7): 668–73. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.02.021. PMID 16581511. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  15. ^ O.Balanovsky et al., "Parallel Evolution of Genes and Languages in the Caucasus Region", Mol Biol Evol00 (2011), doi:10.1093/molbev/msr126.
  16. ^ Gavashelishvili, Alexander; Yanchukov, Alexey; Tarkhnishvili, David; Murtskhvaladze, Marine (2021). "Landscape genetics and the genetic legacy of Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in the modern Caucasus". Scientific Reports. 11 (17985) – via Nature.
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