The peoples of the Caucasus.

“I love the Caucasus as a sweet song of my homeland” — the poet M.Yu. Lermontov wrote about this land with admiration and love. And in fact, is it possible not to admire the Caucasus — its majestic snow peaks, mighty ridges, blue mountain lakes, noisy streams running from the slopes, life-giving mountain air? The Caucasus is amazing and multifaceted. Somehow I will tell you about this picturesque place. And today we’ll talk about the peoples living in this region.

The greater Caucasus mountain range divides the region in half: its Northern slopes (the North Caucasus) are almost completely part of Russia, while the southern slopes are divided by Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

On the territory of the Caucasus live up to 50 nationalities that have created an original culture and their own special languages. Today, people who came at different times also live in the Caucasus, who are not Caucasians by origin, in particular: Russians, Ukrainians, Kurds, Assyrians, Greeks, Tatars, Ossetians, Jews and others.

Now I will tell you about some peoples living in the Caucasus.

The peoples of the Caucasus by language are divided into 3 main groups:

1. Caucasian families:
   a) The peoples of the Kartvelian language family: Georgians, Mingrelians, Svans
   b) Peoples of the Abkhaz-Adyghe language family: Abazins, Abkhazians, Adygs (Kabardins, Circassians, Adyghe, Shapsugs)
   c) The peoples of the Nakh-Dagestan language family:
   * Nakh languages: Batsbians, Ingush, Chechens
   * Dagestan languages: Avars (including Ando-Tse people), Aguls, Dargins, Laks, Lezghins( or lezgins), Rutuls, Tabasarans, Tsakhurs
2. Peoples of the Altai language family:
   a) Turkic-speaking peoples: Azerbaijanis, Balkars, Karachais, Kumyks, Trukhmens (Turkmens), Nogais and Meskhetian Turks.
3. Peoples of the Indo-European language family:
   a) Iranian branch: Ossetians, Yezidis, mountain Jews, Kurds, Talysh and tats;
   b) Others: Armenians, Greeks, Russians.

And now in more detail about the most famous of them.

1. Georgians.

• Georgians are proud and courageous inhabitants of the Caucasus, keepers of the Golden Fleece, the world’s best winemakers and noble lovers of feasts. Even the half-joking legend of the creation of the world says that when God distributed the lands to all nations, the Georgians were late because they celebrated the universe and glorified his name. For Georgian sincerity, God decided to give them a piece of the land that he left for himself — the most beautiful in the whole world.
• The number of representatives of the nation worldwide is more than 4 million people.
• Georgian language belongs to the Kartvelian family, distributed in the western part of Transcaucasia. The peculiarity of the language is a large number of long words and an abundance of consonants. There are no accents, however, intonation is actively used to express meaning and highlight the main root.
• For a long time, Georgians were considered one of the most beautiful Caucasian peoples. Foreigners noted the athletic build of men and the slimness of girls who maintained their shape even with age.

• Georgians call their own country Sakartvelo. In the rest of the world, the name Georgia is generally accepted, but within the state it has not taken root.
• Georgia is a Christian state, not a Muslim state, as many mistakenly believe.

• Georgia is a country of thousands of sources, in the bowels of the Caucasus Mountains there are about 2400. Therefore, the capital of the state, the ancient city of Tbilisi, was literally erected on mineral water.
• A curious fact is that Georgians use the decimal system of counting.

2. Abkhazians.

• Abkhazia is a country with centuries-old traditions, with a long and glorious history. Abkhazia is famous for its amazing nature, warm sea and amazing hospitality.

• The most western people of the Caucasus.
• Most are Christians, but since the 15th century, due to the expansion of the territory, Sunni Muslims have been added.
• The total number of Abkhazians around the world totals about 200 thousand people in 52 countries of the world.

• Abkhazia is the leader in the amount of fresh water per 1 sq. Km. km and is considered the most flooded territory of the planet.
• The Abkhaz language is very difficult to learn. The alphabet consists of 64 letters, of which 37 letters are considered difficult to pronounce, and 27 practically do not differ in spelling and pronunciation from the letters of the Russian alphabet.
• In the first millennium BC in the territory now called Abkhazia, there was a Colchian culture — it is represented by settlements, burial grounds and treasures.
• Almost half of the population of Abkhazia lives in the mountains.
  Residents of Abkhazia call their republic “Apsny”, which means “Country of the soul.”

3. Adygeans

• Adygheans are one of the indigenous peoples of the North Caucasus. In the territory of modern Adygea, they have been living for several millennia, being direct descendants of the ancient population of these places.
• Adygeans have always been considered trendsetters: men were called “aristocrats of the mountains”, and girls were called “French women of the Caucasus,” since the latter had begun to wear corsets from a young age.

• Adyghe women were considered the most beautiful and desired wives, and men — the best warriors.
• By the way, today the personal protection of the King of Jordan consists exclusively of representatives of this brave and proud nation.
• About 123,000 people consider themselves Adyghe people in Russia.
• The traditional occupations of the Adyghe people are cattle breeding and agriculture.

4. Lezgins

• Lezgins (Lezghar) belong to the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus. Belongs to the Caucasian race and the largest number is the second people of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
• Lezgin has a vibrant history and tradition. For many centuries they have been called “leki”, or “lay.”
• In the world there are about 700,000 lezgins.

• Lezgin language is one of the ancient languages. The Lezgin language is part of the Nakh-Dagestan group of the North Caucasian language family and belongs to the Lezgi subgroup. Lezgins living in Azerbaijan use the Azerbaijani script.
• Lezgins mainly profess Islam.
• Georgians scare children that Lezghins will come and steal him, because Lezghins, like other Caucasians, were considered robbers.
• The world famous dance Lezginka is named after the dancing Lezgins. It is Lezgins who are the founders of the dance, but at the moment the dance is Pan-Caucasian.

5. Azerbaijanis

• Azerbaijanis conquered the world with their singing, the art of carpet weaving and tambour embroidery. The people, which combine Persian and Turkic features, for many years considered themselves one, although they did not have their own name. Today, Azerbaijan, more than 90% of the population consists of ancient “Muslims”, is a bright, distinctive and modern state in which the narrow cobbled streets of the old city of Icheri Sheher are adjacent to the skyscrapers of central Baku.
• Most of the nation lives in Azerbaijan, accounting for 91.6% of the country’s population. A significant part of the representatives of the nationality occupies the territory of northwestern Iran.
• The estimated number of Azerbaijanis who live around the world today is 50 million.

• 90% of Azerbaijanis living in the Caucasus, Iran and Azerbaijan profess Islam.
• The tradition of hospitality that has passed through the centuries is known throughout the world.
• Despite its small area, Azerbaijan has 9 out of 11 possible climatic zones, which makes it a country with unique climatic conditions.
• Azerbaijanis call their homeland- “Land of Fires”.

• Azerbaijanis are the first Muslims who made equal rights between men and women.

Read about stereotypes about Azerbaijanis in my article: https://medium.com/julia-gorozhankina/stereotypes-associated-with-the-nationality-of-azerbaijanis-e19be34877cf

6. Ossetians

• Ossetians are direct descendants of the Alans. The second name of Ossetia is Alania.
• Ossetians live in the Caucasus and are the main population of South and North Ossetia.
• The total number of Ossetians around the world is about 755,000 people.

• Ossetians are the only people of the Caucasus about whom Lermontov wrote in his work “The Hero of Our Time”: “… they’re not capable of any kind of education, you won’t see a decent dagger on any one. Truly Ossetians!”
• Ossetians are the only Indo-European people in the Caucasus.

7. Armenians

• The Armenians are truly amazing people. Their history goes back over 2500 years, and taking into account the period of formation even more.
• Now the dominant religion in Armenia is Christianity. Islam is not spread as much as during the reign of the Ottomans.
• The Armenian diaspora is 10–12 million people, while the population of Armenia itself is about 3 million inhabitants. Most Armenians are in the USA, Russia, Iran, Lebanon, Ukraine, France, Syria and Argentina.

• Among the crafts developed carpet weaving, embroidery, weaving lace, stone-cutting and jewelry.

Countries and regions of the Caucasus:
* Azerbaijan
* Georgia
* Armenia
* Russia
* Adygea
* Dagestan
* Ingushetia
* Kabardino-Balkaria
* Karachay-Cherkessia
* North Ossetia
* Chechnya
* Krasnodar region
* Stavropol region
* Republic of Abkhazia (frequent recognition)
* South Ossetia (frequent recognition)
* NKR (unrecognized)

The Caucasus, nestled between mighty mountain ranges and magnificent valleys, belongs to the oldest regions with a multinational composition of the population.

The peoples of the Caucasus, differing in traditions and ethnic features, live here together. Now you know more about them.

P.S. Read about other nations in the following posts.