The Caucasus is a region located partly in Eastern Europe and partly in Western Asia, spanning Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and southern Russia. Bounded by the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, it includes the Caucasus Mountains, which serve as a natural boundary between Europe and Asia.

Tens of millions of people across more than 50 ethnic groups reside in the Caucasus. There are four language families with a historic presence in the region: Caucasian, Indo-European, and Turkic and Mongolic (i.e., Altaic).

By language family

Caucasian

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 Georgians Zans Lazs Mingrelians Svans Dvals

Northeast Caucasian languages Avar–Andic peoples: Andis Akhvakhs Avars Bagvalals Botlikhs Chamalals Godoberis Karatas Tindis Dargins Dargwa Kaitags Kubachins Itsari Chirag Khinalugs Laks Lezgic peoples: Aguls Archin Budukhs Jeks Kryts Lezgins Rutuls Tabasarans Tsakhurs Udis Nakh peoples: Arshtins Bats Chechens Kists Ingush Tsezic (Didoic) peoples: Bezhtas Hinukhs Hunzibs Khwarshis Tsez

Northwest Caucasian languages Abazins Abkhazians Circassians Abzakhs Besleneys Bzhedugs Chemirgoys Kabardians Natukhajs Shapsugs Ubykhs

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

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

Armenians Armeno-Tats Cherkesogai Zoks Germans Hellenic group: Caucasus Greeks Pontic Greeks Indo-Aryan group: Loms Iranian group: Ossetians Digors Irons Talysh Tats Kurds Yazidis Latins†, including Romance language speakers Slavic group: Poles, particularly in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia Russians, including Cossacks and Spiritual Christians Ukrainians, particularly in Armenia and Kuban

†Mostly descended from Genoese Catholic settlers of the Late Middle Ages.

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.

Turkic Caucasians that speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family:

Kipchaks: Kumyks Balkars Karachays Nogais Oghuz Turks: Azerbaijanis Meskhetian Turks Karapapakhs 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.

Mongolic

Kalmyks

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.

Semitic Caucasians that speak languages belonging to the Semitic language family:

Assyrians in the Caucasus number approximately 35,000 people, and live in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and southern Russia. There are up to 15,000 in Georgia, 5000 in Armenia, up to 15,000 in southern Russian regions of the Caucasus and 1400 in Azerbaijan. They descend from the ancient Mesopotamians and are indigenous to what is today Iraq, Northeastern Syria, Northwestern Iran, and Southeastern Turkey. They are Eastern Rite Christians, mainly followers of the Assyrian Church of the East, and speak and write Mesopotamian Eastern Aramaic dialects. Caucasus Jews of two sub-ethnic groups Mountain Jews and Georgian Jews. There are about 15,000–30,000 Caucasus Jews (as 140,000 immigrated to Israel, and 40,000 to the United States). Arabs in the Caucasus: a population of nomadic Arabs was reported in 1728 as having rented winter pastures near the Caspian shores of the Mugan plain (in present-day Azerbaijan). In 1888, an unknown number of Arabs still lived in the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire. As well as descendants of Sayyid and Siddiqui – the people with Arabian origin, but mostly assimilated by other Caucasian peoples. However, some people identify not just as Sayyid or Siddiqui with non-Arabian ethnicity, but as Arabs.Stephen Adolphe Wurm et al. Atlas of languages of intercultural communication. Walter de Gruyter, 1996; p. 966

By population +Ethnicities of the Caucasus by populationNameTotal populationRegionGroupLanguagesSubgroupReligionMingrelians288,000SamegreloKartveliansMingrelianZansOrthodox ChristianityLazs750000–1500000LazistanKartveliansLazZansSunni IslamSvans30,000SvanetiKartveliansSvanSvansOrthodox ChristianityGeorgians5000000GeorgiaKartveliansGeorgianGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityIngiloys14,900Saingilo (Hereti)KartveliansIngiloan dialectGeorgiansSunni IslamMeskhetians77,498Georgian census, 2014SamtskheKartveliansMeskhetian dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityGurians104,338GuriaKartveliansGurian dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityTushs30,000TushetiKartveliansTushetian dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityRachians52,000RachaKartveliansRacha dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityPshavs30,000PshaviaKartveliansPshavian dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityMokhevians7,000KheviKartveliansKhevi dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityKhevsurians10,000KhevsuretiKartveliansKhevsur dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityKakhetians500,000KakhetiKartveliansKakheti dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityImeretians400,000–600,000ImeretiKartveliansImeretian dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityJavakhians5,000JavakhetiKartveliansJavakhian dialectGeorgiansOrthodox ChristianityAdjarians560,000AdjaraKartveliansAdjarian dialectGeorgiansSunni IslamFereydani100,000FereydanKartveliansPereidnuli dialectGeorgiansShia IslamAndis40,000AndiaNortheast caucasiansAndiAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamAkhvakhs10,000Akhvakh districtNortheast caucasiansAkhvakhAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamAvars1200000AvariaNortheast caucasiansAvarAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamBagvalals5,000Tsumadinsky DistrictNortheast caucasiansBagvalalAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamBotlikhs3,788Botlikhsky DistrictNortheast caucasiansBotlikhAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamChamalals10,000Tsumadinsky DistrictNortheast caucasiansChamalalAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamGodoberi4,000Botlikhsky DistrictNortheast caucasiansGodoberiAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamKaratas7,500Khasavyurtovsky DistrictNortheast caucasiansKarataAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamTindi10,000Andi-Koysu riverNortheast caucasiansTindiAvar–Andic peopleSunni IslamDargins700,000DarginiaNortheast caucasiansDargwaDarginsSunni IslamKaitag25,000–30,000Kaytagsky DistrictNortheast caucasiansKaitagDarginsSunni IslamKubachi7,000KubachiNortheast caucasiansKubachinDarginsSunni IslamItsaris2,000ItsariNortheast caucasiansItsariDarginsSunni IslamChirags2,000ChiragNortheast caucasiansChiragDarginsSunni IslamKhinalugs2,233ShahdagNortheast caucasiansKhinalugKhinalugsSunni IslamLaks200,000LakiaNortheast caucasiansLakLaksSunni IslamLezgins1000000LezgistanNortheast caucasiansLezgianLezgic peopleSunni IslamAghuls45,000Aguldere gorgeNortheast caucasiansAghulLezgic peopleSunni IslamArchin5,000ArchibNortheast caucasiansArchinLezgic peopleSunni IslamBudukhs1,000ShahdagNortheast caucasiansBudukhLezgic peopleSunni IslamTabasarans155,000TabarstanNortheast caucasiansTabasaranLezgic peopleSunni IslamJeks11,000ShahdagNortheast caucasiansJekLezgic peopleSunni IslamKryts10,000–15,000ShahdagNortheast caucasiansKrytsLezgic peopleSunni IslamRutuls120,000Rutulsky DistrictNortheast caucasiansRutulLezgic peopleSunni IslamTsakhurs30,000TsakhurNortheast caucasiansTsakhurLezgic peopleSunni IslamUdis10,000UtikNortheast caucasiansUdiLezgic peopleAlbanian-Udi ChurchBats3,000TushetiNortheast caucasiansBatsNakh peopleOrthodox ChristianityChechens2000000ChechnyaNortheast caucasiansChechenNakh peopleSunni IslamIngush700,000IngushetiaNortheast caucasiansIngushNakh peopleSunni IslamTsez30,000Tsunta districtNortheast caucasiansTsezTsezic (Didoic) peopleSunni IslamBezhta13,000Tsunta districtNortheast caucasiansBezhtaTsezic (Didoic) peopleSunni IslamHinukh4,000Tsunta districtNortheast caucasiansHinukhTsezic (Didoic) peopleSunni IslamHunzib6,200Tsunta districtNortheast caucasiansHunzibTsezic (Didoic) peopleSunni IslamKhwarshis8,500Tsumadinsky districtNortheast caucasiansKhwarshiTsezic (Didoic) peopleSunni IslamAbaza150,000AbasgiaNorthwest caucasiansAbazinAbazinsSunni IslamAbkhazians185,000–600,000AbkhaziaNorthwest caucasiansAbkhazAbkhaziansOrthodox Christianity in Abkhazia Sunni Islam in TurkeyCircassians5300000CircassiaNorthwest caucasiansCircassianCircassiansSunni IslamKabardians1628500KabardiaNorthwest caucasiansKabardian dialectCircassiansSunni IslamUbykhs20,000UbykhiaNorthwest caucasiansUbykhCircassiansSunni IslamArmenians8000000–16000000ArmeniaIndo-EuropeansArmenianArmeniansArmenian ApostolicCherkesogai100,000–350,000CircassiaIndo-EuropeansCircassian, ArmenianArmeniansArmenian ApostolicZoks<1,000GoghtnIndo-EuropeansZok dialectArmeniansArmenian ApostolicHemshins150,000–200,000HemshinIndo-EuropeansHomshetsi dialectArmeniansArmenian Apostolic in Georgia, Russia Sunni Islam in TurkeyPontic Greeks2000000–2500000PontusIndo-EuropeansPontic GreekGreeksOrthodox Christianity in Greece Sunni Islam in TurkeyUrums192,700CaucasusIndo-EuropeansUrumGreeksOrthodox ChristianityOssetians700,000OssetiaIndo-EuropeansOssetianIraniansOrthodox Christianity