Ethnic groups in the Caucasus

By population

By location

This gives ethnic locations about 1775 before the Russians came. 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. 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.

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

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

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.