Abaza

The Abazins (or Abazinians), also known as the Abaza, are an ethnic group of the Northwest Caucasus, closely related to the Abkhaz and Circassian peoples. Today, as a result of atrocities committed by Imperial Russia during the Circassian genocide, they live mostly in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and in Karachay-Cherkessia and Stavropol Krai in the North Caucasus region of Russia. The Tapanta (ru:Тапанта), a branch of the Abaza, lived between the Besleney and Kabardian princedoms on the upper Kuban. Abaza people historically speak the Abaza language, a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abkhaz, and more distantly related to the Ubykh and Circassian languages. There are two dialects of Abaza spoken in Karachay-Cherkessia: Ashkharua and Tapanta. The culture and traditions of the Abazin are similar to those of the Circassians. On many old maps Abazin territory is marked as part of Circassia (Adygea). According to the 2010 Russian census, there were 43,341 Abazins in Russia.