| Abkhaz People |
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The Abkhazians or '''Abkhaz''' are a Caucasian Ethnic Group , mainly living in Abkhazia , and distinct from Georgians . In language and culture they are related to the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus and are some of the oldest inhabitants of West Transcaucasia . Abkhazians refer to their traditional lands as "Ashvy." They speak the Abkhaz Language , a Northwest Caucasian Language . The main religion of the Abkhazians living in Abkhazia is Orthodox Christianity (since the 6th c.). Most Muslim Abkhazians (which appeared since the 15 c.) migrated in the 19th c. to Turkey. HISTORY In the early middle ages, there existed an Abkhazian Kingdom , at the same time as the Georgian Kingdom . In the 1860's Abkhazia was annexed by the Russian Empire. During this period and soon afterward, a significant part of the Abkhazian population (which confesses the mixture of Islamic , Christian and pagan beliefs) was either evicted or freely moved into adjacent Turkey. Despite this emigration, at the beginning of the twentieth century Abkhazians still composed the majority on their native land. After the 1917 revolution Abkhazia entered into the Soviet Union as a sovereign republic in the composition of what was called the Transcaucasian Federation , and this status was confirmed in 1925 in the new constitution of Abkhazia. But in 1931 this status was lowered to an Autonomous Republic inside Georgia . During the Soviet period (especially under Stalin ), Abkhazia underwent massive "Georgification", and Abkhazians experienced discrimination in many spheres. Lavrenty Beria , the head of the Georgian Communist Party in 1930, played an active role in implementing this policy. As a result, the population of Abkhazians sharply changed during the life of two generations. By 1989 the number of Abkhazians was about 93,000 (18 % of the population of the republic), while the Georgian population numbered 240,000 (45 %). The number of Armenians (15 % of the entire population) and Russians (14 %) also substantially grew. In 1993, the majority of the ethnic Georgian population was expelled from Abkhazia, so after this year, Abkhazians form a relative ethnic majority in Abhazia (45%), with Russians, Armenians, Georgians, Greeks, and Jews comprising most of the remainder of the population of Abkhazia. There are about 200,000 ethnic Abkhazians total, of which 150,000 live in Abkhazia. The total population of Abkhazia is estimated at 340,000 people. SEE ALSO |