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Abkhazians (russian: Абхазы), or Abkhazs ( ab, Аԥсуаа, Aṕswaа, ), are a
Northwest Caucasian The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called West Caucasian, Abkhazo-Adyghean, Abkhazo-Circassian, Circassic, or sometimes ''Pontic languages'' (from the historical region of Pontus, in contrast to ''Caspian languages'' for the Northeast Cau ...
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, mainly living in
Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which ...
, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
. A large Abkhaz
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the population movements from the Caucasus in the late 19th century. Many Abkhaz also live in other parts of the former
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, particularly in Russia and Ukraine.


Ethnology

The
Abkhaz language Abkhaz ( ; ), sometimes spelled Abxaz and also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazia, where around 100,00 ...
belongs to the isolate Northwest Caucasian language family, also known as Abkhaz–Adyghe or North Pontic family, which groups the dialectic continuum spoken by the Abaza–Abkhaz (Abazgi) and Adyghe ("Circassians" in English). Abkhazians are closely ethnically related to Circassians. Classical sources speak of several tribes dwelling in the region, but their exact identity and location remain controversial due to Abkhaz–Georgian historiographical conflict.


Subgroups

There are also three subgroups of the Abkhaz people. The Bzyb (Бзыԥ, Bzyph) reside in the
Bzyb River The Bzyb or Bzipi ( or ; ka, ბზიფი, Bzipi; ab, Бзыҧ, Bzyṗ; russian: Бзыбь, Bzybj) is one of the two largest rivers of Abkhazia, along with the Kodori, and the twelfth longest river in Georgia. The river valley has rich biod ...
region, and speak their own dialect. The Abzhui (Абжьыуа, Abzhwa) live in the
Kodori River The Kodori ( ka, კოდორი; ab, Кәыдры, Kwydry) is one of the two largest rivers of Abkhazia, along with the Bzyb. It is formed by the joining of the rivers Sakeni and Gvandra. The Kodori is first among Abkhazia's rivers with re ...
region, and also speak their own dialect, which the Abkhaz literary language is based upon. Finally, there are the Samurzakan who reside in the southeast of Abkhazia.


History

Some scholars deem the ancient
Heniochi The Heniochi ( ka, ჰენიოხები, gr, Ἡνίοχοι, ''Heníochoi'' "charioteers") were an ancient tribe inhabiting northwest shores of Colchis (present-day Abkhazia, northwestern Georgia) and some say Phasis area. Their country ...
tribe the progenitors of the Abkhaz. This warlike people came into contact with
Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
through the colonies of
Dioskourias Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...
and Pitiuntas. In the
Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, the
Abasgoi The Abasgoi or Abasgians ( grc, Αβασγοί, Abasgoi, and grc, Ἁβασκοί, Abaskoi; la, Abasci, Abasgi; ka, აბაზგები, Abazgebi; compare Abkhaz ''Абазаа'' "the Abaza people") were one of the ancient tribes inhabit ...
are mentioned as inhabiting the region. These Abasgoi (Abkhaz) were described by
Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...
as warlike, worshippers of three deities, under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Lazica. The Abkhazian view is that the
Apsilae The Apsilae were an ancient tribe inhabiting the territory of Apsilia, in modern Abkhazia. Location The tribal territory was located on the Black Sea coast of the northwest Caucasus, between present day town of New Athos and the village of Tsebeld ...
and
Abasgoi The Abasgoi or Abasgians ( grc, Αβασγοί, Abasgoi, and grc, Ἁβασκοί, Abaskoi; la, Abasci, Abasgi; ka, აბაზგები, Abazgebi; compare Abkhaz ''Абазаа'' "the Abaza people") were one of the ancient tribes inhabit ...
are ancestors of the Abkhaz–Adyghe group of peoples, while the Georgian view is that those were
Colchians In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally thoug ...
( Kartvelians or
Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, ...
). Lazica was a vassal kingdom of the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
throughout most of its existence. Later the independent
Kingdom of Abkhazia The Kingdom of Abkhazia ( ka, აფხაზთა სამეფო, tr; lit. "Kingdom of the Abkhazians"), also known as Abasgia or Egrisi-Abkhazia, was a medieval feudal state in the Caucasus which was established in the 780s. Through d ...
was established and the region became a part of the Georgian cultural world. The local nobility, clergy and educated class used Georgian as a language of literacy and culture. From the early 11th to the 15th century, Abkhazia was a part of the all- Georgian monarchy, but then became a separate
Principality of Abkhazia The Principality of Abkhazia ( ka, აფხაზეთის სამთავრო, tr) emerged as a separate feudal entity in the 15th-16th centuries, amid the civil wars in the Kingdom of Georgia that concluded with the dissolution of t ...
only to be conquered by the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
. Towards the end of the 17th century, the region became a theatre of widespread slave trade and piracy. According to a controversial theory developed by Pavle Ingorokva in the 1950s, at that time a number of the
Northwest Caucasian The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called West Caucasian, Abkhazo-Adyghean, Abkhazo-Circassian, Circassic, or sometimes ''Pontic languages'' (from the historical region of Pontus, in contrast to ''Caspian languages'' for the Northeast Cau ...
pagan Abaza tribes migrated from the north and blended with the local ethnic elements, significantly changing the region's demographic situation. These views were described as ethnocentric and having little historical support. They served as intellectual support to the Stalin-era assimilation policy and had a profound influence on the Georgian nationalism in the 1980s. The Russian conquest of Abkhazia from the 1810s to the 1860s was accompanied by a massive expulsion of
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
Abkhaz to the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
and the introduction of a strong
Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cult ...
policy. As a result, the Abkhaz diaspora is currently estimated to measure at least twice the number of Abkhaz that reside in Abkhazia. The largest part of the diaspora now lives in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 500,000, with smaller groups in
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
(5,000 – 10,000) and
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. In recent years, some of these have emigrated to the West, principally to
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
(5,000),
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
(mainly to
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
).Chirikba 2003 pp. 6-8 After the
Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, Abkhazia was a part of the
Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to F ...
, but was conquered by the Red Army in 1921 and eventually entered the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
as a Soviet Socialist Republic associated with the
Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...
. The status of Abkhazia was downgraded in 1931 when it became an Autonomous SSR within the Georgian SSR. Under
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
, a forcible
collectivization Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
was introduced and the native communist elite purged. The influx of Armenians, Russians and Georgians into the growing agricultural and tourism sectors was also encouraged, and Abkhaz schools were briefly closed. By 1989, the number of Abkhaz was about 93,000 (18% of the population of the autonomous republic), while the Georgian population numbered 240,000 (45%). The number of Armenians (15% of the entire population) and Russians (14%) grew substantially as well. The 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia followed by the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia left the Abkhaz an ethnic plurality of ca. 45%, with Russians, Armenians, Georgians, Greeks, and Jews comprising most of the remainder of the population of Abkhazia. The 2003 census established the total number of Abkhaz in Abkhazia at 94,606. However, the exact demographic figures for the region are disputed and alternative figures are available. The de facto Abkhaz president
Sergey Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...
suggested, in 2005, that less than 70,000 ethnic Abkhaz lived in Abkhazia. At the time of the 2011 Census, 122,175 Abkhaz were living in Abkhazia. They were 50.8% of the total population of the republic. In the course of the Syrian uprising, a number of Abkhaz living in Syria immigrated to Abkhazia. By mid-April 2013, approximately 200 Syrians of Abkhaz descent had arrived in Abkhazia. A further 150 were due to arrive by the end of April. The Abkhazian leadership has stated that it would continue the repatriation of Abkhaz living abroad. As of August 2013, 531 Abkhaz had arrived from Syria according to the Abkhazian government.


Economy

The typical economy is strong on the breeding of cattle,
beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus ''Apis (insect), Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees ar ...
,
viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...
, and agriculture.


Religion

The Abkhaz people are principally divided into Abkhazian Orthodox Christian (the Abkhazian Orthodox Church is not recognized by any of the world Orthodox churches, but the territory is recognized as the
Eparchy of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia The Eparchy of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia ( ka, ბიჭვინთისა და ცხუმ აფხაზეთის ეპარქია) is an eparchy (diocese) of the Georgian Orthodox Church with its seat in Sukhumi, Sokhumi (Tsk ...
of the
Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...
) and
Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
(Hanafi) communities, (prevalent in Abkhazia and Turkey respectively) but the indigenous non-Abrahamic beliefs have always been strong. Although Christianity made its first appearance in the realm of their Circassian neighbours in the first century AD via the travels and preaching of the
Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...
, and became the dominant religion of Circassians in the 3rd to 4th centuries, Christianity became the dominant religion of Abkhazians in the 6th century during the reign of
Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as ...
Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...
, and continued to be followed under the kings of Georgia in the
High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...
. The
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
introduced
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
in the 16th century and the region became largely Muslim gradually until the 1860s.


Diaspora

Many Muslim Cherkess, Abkhaz and Chechens migrated to the Ottoman Empire following revolts against Russian rule. It is believed that the Abkhaz community in Turkey is larger than that of Abkhazia itself. Some 250 Abkhaz-Abaza villages are estimated throughout Turkey. According to
Andrew Dalby Andrew Dalby, (born 1947 in Liverpool) is an English linguist, translator and historian who has written articles and several books on a wide range of topics including food history, language, and Classical texts. Education and early career D ...
, Abkhazian-speakers might number more than 100,000 in Turkey, however, the 1963 census only recorded 4,700 native speakers and 8,000 secondary speakers. Of the 15,000 ethnic Abkhaz in Turkey, only 4,000 speak the language, the rest having assimilated into Turkish society. As of 2006, it is estimated that 600,000 to 800,000 Abkhazians by descent live in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
.


Genetics

The ethnic group closest to Abkhazians in terms of
genetic distance Genetic distance is a measure of the genetic divergence between species or between populations within a species, whether the distance measures time from common ancestor or degree of differentiation. Populations with many similar alleles have s ...
are
Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, ...
, being nearly identical to Western Georgian genetics.


Gallery

File:Abkhazia, Georgia — Bichvinta Cathedral.jpg, Pitsunda Cathedral, seat of
Abkhazian Orthodox Church The Abkhazian Orthodox Church (russian: Абхазская Православная церковь) is an Eastern Orthodox church outside the official Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical hierarchy. It came into existence when the ''Sukhumi-Abkhazian ...
File:Abkhaz-deputatklk.jpg, Abkhazs in the mid-19th century


Notable people


Literature

*
Fazil Iskander Fazil Abdulovich Iskander (russian: Фази́ль Абду́лович Исканде́р; ab, Фазиль Абдул-иԥа Искандер; 6 March 1929 – 31 July 2016) was a Soviet and Russian"There's no doubt I'm a Russian writer who pr ...
(1929–2016), writer *
Alexey Gogua Alexey Gogua ( Abkhaz: Алықьса Ноча-иҧа Гәагәуа; born 15 March 1932 in Gup village, Ochamchira District, Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia) is an Abkhaz writer. He studied at the Sukhumi Pedagogical University and Maxim Go ...
, (born 1932), writer *
Bagrat Shinkuba Bagrat Uasyl-ipa Shinkuba ( ab, Баграҭ Уасыл-иҧа Шьынқәба; russian: Баграт Васильевич Шинкуба; 12 May 1917 – 25 February 2004) was an Abkhaz writer, poet, historian, linguist and politician. He ...
(1917–2004), writer, poet *
Murat Yagan Murat may refer to: Places Australia * Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia * Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area France * Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier * Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal Elsewhe ...
(1915–2013), author of ancient teachings Murat Yagan


Politics

*
Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...
(1949–2011), President of Abkhazia * Rauf Orbay (1881–1964), Turkish politician *
Hayreddin Pasha Hayreddin Pasha ( aeb, خير الدين باشا التونسي Khayr ed-Din Pasha et-Tunsi; ota, تونسلى حيرالدين پاشا; tr, Tunuslu Hayreddin Paşa; 1820 – 30 January 1890) was an Ottoman- Tunisian statesman and reforme ...
(1820–1890), Ottoman politician *
Nestor Lakoba Nestor Apollonovich Lakoba; ; ab, Нестор Аполлон-иԥа Лакоба; ( Georgian: ნესტორ აპოლონის ძე ლაკობა est'or Ap'olonis Dze Lak'oba 1 May 189328 December 1936) was an Abkhaz comm ...
(1893–1936), Abkhaz communist leader


See also

*
Afro-Abkhazians Abkhazians of African descent or Afro-Abkhazians, also known as African Caucasians, were a small group of people of African descent in Abkhazia, who used to live mainly in the settlement Adzyubzha at the mouth of the Kodori River and the surroun ...
*
Women in Abkhazia Abkhazian women, particularly those of older age, are traditionally portrayed as peacemakers, decision makers, and mediators in times of combat and conflict. The women in Abkhazia only have a marginal in number within the showground of Abkhazian ...
*
History of Abkhazia This article refers to the history of Abkhazia from its pre-historic settlement by the lower-paleolithic hunter-gatherers to the post-1992-1993 war situation. Prehistoric settlement Lower Paleolithic hunting-gathering encampments formed ...


References


Sources

* * * * * * * David Marshall Lang, ''Caucasian Studies'', University of London, 1964, Vol.1 * Roger Rosen, ''Georgia: Sovereign Country of the Caucasus'', Odyssey, 2004, * * L. Bitadze, "Anthropological History of Abkhazians", Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology, 2009 {{Authority control
Abkhaz people Abkhazians (russian: Абхазы), or Abkhazs ( ab, Аԥсуаа, Aṕswaа, ), are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A large Abkhaz diaspora populati ...
Indigenous peoples of Europe Peoples of the Caucasus