03 June 2003, 02:28
Cherkess
They call themselves adige, they are the native population of Karachaevo-Cherkesia. According to the census of 1989 their population in Russia is 50,8 thousand people. They also live in Turkey, Syria, Jordan and the other countries of South-Western Asia. In the countries of South-Western Asia under the name of ?Cherkes? there unite the representatives of different mixed Caucasus nations (Adygs, Kabardins, Ubikhs, Ingushes, Chechens, Ossetins, Lezghins etc.). Their ancestors moved from Russia in the second half of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. Their total population is about 270 thousand people. They belong to the Balkan-Caucasus race of the big European race. They speak the Kabardin-Cherkessk language of the Abchaz-Adyg group of the North Caucasus family. Written language is based on Russian alphabet.
Most likely the word ?Cherkess? originates from the word ?Kerkets? used by the ancient Greek writers to describe the part of ancient Adig tribes. Later Georgians started to call all the Adygs Cherkess, and in the 18-19th century often all the Caucasus mountaineers were called so. At the beginning of 1920-ies, when Karachaevo-Cherkesskaya Autonomous Republic was formed , they started to call Cherkess all its Adyg population that consisted partly of the ancestors of the western Adyg groups, but mainly of the so-called runaway Kabardins that moved behind the Kuban in 1820-40-ies. During the following decades there formed a new Adyg nation - Cherkess, their culture is close and their language is similar to that of Kabardins.
