The Circassians (Adyghe: Adygekher) are the indigenous people of the northwestern Caucasus, also known as the Cherkess. The name covers the twelve Adyghe tribes, each represented by a star on the green-and-gold Circassian flag.
Soviet administrative borders gave them different names: Adygeans in Adygea, Cherkess in Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardians in Kabardino-Balkaria and Shapsugs in Krasnodar Krai. They are one people living in different political units.
Their language belongs to the Northwest Caucasian family, known among linguists for its many consonants and very few vowels. Christianised in the 6th century under Byzantine and Georgian influence, Circassians gradually embraced Islam, which was fully established by the 18th and 19th centuries. Through it all, Adyghe Xabze, the unwritten code of custom, honour and hospitality, has remained strong.
Circassia was ceded to Russia on paper in 1829, but the Circassians resisted until 1864. After the defeat, around one and a half million Circassians were driven from their homeland to the Ottoman Empire, one of the greatest mass movements of population in modern history. The Russian census of 1897 recorded only 150,000 Circassians left in the Caucasus.
Today Circassians live in Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria, and in large communities in Türkiye, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Europe and the Americas.
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