Circassians in Turkey


The Circassians in Turkey are one of the largest ethnic minorities in Turkey, with a population between 130,000 and 2 million. The closely related ethnic groups Abazins and Abkhazians are also often counted among them. Circassians are a Caucasian immigrant people, but the vast majority of them have assimilated to the Turkish language, and only a small minority still speak their native Circassian languages. The Circassians in Turkey are almost exclusively Sunni Muslims of Hanafi madh'hab.

Demographics

YearAs first languageAs second languageTotalTurkey's population% of Total speakers
192795,901095,90113,629,4880.70
193591,97214,703106,67516,157,4500.66
194566,6919,77976,47018,790,1740.41
195075,837075,83720,947,1880.36
195577,61122,861100,40724,064,7630.42
196063,13765,061128,19827,754,8200.46
196558,33948,621106,96031,391,4210.34

In the census of 1965, those who spoke Circassian as first language were proportionally most numerous in Kayseri, Tokat and Kahramanmaraş.