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
Year | As first language | As second language | Total | Turkey's population | % of Total speakers |
1927 | 95,901 | 0 | 95,901 | 13,629,488 | 0.70 |
1935 | 91,972 | 14,703 | 106,675 | 16,157,450 | 0.66 |
1945 | 66,691 | 9,779 | 76,470 | 18,790,174 | 0.41 |
1950 | 75,837 | 0 | 75,837 | 20,947,188 | 0.36 |
1955 | 77,611 | 22,861 | 100,407 | 24,064,763 | 0.42 |
1960 | 63,137 | 65,061 | 128,198 | 27,754,820 | 0.46 |
1965 | 58,339 | 48,621 | 106,960 | 31,391,421 | 0.34 |
In the census of 1965, those who spoke Circassian as first language were proportionally most numerous in Kayseri, Tokat and Kahramanmaraş.