From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
A Kabardin family in the early 1900s.
Total population
Regions with significant populations
 Turkey 1,035,000
 Russia 590,010
 Jordan 102,000
 Syria 43,000
 Saudi Arabia 23,000
 United States 3,600
 Germany 2,100
 Uzbekistan 1,300
 Ukraine 473[3]
Kabardian, Russian, Turkish, Arabic
Predominantly Sunni Islam
with minorities professing Orthodox Christianity,[4] Habze and Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Ubykh.

Kabarda or Kabard (Adyghe: Къэбэртайхэр-адыгэ or Qăbărtajxăr-adǝgă; Arabic: القبرطاي أو القبردي‎); are terms referring to a people of the northern Caucasus more commonly known by the plural term Kabardin (or Kebertei as they term themselves). Originally they (with the Besleney (Arabic: البسلني‎) tribe comprised the semi-nomadic eastern branch of what was once the Adyghe tribal fellowship. The Kabardin still consider themselves as a tribe of Adyghe. They speak Kabardian, a North West Caucasian language that represents the easternmost extension of the Circassian language group.

There is an approach among the Circassians in Circassia from different tribes to use only the name Circassians (Adyghe) in Census 2010 in Russia; to reflect and revive the unity of the Adyghe Nation (Adyghes in Republic of Adyghea, Kabardians in Kabardino-Balkaria, Cherkess (Adyghe: Шэрджэс or Šărdžăs) in Karachay–Cherkessia, and the Shapsugs in the southern part of Krasnodar Krai, plus small Adyghe groups in Stavropol Krai and North Ossetia. This approach is widely supported in the Caucasus and among the Circassians in Diaspora.[citation needed]

They number around 520,000 in Russia[5] (as of 2002), living mainly in Kabardino-Balkaria. Significant populations of Kabardin are found in Turkey and Georgia.[1] There are also communities in the USA, Jordan and Syria. Kabard villages in Turkey are concentrated on Uzunyayla plateau of Kayseri Province.

Most Kabardin are Sunni Muslims. However, Kabardin speakers living in Mozdoksky District in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania are Orthodox Christians.[4][6] Nearly 2% of the Catholics in Russia, or about 2,500-3,000, are Kabardin.[7]

Some of the Kabardians living in North Ossetian Republic's Mozdok district and the southern part of the neighbouring Kursky district of Stavropol Krai are Orthodox Christians, whereas the other part of which are Sunni Muslims as well as Kabardians of Kabardino-Balkar Republic who belong mainly to Sunni Muslim faith, with a Habze minority.


  1. ^ a b "Kabard distribution". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 2013-04-16. 
  2. ^ "Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity". Retrieved 2013-04-16. 
  3. ^ "About number and composition population of Ukraine by data All-Ukrainian census of the population 2001". Ukraine Census 2001. State Statistics Committee of Ukraine. Retrieved 17 January 2012. 
  4. ^ a b James Stuart Olson, ed. (1994). An Ethnohistorical dictionary of the Russian and Soviet empires. Greenwood. p. 329. ISBN 0-313-27497-5. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
  5. ^ "Population". Perepis2002.ru. Retrieved 2013-04-16. 
  6. ^ Jamie Stokes, ed. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East: L to Z. Facts on File. p. 359. ISBN 0-8160-7158-6. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
  7. ^ http://sreda.org/arena

External links[edit]

Media related to Kabardinian at Wikimedia Commons