• origins and settlement patterns

    TITLE: Turkic peoples
    The Karachay and Balkar of the Russian Caucasus Mountains are of uncertain origin. In the course of many centuries, they have become mixed with the Ossetes (Ossetians), from whom they are anthropologically indistinguishable. They were deported during World War II to areas in Central Asia but have since been allowed to return.
    TITLE: Russia: The Altaic group
    SECTION: The Altaic group
    ...an important cluster of Turkic speakers between the middle Volga and southern Urals, comprising the Bashkir, Chuvash, and Tatars. A second cluster, in the North Caucasus region, includes the Balkar, Karachay, Kumyk, and Nogay. There also are numerous Turkic-speaking groups in southern Siberia between the Urals and Lake Baikal: the Altai, Khakass, Shor, Tofalar, and Tyvans (Tuvans; they inhabit...