Kurds in Russia
Ethnic group in Russia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kurds in Russia (Russian: Курды в России, romanized: Kurdy v Rossii; Kurdish: Kurdên Rusyayê, کوردانی ڕوسیا) form a major part of the historically significant Kurdish population in the post-Soviet space, with close ties to the Kurdish communities in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
| |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 50,701 (2021) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Kursk[1] 10,000 in Moscow (1995)[2] | |
| Languages | |
| Kurdish (Kurmanji), Russian, Armenian, Georgian[3] | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Yazidism, Irreligion[4][5] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Iranian peoples |
History
During the early 19th century, the main goal of the Russian Empire was to ensure the neutrality of the Kurds in the wars against Persia and the Ottoman Empire.[6] In the beginning of the 19th century, Kurds settled in Transcaucasia, at a time when Transcaucasia was incorporated into the Russian Empire. In the 20th century, Kurds were persecuted and exterminated by the Turks and Persians, a situation that led Kurds to move to Russian Transcaucasia.[3] From 1804–1813 and again in 1826–1828, when the Russian Empire and the Persian Empire were at war, the Russian authorities let Kurds settle in Russia and Armenia.[3] During the Crimean War and the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Kurds moved to Russia and Armenia.[3] According to the Russian Census of 1897, 99,900 Kurds lived in the Russian Empire.[7]
In 1937 and 1944 Soviet Kurds experienced forced deportations from Azerbaijan (mostly), Armenia and Georgia.
During World War II, one of the most renowned Soviet Kurds was Samand Siabandov, a war hero.
Abdullah Öcalan sought asylum in Russia in 1998.[1]
Population (1897–2021)
Kurdish population in Russia according to census statistics from 1897 to 2021:
| Year | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1897[8] | 113 | In European Russia |
| 1926[9] | 178 | In the Russian SFSR |
| 1939[10] | 387 | |
| 1959[11] | 855 | |
| 1979[12] | 1,631 | |
| 1989[13] | 4,724 | |
| 2002[14] | 50,880 | In the Russian Federation |
| 2010[14] | 63,818 | |
| 2021[15] | 50,701 |
Notable Kurds in Russia
- Qanate Kurdo, Kurdish philologist
- Zara Mgoyan, pop singer
- Mikhail Aloyan, Boxer
- Guram Adzhoyev, Footballer
- Guram Adzhoyev (1995), Footballer
- Aziz Shavershian, Russian-born Australian bodybuilder and internet celebrity
