Editing Circassians (section)

{{Short description|Northwest Caucasian ethnic group native to Circassia}}
{{other uses|Circassian (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Circassians
| native_name      = {{nativename|ady|Адыгэхэр}}<br> {{nativename|kbd|Адыгэхэр}}
| native_name_lang = ady
| flag             = Circassian flag.svg
| flag_caption     = [[Circassian flag|Circassian national flag]]
| image            = Circassian diaspora.png
| image_caption    = Map of the [[Circassian diaspora]]
| population       = {{circa|5.3&nbsp;million}}
| region1          = {{flagicon|Turkey}} [[Circassians in Turkey|Turkey]]
| pop1             = 2,000,000–3,000,000
| ref1             = {{sfn|Richmond|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LHlwZwpA70cC&q=million+circassians+in+turkey&pg=PA130 130]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Danver |first1=Steven L. |title=Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues |date=2015 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1317464006 |page=528 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vf4TBwAAQBAJ&q=2+million+circassians+turkey |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=23 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123185224/https://books.google.com/books?id=vf4TBwAAQBAJ&q=2+million+circassians+turkey |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Zhemukhov">{{cite journal |last1=Zhemukhov |first1=Sufian |title=Circassian World Responses to the New Challenges |journal=PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo No. 54 |date=2008 |page=2 |url=http://www.ponarseurasia.org/sites/default/files/policy-memos-pdf/pepm_054.pdf |access-date=8 May 2016 |archive-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819072215/http://www.ponarseurasia.org/sites/default/files/policy-memos-pdf/pepm_054.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
| region2          = {{flagcountry|Russia}}
* {{flag|Adygea}}
* {{flag|Krasnodar Krai}}
* {{flag|Kabardino-Balkaria}}
* {{flag|Karachay-Cherkessia}}
| pop2             = 751,487
| ref2             = <ref name=census2021>{{cite web |script-title=ru:Национальный состав населения |title=Natsional'nyy sostav naseleniya |trans-title=National composition of the population |language=ru |url=https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx |publisher=[[Federal State Statistics Service (Russia)|Federal State Statistics Service]] |access-date=30 December 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230204643/https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx |url-status=live }}</ref>
| region3          = {{flagicon|Jordan}} [[Circassians in Jordan|Jordan]]
| pop3             = 100,000–250,000
| ref3             = <ref name="ИзРус">{{cite web |url=http://izrus.co.il/dvuhstoronka/article/2009-04-10/4250.html |title=Израйльский сайт ИзРус |access-date=8 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030205448/http://izrus.co.il/dvuhstoronka/article/2009-04-10/4250.html |archive-date=30 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Zhemukhov"/> {{dead link|date=May 2025}}
| region4          = [[File:Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg|24px]] [[Circassians in Syria|Syria]]
| pop4             = 80,000–120,000
| ref4             = <ref name="Zhemukhov"/><ref>{{cite news |title= Syrian Circassians returning to Russia's Caucasus region |url=http://www.trtworld.com/europe/syrian-circassians-returning-to-russias-caucasus-region-7673 |access-date=8 May 2016 |agency=TRTWorld and agencies |publisher=TRTWorld |date=2015 |quote=Currently, approximately 80,000 ethnic Circassians live in Syria after their ancestors were forced out of the northern Caucasus by Russians between 1863 and 1867. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601011801/http://www.trtworld.com/europe/syrian-circassians-returning-to-russias-caucasus-region-7673 |archive-date=1 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+sy0038%29 |title=Syria |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511060007/http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0038) |archive-date=11 May 2011 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref name="ИД">{{cite web |url=http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/encyclopedia/index.php?title=%D0%A1%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F |script-title=ru:Независимые английские исследования |title=Nezavisimyye angliyskiye issledovaniya |language=ru |trans-title=Independent English Studies |access-date=8 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508055050/http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/encyclopedia/index.php?title=%D0%A1%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F |archive-date=8 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Jamestown">{{cite news |url=http://www.jamestown.org/programs/nca/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=37779&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=24&cHash=0080bc52dc79241fd4e3a5a295d72c4c |title=Moscow Uses Circassians to Offer Assistance to Libyan Leader Qaddafi |newspaper=Jamestown |publisher=Jamestown.org |date=7 May 2011 |access-date=20 August 2013 |archive-date=10 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910131524/http://www.jamestown.org/programs/nca/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=37779&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=24&cHash=0080bc52dc79241fd4e3a5a295d72c4c |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region5          = {{flagicon|Egypt}} [[Circassians in Egypt|Egypt]]
| pop5             = 50,000{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
| ref5             = 
| region6          = {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Circassians in Germany|Germany]]
| pop6             = 40,000
| ref6             = <ref name="Zhemukhov" /><ref name=OSH>{{cite web |last=Lopes |first=Tiago André Ferreira |title=The Offspring of the Arab Spring |url=http://www.segurancahumana.eu/data/res/30/1819.pdf |work=Strategic Outlook |publisher=Observatory for Human Security (OSH) |access-date=16 June 2013 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224201838/http://www.segurancahumana.eu/data/res/30/1819.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region7          = {{flagicon|Libya}} [[Circassians in Libya|Libya]]
| pop7             = 35,000
| ref7             = <ref name="Jamestown"/>
| region8          = {{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Circassians in Iraq|Iraq]]
| pop8             = 34,000
| ref8             = <ref name="Ref_ae">{{cite web |url=http://i-cias.com/e.o/adyghe_l.htm |title=Adyghe by country |access-date=8 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021061231/http://i-cias.com/e.o/adyghe_l.htm |archive-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region9          = {{flagicon|United&nbsp;States}} [[Circassian Americans|United States]]
| pop9             = 25,000
| ref9             = <ref name="Ref_ae"/>
| region10         = {{flagicon|Saudi&nbsp;Arabia}} [[Circassians in Saudi Arabia|Saudi Arabia]]
| pop10            = 23,000{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
| ref10            = 
| region11         = {{flagicon|Iran}} [[Circassians in Iran|Iran]]
| pop11            = 5,000–50,000
| ref11            = <ref name="Circassians in Iran">{{cite news |url=https://caucasustimes.com/en/circassians-in-iran/ |title=Circassians in Iran |newspaper=Caucasus Times |date=9 February 2018 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920182911/http://caucasustimes.com/en/circassians-in-iran/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region12         = {{flagicon|Israel}} [[Circassians in Israel|Israel]]
| pop12            = 4,000–5,000
| ref12            = <ref>{{cite book |last1=Besleney |first1=Zeynel Abidin |title=The Circassian Diaspora in Turkey: A Political History |date=2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1317910046 |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQIkAwAAQBAJ&q=circassians+in+israel+4%2C000&pg=PA96 |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=21 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121174750/https://books.google.com/books?id=YQIkAwAAQBAJ&q=circassians+in+israel+4%2C000&pg=PA96#v=snippet&q=circassians%20in%20israel%204%2C000&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Torstrick |first1=Rebecca L. |title=Culture and Customs of Israel |date=2004 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0313320910 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amvQP0MzxRwC&q=circassians+in+israel+4,000|access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=21 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121174751/https://books.google.com/books?id=amvQP0MzxRwC&q=circassians+in+israel+4,000 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Louër |first1=Laurence |title=To be an Arab in Israel |date=2007 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0231140683 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4FtAAAAMAAJ&q=circassians+in+israel+5,000 |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=21 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121174907/https://books.google.com/books?id=p4FtAAAAMAAJ&q=circassians+in+israel+5,000 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region13         = {{flagcountry|Uzbekistan}}
| pop13            = 1,257
| ref13            = <ref>{{cite web |script-title=ru:Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР |title=Vsesoyuznaya perepis' naseleniya 1989 goda. Natsional'nyy sostav naseleniya po respublikam SSSR |trans-title=All-Union population census of 1989. National composition of the population by republic of the USSR |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=4 |access-date=6 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106212632/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=4 |archive-date=6 January 2012 |language=ru}}</ref>
| region14         = {{flagcountry|Ukraine}}
| pop14            = 1,000
| ref14            = <ref>{{cite web|title=The distribution of the population by nationality and mother tongue|url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/nationality_population/nationality_1/s5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=0&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&n_page=1|website=2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua|access-date=6 August 2019|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221224810/http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/nationality_population/nationality_1/s5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=0&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1|url-status=live}}</ref>
| region15         = {{flagcountry|Poland}}
| pop15            = 1,000
| ref15            = <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.circassianworld.com/history/miscellaneous/1207-circassian-princes-poland |title=Circassian Princes in Poland: The Five Princes, by Marcin Kruszynski |website=circassianworld.com |access-date=29 January 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728144017/https://www.circassianworld.com/history/miscellaneous/1207-circassian-princes-poland |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.circassianworld.com/history/miscellaneous/1545-polish-circassian-relations |title=Polish-Circassian Relation in 19th Century, by Radosław Żurawski vel Grajewski |website=circassianworld.com |access-date=29 January 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728145114/https://www.circassianworld.com/history/miscellaneous/1545-polish-circassian-relations |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://cherkessia.net/makale_detay.php?id=3228 |title=Polonya'daki Çerkes Prensler: Beş Prens |date=26 December 2011 |website=cherkessia.net |access-date=29 January 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728141117/http://cherkessia.net/makale_detay.php?id=3228 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region16         = {{flagcountry|Netherlands}}
| pop16            = 500
| ref16            = <ref name="Zhemukhov2">{{citation |url=http://www.circassianworld.com/new/general/1217-circassian-world-zhemukhov.html |title=Circassian World: Responses to the New Challenges |first=Sufian |last=Zhemukhov |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012221811/http://www.circassianworld.com/new/general/1217-circassian-world-zhemukhov.html |archive-date=12 October 2009}}</ref>
| region17         = {{flagcountry|Canada}}
| pop17            = 400
| ref17            = <ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-s-sochi-olympics-awakens-circassian-anger-1.1263009 |title=Russia's Sochi Olympics awakens Circassian anger |first=Amber |last=Hildebrandt |newspaper=[[CBC News]] |date=14 August 2012 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=22 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022155345/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/08/09/f-sochi-olympics-russia-circassians.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region19         = {{flagcountry|Belarus}}
| pop19            = 116
| ref19            = <ref>{{cite web |script-title=be:Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь |title=Natsional'nyy statisticheskiy komitet Respubliki Belarus' |trans-title=National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus |url=http://belstat.gov.by/homep/ru/perepic/2009/vihod_tables/5.11-0.pdf |publisher=Statistics of Belarus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018221300/http://belstat.gov.by/homep/ru/perepic/2009/vihod_tables/5.11-0.pdf |archive-date=18 October 2013 |language=be}}</ref>
| region20         = {{flagcountry|Turkmenistan}}
| pop20            = 54
| ref20            = <ref>{{cite web |script-title=ru:Итоги всеобщей переписи населения Туркменистана по национальному составу в 1995 году. |title=Itogi vseobshchey perepisi naseleniya Turkmenistana po natsional'nomu sostavu v 1995 godu. |trans-title=Results of the general population census of Turkmenistan by ethnic composition in 1995. |url=http://asgabat.net/turkmenistan/itogi-vseobschei-perepisi-naselenija-turkmenistana-po-nacionalnomu-sostavu-v-1995-godu.html |access-date=6 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313015500/http://asgabat.net/turkmenistan/itogi-vseobschei-perepisi-naselenija-turkmenistana-po-nacionalnomu-sostavu-v-1995-godu.html |archive-date=13 March 2013 |language=ru}}</ref>
| langs            = [[Circassian languages]] ([[Adyghe language|Adyghe]] and [[Kabardian language|Kabardian]]), [[Ubykh language|Ubykh]]
| religions        = Predominantly [[Sunni Islam]], minority [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Christianity]] and [[Circassian paganism|Khabzeism]]<ref>[https://sreda.org/arena Arena: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia – Sreda 2012]</ref>
| related          = [[Abkhazians]], [[Abazins]]
}}
{{Circassians}}
The '''Circassians''' or '''Circassian people''', also called '''Cherkess''' or '''Adyghe''' ([[Adyghe language|Adyghe]] and {{langx|kbd|Адыгэхэр|Adygekher}}), are a [[Northwest Caucasian languages|Northwest Caucasian]] [[ethnic group]] and [[nation]] who originated in [[Circassia]], a region and former country in the [[North Caucasus]].<ref>{{cite book |title=One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups |date=2010 |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |isbn=9780313309847 |page=12 |last1=Minahan |first1=James}}</ref>

As a consequence of the [[Circassian genocide]], which was perpetrated by the [[Russian Empire]] during the [[Russo-Circassian War]] in the 19th century, most of the Circassian people were exiled from their ancestral homeland and consequently began living in what was then the [[Ottoman Empire]]—that is, modern-day [[Turkey]] and the rest of the [[Middle East]].<ref>{{cite web |title=International Circassian Association |url=http://mcha.kbsu.ru/english/m_hist_01E.htm.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035542/http://mcha.kbsu.ru/english/m_hist_01E.htm.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=26 April 2014}}</ref> In the early 1990s, the [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] estimated that there are as many as 3.7 million [[Circassian diaspora|Circassians in diaspora]] in over 50 countries.<ref name="UNPO Yearbook 1997">{{cite book |author=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yiesQNB3SAMC&pg=PA67 |title=Yearbook 1997 |date=1998 |publisher=[[Kluwer Law International]] |isbn=978-90-411-1022-0 |editor1-last=Mullen |editor1-first=Christopher A. |location=The Hague |pages=67–69 |author-link=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |editor2-last=Ryan |editor2-first=J. Atticus}}</ref>

The two [[Circassian languages]]—western [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]] and eastern [[Kabardian language|Kabardian]]—are natively spoken by the Circassian people.<ref name="Hewitt05">{{cite journal |last1=Hewitt |first1=George |date=2005 |title=North West Caucasian |url=https://zenodo.org/record/968232 |journal=[[Lingua (journal)|Lingua]] |volume=115 |issue=1–2 |page=17 |doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2003.06.003 |access-date=16 April 2017 |ref=Hewitt05 |archive-date=24 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924001534/https://zenodo.org/record/968232 |url-status=live}}</ref> After the Russian Empire's war crimes and forced deportation, [[Ubykh language|Ubykh]] branch of Circassian fell out of use and went extinct in Turkey with the death of its last speaker, [[Tevfik Esenç]].<ref name="Koerner1998">{{cite book |author-last=Koerner |author-first=E. F. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-SYou4fhWUgC&pg=PA33 |title=First Person Singular III: Autobiographies by North American Scholars in the Language Sciences |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=978-90-272-4576-2 |page=33}}</ref>

[[Circassian paganism|Khabzeism]] is their [[ethnic religion]], which was historically practiced in Circassia since ancient times, but [[Sunni Islam]] became the dominant religion among them around the 17th century, following a long period of [[Spread of Islam#Persia and the Caucasus|Islamization]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web |date=19 October 2012 |script-title=ru:Главная страница проекта 'Арена' : Некоммерческая Исследовательская Служба СРЕДА |title=Glavnaya stranitsa proyekta 'Arena' : Nekommercheskaya Issledovatel'skaya Sluzhba SREDA |trans-title=Home page of the 'Arena' project: Non-profit Research Service ENVIRONMENT |url=http://sreda.org/arena |access-date=20 August 2013 |publisher=Sreda.org |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143249/http://sreda.org/arena |url-status=live}}</ref> Circassia has been repeatedly invaded since ancient times; its isolated terrain coupled with the strategic value external societies have placed on the region have greatly shaped the Circassian national identity as a whole.<ref name=":5" />

The [[Circassian flag]] consists of a green field charged with 12 gold stars and, in the centre, three crossed arrows. The stars represent the 12 Circassian tribes: the [[Abzakhs|Abzakh]], the [[Besleney]], the [[Bzhedugs|Bzhedugh]], the [[Hatuqway]], the [[Kabardians]], the [[Mamkhegh]], the [[Natukhajs|Natukhaj]], the [[Shapsugs|Shapsugh]], the [[Chemirgoys|Chemirgoy]], the [[Ubykh people|Ubykh]], the [[Yegeruqway]] and the [[Zhaney]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gammer |first=Moshe |title=The Caspian Region: a Re-emerging Region |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2004 |place=London |page=67}}</ref>

Circassians have played major roles in areas where they settled: [[Circassians in Turkey|in Turkey]], those of Circassian origin have had massive influence, being instrumental in the [[Turkish War of Independence]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Ünal |first=Muhittin |title=Kurtuluş Savaşında Çerkeslerin Rolü |language=tr |trans-title=The Role of Circassians in the War of Independence |year=1996 |publisher=Cem Yayınevi |isbn=9789754065824}}</ref> and among the elites of Turkey's intelligence agency.<ref>''Çerkeslerin MİT İçindeki Yeri''</ref> In [[Circassians in Jordan|Jordan]], they founded the capital city [[Amman]],{{sfn|Hamed-Troyansky|2017|pp=608–10}}{{sfn|Hanania|2018|pp=1–2}} and continue to play a major role in the country. In [[Circassians in Syria|Syria]], they served as the volunteer guards of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] upon their entry into the country and still have high positions.<ref name="Monitor2">{{cite news |last=Tastekin |first=Fahim |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/11/after-clashes-syrias-circassians-nervously-plan-escape-routes.html |title=Syria's Circassians Caught in Crossfire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226184844/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/11/after-clashes-syrias-circassians-nervously-plan-escape-routes.html |archive-date=26 December 2014 |work=[[Al-Monitor]] |date=21 November 2012}}</ref> In [[Circassians in Libya|Libya]], they serve in high military positions. In [[Circassians in Egypt|Egypt]], they were part of the ruling class.<ref name="Martin W. Lewis">{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Martin W. |url=http://www.geocurrents.info/place/russia-ukraine-and-caucasus/the-circassian-mystique-and-its-historical-roots |title=The Circassian Mystique and its Historical Roots |date=31 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715013319/http://www.geocurrents.info/place/russia-ukraine-and-caucasus/the-circassian-mystique-and-its-historical-roots |archive-date=15 July 2017 |access-date=18 May 2015}}</ref> The largest Circassian clan in the country also contributed to Egyptian and Arabic cultural literary, intellectual, and political life starting with the reign of [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]] in Egypt and continuing to the modern day: the [[Abaza family]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Afaf Lutfi |last=Sayyid-Marsot |title=Egypt in the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha |pages=123–124}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Yunan Labib |last=Rizk |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/762/chrncls.htm |title=The making of a king |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080814035001/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/762/chrncls.htm |archive-date=14 August 2008 |work=[[Al-Ahram Weekly]] |volume=762 |date=29 September – 5 October 2005}}</ref><ref name="Goldschmidt20002">{{cite book |last=Goldschmidt |first=Arthur Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3J6IS8t74QC&pg=PA1 |title=Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-55587-229-8 |page=1 |access-date=18 May 2015}}</ref> In [[Israel]], [[Bibras Natcho]] is the [[Captain (association football)|captain]] of the [[Israel national football team|Israeli national soccer team]].

In the [[Soviet Union]], historical Circassia was divided into the republics of [[Adygea]], [[Kabardino-Balkaria]], [[Karachay-Cherkessia]], and [[Krasnodar Krai]], and southwestern parts of [[Stavropol Krai]].

Accordingly, Circassians have been designated as ''Adygeans'' in Adygea, ''Kabardians'' in Kabardino-Balkaria, ''Cherkess'' in Karachay-Cherkessia, and ''Shapsug'' in Krasnodar Krai; all four are essentially the same people. Today, approximately 800,000 Circassians remain in historical Circassia, while 4,500,000 live elsewhere.<ref name="RussiaCensus">{{cite web |script-title=ru:Итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года в отношении демографических и социально-экономических характеристик отдельных национальностей. Приложение 2. Национальный состав населения по субъектам Российской Федерации. |title=Itogi Vserossiyskoy perepisi naseleniya 2010 goda v otnoshenii demograficheskikh i sotsial'no-ekonomicheskikh kharakteristik otdel'nykh natsional'nostey. Prilozheniye 2. Natsional'nyy sostav naseleniya po sub"yektam Rossiyskoy Federatsii. |trans-title=Results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census in relation to the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of individual nationalities. Appendix 2. National composition of the population by constituent entities of the Russian Federation. |url=http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/results2.html |access-date=5 August 2019 |language=ru |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209035558/http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/results2.html |url-status=live}}</ref>