The Armenians in Abkhazia form the second largest ethnic group in the region of Abkhazia

Abkhazia

Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...

 after the Abkhaz

Abkhaz people

The Abkhaz or Abkhazians are a Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. A large Abkhazian diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the emigration from the Caucasus in the late 19th century known as Muhajirism...

. Armenians settled in Abkhazia in late 19th and the early 20th centuries and are now the largest ethnic group in Gagra

Gagra district

Gagra District is a district of Abkhazia. It corresponds to the Georgian district by the same name. In medieval times, it was known as the southern part of Sadzen. It is located in the western part of Abkhazia, and the river Psou serves as a border with Krasnodar Kray of Russia. Its capital is...

, Sukhumi

Sukhumi district

Sukhumi district is a district of Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic. It corresponds to the eponymous Georgian district. Its capital is Sukhumi, the town by the same name, which is also the capital of entire Abkhazia. The population of the district is 11,747 according to the 2003 census...

 and Gulripsh district

Gulripsh district

Gulripsh district is a district of Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic. It corresponds to the eponymous Georgian district. Its capital is Gulripsh, the town by the same name...

s forming 20% of the Abkhazian population with 45,000 out of a total of 215,000.

History

Although a few Armenians lived in Abkhazia in the Middle Ages, significant Armenian immigration to Abkhazia began in the late 19th century when much of Abkhazia became depopulated due to the exodus of many Abkhaz

Muhajir (Caucasus)

Circassians, the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Caucasus were cleansed from their homeland at the end of the Caucasian War by victorious Russia, which by its manner of suppression of the Caucasus directed at the Crimean Tartars and Circassians can be credited with "inventing the strategy of...

 to the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 after the Russian

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 crackdown on the rebellion in Abkhazia; at the same time anti-Armenian pogroms started there and the attitude of the Porte towards its Armenian subjects became increasingly more brutal. More Armenians came to Abkhazia in 1910s fleeing the Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...

.

During the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia

War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)

The War in Abkhazia from 1992 to 1993 was waged chiefly between Georgian government forces on one side and Abkhaz separatist forces supporting independence of Abkhazia from Georgia on the other side. Ethnic Georgians, who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces...

 most of the Armenians supported Abkhazians and many fought

Bagramyan Battalion

The Bagramyan Battalion was a battalion formed in Abkhazia, Georgia and predominantly composed of ethnic Armenians living in Abkhazia that fought together with pro-independence Abkhaz forces during the War in Abkhazia...

 on their side. Armenians made up a quarter of the Abkhaz army; twenty Armenians were awarded the title of Abkhazian Hero and 242 were killed in battle. Armenian population declined after the war as many Armenians left the country (mainly for Russia and Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

) due to the economic hardships.

Demography

The earliest reliable records for Abkhazia are the Family Lists compiled in 1886 (published 1893 in Tbilisi), according to which the Sukhum District's population was 69,000 of which 28,000 were Abkhaz

Abkhaz people

The Abkhaz or Abkhazians are a Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. A large Abkhazian diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the emigration from the Caucasus in the late 19th century known as Muhajirism...

. The Armenians in that list totalled 1,090.

According to the 1897 census

Russian Empire Census

The Russian Imperial Census of 1897 was the first and the only census carried out in the Russian Empire . It recorded demographic data as of ....

 there were 58,697 people in Abkhazia who listed Abkhaz as their mother tongue. There were about 1,500 Armenians in the Sukhumi district (Abkhazia) at that time; its total population was nearly 100,000.

Armenians in Abkhazia by districts in 2003

District (or city)	Armenians Armenians Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....	%	Total population
Gagra Gagra district Gagra District is a district of Abkhazia. It corresponds to the Georgian district by the same name. In medieval times, it was known as the southern part of Sadzen. It is located in the western part of Abkhazia, and the river Psou serves as a border with Krasnodar Kray of Russia. Its capital is...	16,322	44.1	34,869
Gulripsh District Gulripsh district Gulripsh district is a district of Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic. It corresponds to the eponymous Georgian district. Its capital is Gulripsh, the town by the same name...  (excluding Kodori Valley Kodori Valley The Kodori Valley is a river valley in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway autonomous republic. The valley's upper part, populated by Svans, was the only corner of the post-1993 Abkhazia, directly controlled by the central Georgian government, which officially styles the area as Upper Abkhazia... )	9,375	47.5	19,918
Sukhumi District Sukhumi district Sukhumi district is a district of Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic. It corresponds to the eponymous Georgian district. Its capital is Sukhumi, the town by the same name, which is also the capital of entire Abkhazia. The population of the district is 11,747 according to the 2003 census...	7,209	61.4	11,747
City of Sukhumi Sukhumi Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...	5,565	12.7	43,716
Gudauta Gudauta district Gudauta district is a district of Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic. It corresponds to the eponymous Georgian district. Its capital is Gudauta, the town by the same name...	4,141	11.9	34,869
Ochamchira Ochamchira district Ochamchira district is a district of the Republic of Abkhazia. Its capital is Ochamchira, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the Ochamchire district in the de jure subdivision of Georgia, as some of its former territory is now part of Tkvarcheli district, formed by de facto...	2,177	8.8	24,629
Tkvarcheli Tkvarcheli district Tquarchal district is a district of the Republic of Abkhazia. It has no equivalent Georgian district, as it was newly formed in 1995 from parts of Ochamchira District and Gali District, centered around its eponymous capital, Tkvarcheli . The population of the district is 14,477 according to the...	67	0.5	14,777
Gali Gali district Gali district is a district of Abkhazia. Its capital is Gali, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the eponymous one in the de jure subdivision of Georgia, as some of its former territory is now part of Tkvarcheli District, formed by de facto Abkhaz authorities in 1995.Gali...	14	0.1	29,287
Abkhazia Abkhazia Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...	44,870	20.8	215,972

The Russian, Armenian and Georgian population grew faster than Abkhaz, due to the large-scale migration enforced especially during the rule of Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

 and Lavrentiy Beria

Lavrentiy Beria

Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....

.

The following table summarises the results of the other censuses carried out in Abkhazia. !Year
!Armenians
!Total
|-
|1926
| align="center" |13.8% (25,677)
|186,004
|-
|1939
| align="center" |15.9% (49,705)
|311,885
|-
|1959
| align="center" |15.9% (64,425)
|404,738
|-
|1970
| align="center" |15.4% (74,850)
|486,959
|-
|1979
| align="center" |15.1% (73,350)
|486,082
|-
|1989
| align="center" |14.6% (76,541)
|525,061
|-
|2003
| align="center" |20.8% (44,870)
|215,972
|}>

The Georgian authorities did not acknowledge the results of this census and consider it illegitimate. At the same time, the Abkhaz regime have been accused by local Armenian NGOs of intentionally decreasing the number of Abkhazian-Armenians.

Religion

Armenian Apostolic Church

Armenian Apostolic Church

The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...

 gives ecclesiastical guidance to most of the Armenians.

Politics

There are ethnic Armenians in the People's Assembly of Abkhazia and Armenian-language schools in Abkhazia. However, Armenians are under-represented in the Assembly as the number of the parliamentarians of this ethnicity is less than their share in the republic population. The Council of Armenian Community of Abkhazia has complained over "negative attitude to Armenian population" and has expressed concerns over the distribution of anti-Armenian leaflets, as well as an attempt of sabotage at a Sukhumi Armenian secondary school in 2006.

In 2007, the Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

n media began running several stories on the parliamentary elections in Abkhazia

Abkhazia

Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...

, claiming that ethnic Armenians in the area, who make up roughly 20% of the local population, would be controlling the elections.