Tsez people
Encyclopedia
The Tsez are an indigenous people of the North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....

, also known as the Dido or the Didoi. Their unwritten language, also called Tsez
Tsez language
Tsez, also known as Dido is a Northeast Caucasian language with about 15,354 speakers spoken by the Tsez, a Muslim people in the mountainous Tsunta district of southern and western Dagestan in Russia. The name is said to derive from the Tsez word for "eagle", which is most likely a folk etymology...

 or Dido, belongs to the Northeast Caucasian group
Northeast Caucasian languages
The Northeast Caucasian languages constitute a language family spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, northern Azerbaijan, and in northeastern Georgia, as well as in diaspora populations in Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East...

 with some 15,354 speakers. For demographic purposes, today they are classified with the Avars
Caucasian Avars
Avars or Caucasian Avars are a modern people of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan, in which they are the predominant group. The Caucasian Avar language belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language family ....

 with whom the Tsez share a religion, Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....

, and some cultural traits. They are centered at the Tsunta district of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The term “Dido” is sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to the Tsez as well as the Bezhtas, Hinukhs, Khwarshis
Khwarshi people
The Khwarshi people are a Caucasian people living in Dagestan, in several small settlements. The Khwarshi are originally from the southeastern part of Tsumadinsky District, where seven Khwarshi settlements are located: Upper- and Lower Inkhokwari village , Kwantlada village , Santlada village ,...

 and Hunzibs, which are also categorized as Avar subgroups. According to the 2002 Russian census, there were 15256 self-identified Tsez in Russia (15176 in their homeland), notated as an "Avar subgroup", though the real number is probably slightly greater.

External links

  • Vahtre, Lauri & Viikberg, Jüri (2003), “The Didos”, in: The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire. Retrieved on 2006-06-27.
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