Tsez people
The Tsez (also known as the Dido or the Didoi) are a North Caucasian ethnic group. Their unwritten language, also called Tsez or Dido, belongs to the Northeast Caucasian group with some 15,354 speakers.[2] For demographic purposes, today they are classified with the Avars with whom the Tsez share a religion, Sunni Islam, and some cultural traits. They are centered at the Tsunta district of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. The term “Dido” is sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to the Tsez as well as the Bezhtas, Hinukhs, Khwarshis and Hunzibs, which are also categorized as Avar subgroups.[2] According to the 2002 Russian census, there were 15,256 self-identified Tsez in Russia (15,176 in their homeland), notated as an "Avar subgroup", though the real number is probably slightly greater.
Total population | |
---|---|
30,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Russia | 11,683[1] |
Languages | |
Tsez | |
Religion | |
Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Georgians, Avars |
Culture
The Tsez traditionally engaged in raising livestock and limited cultivation. In more recent times, some Tsez have migrate to industrial centers for work.[3] The Tsez adhere to Sunni Islam. Islam became the majority faith of the Tsez by the 17th and 18th centuries though elements of pre-Islamic customs are still present.[3]
References
- Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity (in Russian)
- Olson, James Stuart; Pappas, Lee Brigance & Pappas, Nicholas Charles (1994), An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires, p. 199. Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-27497-5.
- "The Didos". www.eki.ee. The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire. Retrieved 2021-02-07.