Cherkess

   Ethnic group. The Cherkess, or Cherkessians, are a subgroup of the Adyghe. They number approximately 60,000 and are one of two titular nationalities in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, comprising 11 percent of the population. As one of the several Circassian peoples, they have cultural and linguistic connections with the Kabardins and Abazins, as well as Adyghe who reside in Adygeya. Their native language, Adyghe, is part of the Northwest Caucasian language family. Ethnic friction with their numerically dominant Turkic Karachay neighbors flared in the wake of the 1999 presidential election in their shared republic.

   See also Ethnic violence.