Azeris in Russia

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This article is about Azeris in Russia. For Azeris in general, see the respective article.

Aside from the large Azeri community native to Russia's Dagestan Republic, the majority of Azeris in Russia are fairly recent immigrants. Azeris started settling in Russia (with the exception of Dagestan) around the late 19th century, but their migration became intensive after World War II. It rapidly increased with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. According to the 2002 All-Russian Population Census, there are 621,840 Azeris residing in Russia (constituting 2.2% of the population), however the actual numbers are a lot higher due to recent migrations of guest workers from Azerbaijan. The estimated total Azeri population of Russia might be reaching as many as 3,000,000 people,^[1] with more than one million of them living in Moscow. The majority of them have come to Russia since 1991 from rural Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. Today most provinces of Russia have more or less significant Azeri communities, the biggest ones, according to official numbers, residing in Dagestan, Moscow, Khanty-Mansi, Krasnoyarsk, Rostov-on-the-Don, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Samara, Stavropol, etc.^[2]

1 Dagestan
2 Rest of Russia
3 Discrimination
4 Famous Azeris of Russia
5 See also
6 Notes and references
7 External links

[edit] Dagestan

Map of Dagestan. Azeri-populated regions are shown in purple

111,656 Azeris lived in the Dagestan Republic as of 2002, which makes them the region's seventh largest ethnic group. Most of them are natives of the city of Derbent (once a part of Persia) making up about ⅓ of its population, and the nearby towns and villages. The rest live in the cities of Makhachkala, Khasavyurt, Buynaksk and Kizlyar.^[3] Among cultural benefits, available to Dagestani Azeris, there are newspapers and magazines printed in the Azeri language, public schools where Azeri is taught as a first language, and the Azeri State Dramatic Theatre in Derbent. Traditionally Azeris of Dagestan were engaged in carpet weaving, currying, jewellery- and copper utensils making.^[4] Starting from the 1920s, the industrialization era opened new career opportunities for Dagestanis.

While the majority of Dagestani Azeris descend from the native population of the region, a portion of them (mostly the city-dwellers) come from families, which immigrated to Dagestan from Iran in the 19th century (they were even mistakenly registered as Persians in the early Soviet censūs). These families were subject to deportation in the 1930s, as were all those who retained foreign citizenship while living in the USSR permanently. Azeris in Dagestan are mostly Shia Muslims, however similarly to those of Azeris in Azerbaijan, their religious beliefs are influenced by old pagan traditions.

For centuries Azeri has been the lingua franca of Southern Dagestan.^[5] It managed to retain that status till nowadays, despite huge competition with Russian in the past 50 years.

[edit] Rest of Russia

For the past decade, Azeris have played significant roles in developing the Russian economy. With many of them being involved in entrepreneurship, they managed to gain control over some major economical areas, such as trade and oil industry. Among Russia's 100 richest people ranked by the Forbes in 2004, 3 ethnic Azeris were ranked 10, 66 and 74.^[6]

Azeris have established numerous cultural communities, the largest one being the All-Russian Azeri Congress, which controls smaller communities throughout Russia. In addition, the Moscow Public Secondary School #157 is set up for students with keen interest in the Azeri language and culture.^[7]

[edit] Discrimination

Main article: Xenophobia in Russia

Like many other people, who originated in the Caucasus (commonly referred to as Caucasians (кавказцы), despite the fact that the term has a different dominant meaning in English), Azeris often face Caucasophobia, which might result in severe discrimination and violence.

In 2006, 5 Azeris were reported killed and 45 were physically harassed by various nationalist groups,^[8] making Azeris the most widely targeted ethnic minority in Russia.

[edit] Famous Azeris of Russia

Russian-born Azeris:

Pyotr Babayev, 1917 revolutionist after whom the Babayevski confectionery factory was named
Gueidar Dzhemal, philosopher
Alla Akhoundova, poet
Tamilla Abassova, 2004 Olympic champion (silver)
Elmira Mirzoeva, International Chess Grandmaster

Azeris born elsewhere: