Armenians in Abkhazia
The Armenians in Abkhazia ( Armenian Աբխազահայեր ; Russian Абхазские армяне ) form the third largest population group there, along with the eponymous Abkhazians and the Georgian minority. In the 2011 Abkhaz census, 41,864 people or 17.3% percent of the population identified themselves as Armenians. Some Armenian sources and non-governmental organizations estimate this number to be higher. In some localities and regions of Abkhazia, Armenians are the largest population group.
There has been a smaller Armenian minority in Abkhazia since the Middle Ages, but Armenians have only made up significant proportions of the population since the end of the 19th century. The Armenians played an important role in the Abkhazian War of Independence and the majority supported the Abkhazian struggle for an independent state.
history
Some Armenian settlers have lived in Abkhazia since the Middle Ages, but their percentage of the Abkhazian population was low. In 1864 Abkhazia became part of the Russian Empire . With the end of the long Caucasus War in 1864 and again after an Abkhaz uprising in 1877/78, tens of thousands of Abkhazians left their homeland as muhajirs (or were expelled). At the same time, due to the settlement policy of the Tsarist Empire in the Caucasus, numerous colonists immigrated to Abkhazia from other parts of the Russian Empire, in addition to Georgians and Russians , these were especially Armenians. In 1886 the proportion of Armenians in Abkhazia was 1.6%, in 1897 it was 6.2%.
Due to the genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire , the number of Armenians living in Abkhazia increased massively in the following years, as thousands of refugees settled there. In 1926, Armenians made up 12.6% of the Abkhaz population, and Armenian cultural life of its own developed in the region. In 1939 there were almost 50,000 Armenians in Abkhazia, who made up 15.9% of the total population. By 1989 their number had risen to over 76,000.
In 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated and the now independent Georgia claimed Abkhazia , while the Abkhazians themselves strived for state independence. From 1992 onwards, a civil war broke out between Abkhaz independence fighters and the Georgian army. At first the Armenians living there behaved neutrally, but when the Georgian army bombed several Armenian villages in Abkhazia and there was severe abuse, the mood changed. With the Battalion Bagramjan , a separate Armenian volunteer battalion was set up, which joined the Abkhazians. The civil war ended with the de facto independence of Abkhazia. According to official information from the Abkhazian government, 242 Armenians were killed in the fighting and 20 were given the honorary title of “ Hero of Abkhazia ”.
After the war, thousands of Armenians emigrated from Abkhazia, especially because of the precarious economic situation in the country after the civil war. The situation has improved massively in recent years. Today almost 42,000 Armenians live in Abkhazia, which makes up 17.3% of the population. In several districts of the country Armenians make up the majority or the largest population group, for example in Sukhum Raion (56.1%) or Gulrypsch Raion (46.6%).
In Abkhazia today there are Armenian-speaking schools and an umbrella organization for the Armenians living in Abkhazia.
Demographics
| year | Armenians | Total population |
|---|---|---|
| 1886 | 1.6% ( 1,106 ) | 69,230 |
| 1897 | 6.2% ( 6,552 ) | 106.179 |
| 1926 | 12.8% ( 25,677 ) | 186.004 |
| 1939 | 15.9% ( 49,705 ) | 311,885 |
| 1959 | 15.9% ( 64,425 ) | 404.738 |
| 1970 | 15.4% ( 74,850 ) | 486,959 |
| 1979 | 15.1% ( 73,350 ) | 486.082 |
| 1989 | 14.6% ( 76,541 ) | 525.061 |
| 2003 | 20.8% ( 44,870 ) | 215.972 |
| 2011 | 17.3% ( 41,864 ) | 240.705 |
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://rus.delfi.lv/news/daily/abroad/v-abhazii-obyavili-dannye-perepisi-naseleniya.d?id=42015926
- ↑ armradio.am: The authorities in Abkhazia intentionally decrease the number of Armenians ( Memento from January 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Abkhazia Today. The International Crisis Group Europe Report N ° 176, September 15, 2006, p. 5
- ↑ Л.С. Ланда (LS Landa), Амшенские армяне Абхазии: фрагменты истории (Hamshen Armenians of Abkhazia, fragments of history), Материалы VII Молодежной научной конференции по проблемам философии, религии, культуры Востока. Серия “Symposium”. Выпуск 33. СПб .: Санкт-Петербургское философское общество, 2004. C.106-108
- ↑ ABKHAZIA ARMENIANS: HOLDING A HOME IN AN UNSTABLE TERRITORY
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/rnabkhazia.html