Kars Oblast
The Kars Oblast ( Russian Карсская область , Karsskaya Oblast ) was one of the Transcaucasian provinces of the Russian Empire , which existed between 1878 and 1917. The capital was Kars , then also called Vladikars . Today the area belongs to the Republic of Turkey . It had an area of 18,526 km². Since 1881, the Kars Oblast consisted of four okrugen (districts):
- Kars (Карсский округ)
- Ardahan (Ардаганский округ)
- Kagysman (Кагызманский округ), (Turkish Kağızman )
- Olti (Ольтинский округ), (Turkish Oltu )
Two other okrug were Sarishat (Заришат; today Arpaçay ) and Shoragjal (Шорагял; today Akyaka ), they existed from 1878 to 1881.
history
Kars Oblast was founded in 1878 from part of the land that the Russians had received from the Ottoman Empire through the Peace of San Stefano in 1878 . The area was part of the Ottoman Eyalets Kars and Çıldır before 1845 and part of the Erzurum Eyalets after 1845.
With the incorporation of the region into the Russian Empire, a large part (82,000 people in the years 1878 to 1881) of its Muslim (Turkish) population was sent to the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, Armenians, Georgians and Russians (including religious minorities such as the Molokans and Duchoborzen) immigrated from other governorates.
After the October Revolution of 1917 and the breakup of the Russian Empire, the Kars Oblast was controlled for some time by the Democratic Republic of Armenia and its northern part by the Democratic Republic of Georgia . But Turkey soon recaptured the area. The incorporation of most of the oblast into Turkey was officially confirmed by the Treaty of Kars in 1921.
Demographics
1892
In 1892 an estimated 200,868 people lived in the oblast. The ethnic composition and religious affiliation were as follows:
- Turks (This number also included a group of Adjars ): 24% ( Sunnis )
- Armenians : 21.5%
- Kurds : 15% (Sunnis and some Yazidis )
- Muslim Karapapaks : 14% (Sunnis and some Shiites)
- Alevi Karapapaks (listed as Turkmens): 5%
- Pontic Greeks : 13.5% ( Orthodox )
- Russians : 7% (mostly members of sects such as Molokans , Duchoborzen etc.)
Religious affiliation was determined as follows:
- Orthodox Christians : 14%
- Sect members (Molokans, Duchoborzen etc.): 5%
- Armenian Apostolic Church : 21%
- Other Christian churches: 0.75%
- Muslims: 53%, including:
- Sunnis: 46%
- Shiites: 7%
- Alevis (known as Ali Illahi ): 5%
- Yazidis: 1.25%
1897
The Russian census of 1897 counted 290,654 inhabitants, including 160,571 men and 130,083 women. The number implies that the 1892 figure was too low, or that there was large immigration from other parts of the empire. The inhabitants according to mother tongues were:
-
Turkic languages : 104,457, including:
- Tatar language : 2,347
- Bashkir language : 207
- Turkish language : 63,547
- Karapapak Language: 29,879
- Turkmen language (Alevi Karapapaks): 8,442
- Armenian language : 73,406
- Kurdish language : 42,968
- Greek language : 32,593
-
East Slavic languages : 27,856, including:
- Russian language : 22,327
- Ukrainian language : 5,279
- Belarusian language : 250
- Polish language : 3,243
- Jewish ( Yiddish etc.): 1,138
- Lithuanian language : 892
- Aramaic Language ('Assyrian'): 585
- Persian language : 568
- Georgian language : 543
- Ossetian language : 520
- Estonian language : 455
- Lesgian Language : 448
- German language : 430
The majority of 30,000 men consisted of European ethnic groups. Among the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian speakers there were 19,910 men as opposed to 7,946 women. The Polish and Lithuanian speakers were 99% male, while among the Germans and Jews there were between 80 and 90% men. The overweight in men, which also occurred to a lesser extent in the neighboring oblasts, was due to the large number of soldiers and exiled people.