Estonians in Abkhazia are a minority residing in Abkhazia, recognized worldwide as an autonomous region of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

but ''de facto'' an independent country.

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to oth ...

began to emigrate to Abkhazia when the region became part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and many Abkhazians left or were expelled. The

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

ist regime began to repopulate the area with its Christian subjects, including Estonians. There were numerous waves of migration from Estonia to Abkhazia, where the peasants were promised land. Among others, they founded the villages Salme and Estonka. In the villages, the Estonians also had their own schools. During and after the Georgian-Abkhazian war, many Estonians fled to Estonia; in one single operation in 1992, the Estonian authorities evacuated 170 Estonians. Estonians currently (2003 data) number 0.2% of the population of Abkhazia. The biggest share of Estonians living in the capital

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

was back in 1939 - 206 Estonians resided there that made up 0.5% of the population. Most Abkhazian Estonians live in Western Abkhazia.

References

{{Reflist Estonian diaspora Ethnic groups in Abkhazia

See also

References