Caucasus Americans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 50,000-60,000[citation needed] 519,001 (Armenians),[1] 75,700 (Azerbaijanis),[2] 700,000 (Georgians)[3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| New York City · New Jersey · California | |
| Languages | |
| American English · Russian · Caucasian languages | |
| Religion | |
| Islam · Eastern Orthodoxy |
Caucasus Americans are Americans originating from the Caucasus region, including both Transcaucasia (Armenians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis) and the North Caucasus (Chechens, Ingush, peoples of Dagestan, Karachays, Balkars, Circassians, Kabardians, Meskhetian Turks, Ossetians, Mountain Jews, and others). In scientific and demographic literature, this population is regarded as a heterogeneous group of migrants and their descendants, characterized by significant ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity.
In the United States and several other English-speaking countries, the term "Caucasian race" is commonly used to refer to individuals classified as white within racial categorization systems, and is not directly related to geographic or ethnic origins in the Caucasus region.[4]
History
The emigration of Caucasian peoples to the United States began in the late 19th century and was initially associated with broader patterns of labor migration and political upheaval in the Russian and Ottoman Empires. Early arrivals included Georgians and Armenians, some of whom came for education or work, while others fled instability and persecution in the Ottoman Empire, including the events surrounding the Armenian Genocide during World War I.[5]
In the early 20th century, migration increased due to political changes following the Russian Revolution and the collapse of the short-lived independent states in the Caucasus, including the Mountain Republic, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the First Republic of Armenia, and the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Members of the intelligentsia, clergy, and urban middle classes who opposed the new Soviet system emigrated, with some passing through Turkey and Europe before settling in the United States.[6]
Further migration occurred after World War II, including displaced persons from Europe and individuals who refused repatriation to the Soviet Union, as well as members of various deported or displaced groups. Additional migration from Turkey also took place for economic reasons.[7]
A later wave began in the late 20th century, particularly during and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when economic instability and regional conflicts in the Caucasus, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the Chechen wars, contributed to increased emigration.[8][9]
Demographics
The vast majority of people from the Caucasus live in New York (especially in the Brooklyn, along with other people from the former Soviet Union), California, New Jersey, Washington and other states.[8]
Status
Many individuals of Caucasus origin in the United States are employed across public administration, business, academia, healthcare, and law enforcement.[10][5] Community organizations within these diasporas often engage in cultural preservation, charitable work, and support for migrants and their families abroad. Levels of cultural retention vary by generation, but elements of language, customs, and religious practice remain present in many communities.[11]
Caucasian cultures have also been the subject of academic research and translation in the United States. An example is «The Nart Sagas: Ancient Myths and Legends of the Caucasus», an English-language collection of traditional epic narratives published in collaboration with Princeton University scholars.[12]
Individuals from the North Caucasus are also active in professional combat sports, particularly mixed martial arts.[13] Fighters such as Khamzat Chimaev, Magomed Ankalaev, and Movsar Evloev have competed in major international promotions based in the United States, contributing to the visibility of wrestling-oriented fighting styles in the sport.[14]
As in many migrant communities, experiences of integration vary, and some individuals may encounter social misunderstanding or stereotyping.[15][16] These perceptions are influenced by a range of historical and geopolitical factors, as well as by isolated incidents involving individuals of specific ethnic backgrounds.[17]
References
- ↑ "Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census". census.gov. Archived from the original on 13 January 2025.
- ↑ Table FBP-1. Profile of Selected Demographic and Social Characteristics" (PDF). Census 2000 Special Tabulations (STP-159). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ↑ "MFA: More than 1.5 Million Georgians Live Abroad". Civil Georgia. 8 March 2025.
- ↑ "Почему в США белых зовут Caucasians?". Вокруг Света. Archived from the original on 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Vachagaev, Mayrbek (6 December 2021). "Диаспоры северокавказцев: из истории в современность". Радио Свобода. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
- ↑ Vachagaev, Mayrbek (4 June 2021). "Горская эмиграция: осетины в Америке и Австралии". Радио Свобода. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ↑ Tetuev, A.I. (2016). Зарубежная диаспора карачаевцев и балкарцев. История и современность (PDF). Нальчик: ООО "Печатный двор". p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-04-10. Search this book on
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Yevloeva, Izabella. ""Непривычно свободно": почему кавказцы уезжают в США". Радио Свобода. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
- ↑ "кавказцы в Америке". Кавказский Узел. Archived from the original on 2025-08-31. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
- ↑ Neflyasheva, Naima. ""Есть много людей, которые помогут вам". Как офицер полиции США Нарт Хапача спас человека от суицида в 2017г". Кавказский Узел. Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
- ↑ "Как живет карачаево-балкарская диаспора в США". РИА «Карачаево-Черкесия». Archived from the original on 2025-10-12. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ↑ "Нарты в Америке". Это Кавказ. Archived from the original on 2022-08-17. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ↑ "Шесть спортсменов с Северного Кавказа стали победителями чемпионата России по вольной борьбе". Кавказский Узел. Archived from the original on 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
- ↑ "Карлос Олберг – новый чемпион в полутяжелом весе!". Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- ↑ "Обама не стал упоминать о «российском следе» в бостонском теракте" (in русский). Archived from the original on 2013-04-23.
- ↑ Schwirtz, Michael (21 April 2013). "Struggle at Home Intrudes on Chechen Haven in America". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-04-25. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
- ↑ Medvedev, Nikolai (2010). "Что мешает этнополитической стабильности на Северном Кавказе?". Россия И Мусульманский Мир. 8. Archived from the original on 2025-08-03. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
Bibliography
- Araviashvili, Maia; Ladaria, Konstantine (2021). "Constructing sites of memory and practising nationalism beyond the homeland: Georgian migrants in the USA and Germany". Caucasus Survey. 9 (3): 286–299. doi:10.1080/23761199.2021.1966234. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - Bridges, Peter. "Georgia and America–Early Contacts." American Diplomacy (2011). online
- Waitman, Grace. "Azerbaijani Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, 3rd ed., vol. 1, Gale, 2014, pp. 203-210. online
- Wertsman, Vladimir F. "Georgian Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 197-206. online
- Adalian, Rouben Paul (2010). Historical Dictionary of Armenia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7450-3. Search this book on
- Avakian, Arra S. (1977). The Armenians in America. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications. ISBN 0-8225-0228-3. Search this book on
- Peroomian, Rubina; Avakian, Knarik (2003). "Ամերիկայի Միացյալ Նահանգներ (ԱՄՆ) [United States of America (USA)]". In Ayvazyan, Hovhannes. Հայ Սփյուռք հանրագիտարան [Encyclopedia of Armenian Diaspora] (in հայերեն). 1. Yerevan: Armenian Encyclopedia Publishing. pp. 33–85. ISBN 5-89700-020-4.
- Bakalian, Anny (1993). Armenian Americans: From Being to Feeling Armenian. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 1-56000-025-2. Search this book on
- Malcom, M. Vartan (1919). The Armenians in America. Boston: Pilgrim Press. ISBN 1-112-12699-6. Search this book on
- Hovannisian, Richard G. (1997). The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Foreign dominion to statehood: the fifteenth century to the twentieth century. Basingstoke: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-61974-2. Search this book on
- Sabagh, Georges; Bozorgmehr, Mehdi; Der-Martirosian, Claudia (1990). Subethnicity: Armenians in Los Angeles. Institute for Social Science Research, University of California Los Angeles. Search this book on
- Samkian, Artineh (2007). Constructing Identities, Perceiving Lives: Armenian High School Students' Perceptions of Identity and Education. ISBN 978-0-549-48257-4. Search this book on
- Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, The Polish Experience Through World War II: A Better Day Has Not Come, Foreword: Neal Pease; Lanham MD: Lexington Books, 2013, ISBN 978-0-7391-7819-5 Search this book on .; 2015, ISBN 978-1-4985-1083-7 Search this book on ..
- Akcapar, Sebnem Koser (2009), "Turkish Associations in the United States: Towards Building a Transnational Identity", Turkish Studies, Routledge, 10 (2): 165–193, doi:10.1080/14683840902863996 Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - Karpat, Kemal H. (2004). "The Turks in America: Historical Background: From Ottoman to Turkish Immigration". Studies on Turkish Politics and Society: Selected Articles and Essays. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-13322-4. Search this book on .
- Kaya, Ilhan (2004), "Turkish-American immigration history and identity formations", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Routledge, 24 (2): 295–308, doi:10.1080/1360200042000296672 Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - Rogan, Eugene L. (1999). Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850–1921. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-66312-1. Search this book on
- Ершов, Виталий Федорович (2020). "Северокавказское зарубежье XX века и становление культурно-исторического пространства глобального Русского мира". Исторические Записки (in русский). Российская академия наук. 19 (137): 253–296. EDN UOGEPJ.
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