The Armenians in Abkhazia form the second largest ethnic group in Abkhazia after the native Abkhazians.Georgia Offers Citizenship to Diaspora. IWPR. CRS No. 314, 10-Nov-05; V.A. Chirikba. Armenians and their Dialects in Abkhazia. In: Evidence and Counter-Evidence, Festschrift Frederik Kortlandt, Volume 2, SSGL 33, Amsterdam – New York: Rodopi, p. 51-67. Armenians settled in Abkhazia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are now the largest ethnic group in Sukhumi, Gulripshi and Gagra Districts forming 20% of the Abkhazian population with approximately 42,000 out of a total of 242,862.
History Although a few Armenians lived in Abkhazia in the Middle Ages, significant Armenian immigration to Abkhazia began in the late 19th century when much of Abkhazia became depopulated due to the exodus of many Abkhaz of Muslim descent to the Ottoman Empire after the Russian crackdown on the rebellion in Abkhazia; at the same time anti-Armenian pogroms started in Turkey and the attitude of the Porte towards its Armenian subjects became increasingly more brutal.Л.С. Ланда (L. S. 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) More Armenians came to Abkhazia in the 1910s fleeing the Armenian genocide.
During the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia most of the ArmeniansHelen Krag and Lars Funch. The North Caucasus: Minorities at a Crossroads. (Manchester, December 1994) remained neutral for a long time, but as Georgian attacks on their settlements increased, they increasingly opted to support AbkhaziansAbkhazia Today. The International Crisis Group Europe Report N°176, 15 September 2006, page 5. Retrieved on May 30, 2007. Free registration needed to view full reportAGBU, ABKHAZIA ARMENIANS: HOLDING A HOME IN AN UNSTABLE TERRITORY , 11/1/2004 and Some fought on their side. Armenians made up a quarter of the Abkhaz army; 242 were killed in battle. Armenian population declined after the war as many Armenians left the country (mainly for Russia and Armenia) due to the economic hardships. Armenians have become the largest ethnic group in Sukhumi, Gulripshi and Gagra Districts following the displacement of ethnic Georgians from these areas.
Demography The earliest reliable records for Abkhazia are the Family Lists compiled in 1886 (published 1893 in Tbilisi), according to which the Sukhum District's population was 69,000 of which 28,000 were Abkhaz. The Armenians in that list totalled 1,090.
According to the 1897 census there were 58,697 people in Abkhazia who listed Abkhaz as their mother tongue.1-я Всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Кутаисская губерния. Спб: 1905. С. 32б retrieved from "АБХАЗИЯ-1992: ПОСТОКОММУНИСТИЧЕСКАЯ ВАНДЕЯ" by . There were about 1,500 Armenians in the Sukhumi district (Abkhazia) at that time; its total population was nearly 100,000.Sukhum in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
Armenians in Abkhazia by districts in 2011 District (or city) Armenians % Total population Gagra 15,422 38.3 40,217 Gulripshi District (excluding Kodori Valley) 8,430 46.818,032 Sukhumi District 6,467 56.1 11,531 City of Sukhumi 6,192 9.8 62,914 Gudauta 3,667 10 36,775 Ochamchira 1,647 6.6 24,868 Tkvarcheli 56 0.3 16,012 Gali 26 0.1 30,356 Abkhazia 41,907 17.4 240,705
The Russian, Armenian and Georgian population grew faster than Abkhaz, due to the large-scale migration enforced especially during the rule of Joseph Stalin and Lavrentiy Beria.
The following table summarises the results of the other censuses carried out in Abkhazia. Year Armenians Total 1926 13.8% (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 201117.4% (41,907)240,705
2003 Census statistics The Georgian authorities did not acknowledge the results of this census and consider it illegitimate. At the same time, the Abkhaz authorities have been accused by local Armenian NGOs of intentionally decreasing the number of Abkhazian-Armenians.The authorities in Abkhazia intentionally decrease the number of Armenians . Public Radio of Armenia. February 2, 2006.
Language The majority of Armenians in Abkhazia speak the Homshetsi dialect of Armenian, which is sometimes written in the Cyrillic script. Additionally schools in Abkhazia teach both Western and Eastern varieties of Armenian. Though many people tend to speak Russian outside the home.
Religion Armenians in Abkhazia are predominantly followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 1992 the Chapel of St. Hripsime (Armenian: Սուրբ Հռիփսիմե մատուռ) was built in Gagra and in 2013 The Holy Savior Church of Gagra (Armenian: Գագրայի Սուրբ Ամենափրկիչ եկեղեցի ) was opened, which is a cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Sizable segment of Armenians also profess Eastern Orthodoxy, due to the lack of Armenian churches in Abkhazia during the Soviet period. A small minority of Catholic Armenians also exists.
Politics There are ethnic Armenians in the People's Assembly of Abkhazia and Armenian-language schools in Abkhazia. However, Armenians are under-represented in the Assembly as the number of the parliamentarians of this ethnicity is less than their share in the republic population.Abkhazia Today. The International Crisis Group Europe Report N°176, 15 September 2006, page 10. Retrieved on 30 May 2007. Free registration needed to view full report The Council of Armenian Community of Abkhazia has complained over "negative attitude to Armenian population" and has expressed concerns over the distribution of anti-Armenian leaflets, as well as an attempt of sabotage at a Sukhumi Armenian secondary school in 2006.ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF ABKHAZIA CONCERNED OVER NEGATIVE ATTITUDE TO ARMENIAN POPULATION . armtwon.com. January 16, 2006.
In 2007, the Georgian media began running several stories on the parliamentary elections in Abkhazia, claiming that ethnic Armenians in the area, who make up roughly 20% of the local population, would be controlling the elections."Армянский вопрос" в Абхазии глазами грузинских СМИ, Regnum
Further reading V.A. Chirikba: Armenians and their dialects in Abkhazia, in: Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics, Vol. 33 (2008), pp. 51–67.
See also Bagramyan Battalion The Armenian community of Abkhazia Suren Kerselyan Galust Trapizonyan Albert Ovsepyan Sergei Matosyan
References