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Kars Oblast



 
 
Kars Oblast (Karsskaya Oblast) was one of Transcaucasian governorates
Guberniya

Guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor or , a word borrowed from Latin , in turn from Greek ....
 of Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was in the city of Kars, presently in the Republic of Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
.

Oblast
Oblast

Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic peoples countries and in some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"....
 was created in 1878 from some of the lands conquered by Russia from Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 and transferred to Russia by the Treaty of San Stefano
Treaty of San Stefano

The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877?78....
 (1878). The lands of the Oblast had previously belonged to the Ottoman Kars Eyaleti
Kars Province, Ottoman Empire

Kars was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire.It was merged with Samtskhe Province, Ottoman Empire in 1604....
 and Çildir Eyaleti
Samtskhe Province, Ottoman Empire

Samtskhe Province was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire along the Southwestern Caucasus. ?ildir region was taken by Ottoman Empire and bounded as a sanjak to Erzurum eyalet....
 before 1845 and Erzurum Eyaleti
Erzurum Province, Ottoman Empire

Erzurum was a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.See also* Erzurum Province * Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire...
 after 1845.

With the incorporation of the region into Russian Empire, a large portion (82,000 during 1878-81, according to Russian sources) of the local Muslim (Turkish) population left for Turkey.






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Kars Oblast (Karsskaya Oblast) was one of Transcaucasian governorates
Guberniya

Guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor or , a word borrowed from Latin , in turn from Greek ....
 of Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was in the city of Kars, presently in the Republic of Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
.

History

Kars Oblast
Oblast

Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic peoples countries and in some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"....
 was created in 1878 from some of the lands conquered by Russia from Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 and transferred to Russia by the Treaty of San Stefano
Treaty of San Stefano

The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877?78....
 (1878). The lands of the Oblast had previously belonged to the Ottoman Kars Eyaleti
Kars Province, Ottoman Empire

Kars was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire.It was merged with Samtskhe Province, Ottoman Empire in 1604....
 and Çildir Eyaleti
Samtskhe Province, Ottoman Empire

Samtskhe Province was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire along the Southwestern Caucasus. ?ildir region was taken by Ottoman Empire and bounded as a sanjak to Erzurum eyalet....
 before 1845 and Erzurum Eyaleti
Erzurum Province, Ottoman Empire

Erzurum was a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.See also* Erzurum Province * Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire...
 after 1845.

With the incorporation of the region into Russian Empire, a large portion (82,000 during 1878-81, according to Russian sources) of the local Muslim (Turkish) population left for Turkey. Instead, Armenians, Georgians, and Russian (including Molokan
Molokan

The Molokans are a religious sect, among Russian peasants , who broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1550s. Molokans denied the Czar's divine right of kings and rejected icons....
 and Doukhobor
Doukhobor

The Doukhobors or Doukhabors , earlierDukhobortsy are a Christian group of Russian origin.The Doukhobors were one of the sects - later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a "way of life" - known generically as Spiritual Christianity....
 religious minorities) migrated to the newly conquered lands from Russia's other Transcaucasian provinces.

After the October Revolution of 1917 and the disintegration of Russian Empire, the lands of its Kars Oblast
Kars Oblast

Kars Oblast was one of Transcaucasian Guberniya of Russian Empire between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was in the city of Kars, Turkey, presently in the Turkey....
 were controlled for a short while by Democratic Republic of Armenia
Democratic Republic of Armenia

The Democratic Republic of Armenia , 1918?1920, was the first modern establishment of an Armenian republic. The collapse of the Imperial Russia with the Russian Revolution of 1917 gave chance to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to create the new republic which the leadership and the 103 of delegates from former Romanov realm belonged t...
 and, in its northern part, by Democratic Republic of Georgia
Democratic Republic of Georgia

The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918?1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia .The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917....
. However, Turkey soon reoccupied the area. Reincorporation of most of the lands of the former Kars Oblast into the Turkish state was officially confirmed by the Treaty of Kars
Treaty of Kars

The Treaty of Kars was a friendship treaty between the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, which in 1923 declared the Republic of Turkey, and representatives of Soviet Armenia, Soviet Azerbaijan and Soviet Georgia with participation of Bolshevist Russia....
 (1921).

Administrative division

Since 1881, Kars Oblast consisted of four okrug
Okrug

Okrug is an administrative division of some Eastern European Slavic peoples states. The word "okrug" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "district", or "region"....
s (districts): (???????? ?????)
  • Ardahan
    Ardahan

    Ardahan is a List of cities in Turkey in northeastern Turkey on the Georgia border.....
     (??????????? ?????)
  • Kagizman
    Kagizman

    Kagizman is a town and a district of Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey region of Turkey....
     (???????????? ?????)
  • Oltu
    Oltu

    Oltu is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey region of Turkey. It was historically considered to be a part of Tao-Klarjeti, ancient Georgia region....
     (?????????? ?????)
Two more okrugs, Zarushat
Arpaçay

Arpa?ay is a town and a district of Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey region of Turkey. Its name was Zarusat until 1922....
 (???????) and Shoragyal (???????; also spelt Shuregel) existed in 1878-81.

Demographics


1892

As of 1892, the population of Kars Oblast was estimated as 200,868. The ethnic composition, and religious affiliation of ethnic groups, was reported as follows:
  • Turks
    Turkish people

    The Turkish people , also known as "Turks" are defined mainly as citizens of the Republic of Turkey. An early history text provided the definition of being a Turk as "any individual within the Republic of Turkey, whatever his faith who speaks Turkish, grows up with Turkish culture and adopts the Turkish ideal is a Turk." This ideal...
     (this number also included a some Adjarians): 24% (Sunni Muslims)
  • Armenians
    Armenians

    The Armenians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands. A large concentration of them has remained there, especially in Armenia, but many of them are also scattered elsewhere throughout the world ....
    : 21.5%
  • Kurds: 15% (Sunni Muslims and some Yazidi
    Yazidi

    The Yazidi is a Kurds religion with ancient Indo-Iranians roots. Yazidis are primarily Kurdish language, and most live in the Mosul region of northern Iraq....
    )
  • Muslim Karapapak
    Karapapak

    The Karapapak are a small ethnic group of Turkic languages people who mainly live in Azerbaijan, in Georgia , in the northeast of Turkey near the border with Georgia and Armenia, primarily in the provinces of Ardahan Province , Kars Province and Igdir Province, and in Iran ....
    s: 14% (Sunni and some Shi'a)
  • Alevi
    Alevi

    The Alevi are a religious, sub-ethnic and cultural community in Turkey, numbering in the tens of millions. Alevism is generally considered an Islamic religion....
     Karapapak
    Karapapak

    The Karapapak are a small ethnic group of Turkic languages people who mainly live in Azerbaijan, in Georgia , in the northeast of Turkey near the border with Georgia and Armenia, primarily in the provinces of Ardahan Province , Kars Province and Igdir Province, and in Iran ....
    s (reported as 'Turkmen'): 5%
  • Greeks
    Pontic Greeks

    The term Pontic Greeks, Pontian Greeks, Pontians or Greeks of Pontus refers to generally all Greeks from the shores of the Black Sea and Pontus, an area which was also inhabited and invaded by the Persians, Ancient Rome, Mongols , Georgians, Russians and Turkic people....
    : 13.5% (Orthodox Christians)
  • Russians
    Russians

    The Russian people are an East Slavs ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.The English language term Russians is used to refer to the citizens of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity ; in Russian language, the demonym Russian is translated as Rossiyanin ....
    : 7% (mostly "sectarians", i.e. Molokan
    Molokan

    The Molokans are a religious sect, among Russian peasants , who broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1550s. Molokans denied the Czar's divine right of kings and rejected icons....
    s, Doukhobor
    Doukhobor

    The Doukhobors or Doukhabors , earlierDukhobortsy are a Christian group of Russian origin.The Doukhobors were one of the sects - later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a "way of life" - known generically as Spiritual Christianity....
    s, etc.)


The religious composition of the population was reported as follows:
  • Orthodox Christians: 14%
  • "Sectarians" (Molokan
    Molokan

    The Molokans are a religious sect, among Russian peasants , who broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1550s. Molokans denied the Czar's divine right of kings and rejected icons....
    s, Doukhobor
    Doukhobor

    The Doukhobors or Doukhabors , earlierDukhobortsy are a Christian group of Russian origin.The Doukhobors were one of the sects - later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a "way of life" - known generically as Spiritual Christianity....
    s, etc.): 5%
  • Armenian Apostolic Church
    Armenian Apostolic Church

    The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest national church and one of the most ancient Christianity communities.The official name of the church is the One Holy Universal Apostolic Orthodox Armenian Church ....
    : 21%
  • Other Christian churches: 0.75%
  • Muslims: 53%, among which:
    • Sunni: 46%
    • Shi'a: 7%
  • Alevi
    Alevi

    The Alevi are a religious, sub-ethnic and cultural community in Turkey, numbering in the tens of millions. Alevism is generally considered an Islamic religion....
     (reported as "Ali Illahi"): 5%
  • Yazidi
    Yazidi

    The Yazidi is a Kurds religion with ancient Indo-Iranians roots. Yazidis are primarily Kurdish language, and most live in the Mosul region of northern Iraq....
    : 1.25%


1897

The Russian Empire Census
Russian Empire Census

The Russian Empire Census of 1897 was the first and the only census carried out in the Russian Empire. It recorded demographic data as of .Previously, the Central Statistical Bureau issued statistical tables based on fiscal lists ....
 of 1897 counted 290,654 residents in Kars Oblast, including 160,571 men and 130,083 women. This number may perhaps imply that the 200,868 estimate for 1892 given by Brockhaus is too low, or that a large-scale migration from other provinces of the empire took place in between. The following breakdown of the population by the mother tongue was reported:
  • Turkic
    Turkic languages

    The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea to Siberia and Western China, and are sometimes considered to be part of the proposed Altaic languages....
    : 104,457, including:
    • Tatar
      Tatar language

      The Tatar language is a Turkic languages language spoken by the Tatars....
      : 2,347
    • Bashkir
      Bashkir language

      The Bashkir language is a Turkic languages....
      : 207
    • Turkish
      Turkish people

      The Turkish people , also known as "Turks" are defined mainly as citizens of the Republic of Turkey. An early history text provided the definition of being a Turk as "any individual within the Republic of Turkey, whatever his faith who speaks Turkish, grows up with Turkish culture and adopts the Turkish ideal is a Turk." This ideal...
      : 63,547
    • Karapapak
      Karapapak

      The Karapapak are a small ethnic group of Turkic languages people who mainly live in Azerbaijan, in Georgia , in the northeast of Turkey near the border with Georgia and Armenia, primarily in the provinces of Ardahan Province , Kars Province and Igdir Province, and in Iran ....
      : 29,879
    • Turkmen (Alavi
      Alavi

      The surname Alavi signifies ancestry from Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib , the fourth Caliph of Sunni Islam and the first Imam in Shia Islam. Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad and titled Amir al-Mu'minin by his follower ...
       Karapapak
      Karapapak

      The Karapapak are a small ethnic group of Turkic languages people who mainly live in Azerbaijan, in Georgia , in the northeast of Turkey near the border with Georgia and Armenia, primarily in the provinces of Ardahan Province , Kars Province and Igdir Province, and in Iran ....
      ): 8,442
  • Armenian
    Armenian language

    The 'Armenian language' is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenians. It is the official language of the Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh....
    : 73,406
  • Kurdish
    Kurdish language

    The Kurdish language is a term used for the language spoken by Kurdish people. It is mainly concentrated in the parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey....
    : 42,968
  • Greek
    Greek language

    Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
    : 32,593
  • East Slavic
    East Slavic languages

    The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. It is the group with the largest numbers of speakers, far out-numbering the West Slavic languages and South Slavic languages groups....
    : 27,856, including:
    • Russian
      Russian language

      Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
      : 22,327
    • Ukrainian
      Ukrainian language

      Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic languages of the Slavic languages. It is the official language of Ukraine. In some areas of Russia there are dialects, Balachka or Surzhyk, which are the Ukrainianized versions of the Russian language....
      : 5,279
    • Belarusian
      Belarusian language

      The Belarusian language, or Belorussian is the language of the Belarusians and is spoken in Belarus and abroad, chiefly in Russia, Ukraine, and Poland....
      : 250
  • Polish
    Polish language

    Polish , an official language of Poland, has the largest number of speakers of any West Slavic languages. Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner through most of Poland, and it has a regular orthography....
    : 3243
  • Jewish (Yiddish etc.): 1,138
  • Lithuanian
    Lithuanian language

    Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad....
    : 892
  • Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
    Chaldean Neo-Aramaic

    Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is a Northeastern Neo-Aramaic language. Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is spoken on the Plain of Mosul in northern Iraq, as well as by the Chaldean communities worldwide....
     ('Assyrian'): 585
  • Persian
    Persian language

    name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
    : 568
  • Georgian
    Georgian language

    Georgian is the official language of Georgia , a country in the Caucasus .Georgian is the primary language of about 3.9 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad ....
    : 543
  • Ossetian: 520
  • Estonian
    Estonian language

    Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various ?migr? communities....
    : 455
  • Lezgin: 448
  • German
    German language

    German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
    : 430


The 30,000 excess population of male over females was mainly attributed to the "European" ethnic groups. Viz., among the 27,856 speakers of Russian, Ukrianian, and Belarusian, 19,910 men and 7,946 women were recorded. The Polish, and Lithuanian speakers were almost exclusively (99%) male as well; Germans and Jews, 80 to 90% males. This preponderance of males in the "European" ethnic groups (reported, usually to a lesser extent, in neighboring governorates
Guberniya

Guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor or , a word borrowed from Latin , in turn from Greek ....
 as well) may indicate presence of a large numbers of soldiers or exiled persons in the region.

See also

  • Russian Armenia
    Russian Armenia

    Russian Armenia is the period of Armenia history under Russian rule beginning from 1829, when Eastern Armenia became part of the Russia to the declaration of the Democratic Republic of Armenia in 1918....