Dargins
Dargins or Dargwa (Dargwa: дарганти, darganti) are a Northeast Caucasian native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus, and who make up the second largest ethnic group in the North Caucasian republic of Dagestan. They speak the Dargwa language. The ethnic group comprises, however, all speakers of the Dargin languages; Dargwa is simply the standard variety.
Dargin flag | |
A Dargin man, c. late 1800s | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 700,000 (est.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
Russia
| 626,601 |
| Levashinsky District | 70,704 |
| Akushinsky District | 53,558 |
| Dakhadayevsky District | 36,709 |
| Kaytagsky District | 31,368 |
| Sergokalinsky District | 27,133 |
| Ukraine | 1,610 |
| Languages | |
| Dargin languages | |
| Religion | |
| Majority: Sunni Islam Minority: Shia Islam
| |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Adyghe, Circassians, Chechens, Avars | |
According to the 2021 Census, Dargins make up 16.6% of the population of Dagestan, with 521,381 people. They are concentrated in the Kaytagsky District, Dakhadayevsky District, Levashinsky District, Akushinsky District and Sergokalinsky Districts.
The Dargins have lived in their present-day location for many centuries. They formed the state of Kaitag in the Middle Ages and Renaissance until Russian conquest. Today, the Dargins are one of the most numerous ethnic groups in Dagestan (an amalgamation of many of the historical peoples in the region), the second most numerous after Avars.