Adjarians

The Adjarians (Georgian: აჭარლები, romanized: ach'arlebi), are an ethnographic group of Georgians indigenous to Adjara in southwestern Georgia. Adjarian settlements are also found in the Georgian provinces of Guria, Kvemo Kartli, and Kakheti, as well as in several areas of neighbouring Turkey. Under the lengthy Ottoman rule, which actively favored Muslims over Christians, many Adjarians converted to Islam; however, most of them have since reverted back to Christianity following their reunification with the Georgian mainland. Despite an extended period under Turkish rule, Adjarians have kept the Georgian language (with their own dialect) and traditions. In the 1926 census, Adjarians were categorised as a distinct ethnic group. In the 1939 census, they were included in the same category as Georgians. Since Georgian independence, most Adjarians consider themselves Georgians, but some segments of the Georgian society continue to view Muslim Adjarians as second-class "Turkicized" Georgians.