Digor people

Digors

Digorænttæ
Ossetian flag
Total population
~200,000
Regions with significant populations
Russia	est. 100,000  North Ossetia–Alania  Kabardino-Balkaria  Stavropol Krai
Turkey	unknown
Syria	700 (2013)[a][1]
Languages
West Ossetian
Religion
Majority: Sunni Islam[2] Minority: Eastern Orthodoxy[3] Assianism
Related ethnic groups
other Iranian peoples, Balkars
^ Muslim Ossetians.

The Digor or West Ossetians (Ossetian: Дигорæнттæ, romanized: Digorænttæ,^[6] pronounced [digɔːrɐ, digɔːrɐnttɐ]) are a subgroup of the Ossetians (Alans). They speak the Digor dialect of the Eastern Iranian Ossetian language, which in USSR was considered a separate language until 1937. Starting from 1932 it is considered just a dialect of Ossetian language. The speakers of the other dialect - Iron (East Ossetian) - do not understand Digor (West Ossetian), although the Digor usually understand East Ossetian, as it was the official language of the Ossetian people and officially taught in schools. In the 2002 Russian Census 607 Digors were registered,^[7] but in the 2010 Russian Census their number was only 223.^[8] It was estimated that there are 100,000 speakers of the dialect,^[9] most of whom declared themselves Ossetians. The Digor mainly live in Digorsky, Irafsky, Mozdoksky districts and Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia–Alania, also in Kabardino-Balkaria, Turkey and Syria.