 Distribution of Mingrelian in relation to the other Kartvelian languages | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 400,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Georgia 400,000[a] | |
| Languages | |
| Mingrelian, Georgian | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Georgian Orthodox Church) |
| Part of a series on |
| Georgians ქართველები |
|---|
 |
| Nation |
| Georgia |
| Ancient Kartvelian people |
| Subgroups |
| Culture |
| Languages |
| Religion |
| Symbols |
| History of Georgia |
The Mingrelians[b] (Mingrelian: მარგალეფი, romanized: margalepi; Georgian: მეგრელები, romanized: megrelebi) are an indigenous Kartvelian-speaking ethnic subgroup of Georgians[1][2][3][4][5][6] that mostly live in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti (Mingrelian: სამარგალო, romanized: samargalo; Georgian: სამეგრელო, romanized: samegrelo) region of Georgia. They also live in considerable numbers in Abkhazia and Tbilisi. In the pre-1930 Soviet census, the Mingrelians were afforded their own ethnic group category, alongside many other ethnic subgroups of Georgians.[7][8]
The Mingrelians speak the Mingrelian language, and are typically bilingual also in Georgian. Both these languages belong to the Kartvelian language family.[9][10][11]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Stuart J. Kaufman Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War ::Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War], p 86: "Additionally, the Georgian category includes an array of politically important subgroups especially Mingrelians, Svans and Ajarians"
- ^ Kevin Tuite "The Meaning of Dæl. Symbolic and Spatial Associations of the South Caucasian Goddess of Game Animals". Université de Montréal.
- ^ Tunç Aybak Politics of the Black Sea: Dynamics of Cooperation and Conflict, p 185: "... Georgians (Megrels) ..."
- ^ Andropov, New Challenge to the West, by Arnold Beichman, Mikhail S. Bernstam, p 116: "Georgia consists of three ethnics tribes: Imeretians, Kartvels, and Mingrelians."
- ^ Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, by Svante E. Cornell, p 142
- ^ Political Construction Sites: Nation-building in Russia and the Post-Soviet World, by Pål Kolstø, p. 8
- ^ R. Wixman. The Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook (p.134)
- ^ "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru.
- ^ "South Caucasian Languages « Sorosoro".
- ^ Congress, The Library of. "LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov.
- ^ "SOUTH CAUCASIAN - LanguageServer - University of Graz". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-03-18.