Don Cossacks

Don Cossacks
Flag of the Don Cossacks[1]
Total population
0.2–2 million
Regions with significant populations
 Russia: Rostov and Volgograd Oblasts1,500,000 in 1918; 140,000 in 2010[2]
Languages
Don Gutar (Southern Russian dialect),
Don Balachka (Eastern Ukrainian dialect)
Religion
Predominantly Eastern Orthodox
Minority Old Believers
Related ethnic groups
Russians,[3] Ukrainians, Buzava

Don Cossacks (Russian: Донские казаки, romanizedDonskiye kazaki, Ukrainian: Донські козаки, romanizedDonski kozaky) or Donians (Russian: донцы, romanizeddontsy, Ukrainian: донці, romanizeddontsi), are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (Russian: Донское казачье войско, romanizedDonskoe kazache voysko, Ukrainian: Головне Донське військо, romanizedHolovne Dons'ke viis'ko), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic republic in present-day Southern Russia and parts of the Donbas region of Ukraine, from the end of the 16th century until 1918. As of 1992, by presidential decree of the Russian Federation, Cossacks can be enrolled on a special register. A number of Cossack communities have been reconstituted to further Cossack cultural traditions, including those of the Don Cossack Host. Don Cossacks have had a rich military tradition - they played an important part in the historical development of the Russian Empire and participated in most of its major wars.

  1. ^ "Don Cossacks' flags (Russia)".
  2. ^ "Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  3. ^ Russian History Dating Back to the Most Ancient Times by Vasily Tatishchev Vol.1., Chapter 33:7. 1739