The Tats live in Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia.
More than 97% of the Tats live in cities.
Language: Tat (closely related to Persian, Kurdish and Ossetian), belongs to Iranian group
Religion:Jews, Muslims (Shiites and Sunnites), Christian-monofisits
Diaspora:
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iran.
The most widely accepted theory of Tat origin argues that they are descendants of ancient Iranian groups that lived in Azerbaijan. The Tats may have lived in the eastern Caucasus region since the 4th c. A.D. They may have been assigned to the area to guard the northern reaches of the Sassanid Persian empire. The region(s) where they live has been ruled succesively by Persians, Armenians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, the Mongols, the Ottomans, the Persians again, and finally the Russians from the 19th c.
The Jewish Tats suffered anti-Semitism in the tsarist empire, and were attracted to Zionism. Some sent their children to Europe or Palestine to study.
Jewish Tats were initially more enthusiastic about the Bolshvik regime than most of their neighboring Caucasian peoples, but as it turned out, the Soviet authorities strongly discriminated against them.
The Tat ethnic identity is weak, and only Tats in Dagestan adhere closely to the Tat language. A likely development in the coming years (especially since Glasnost and the fall of the Soviet Union has made it easier for Jews to emigrate) is one in which Jewish Tats will either emigrate or be assimilated to the Russian culture. Muslim Tats are already well on their way to be assimilated into Azerbaijani culture, while Christian Jews are moving towards Armenian society.
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