Gagauz people

Gagauz people
Gagauzlar
Total population
c. 150,000
Regions with significant populations
Moldova (excl. Transnistria)98,200 (2024 census)[1]
Ukraine25,000[2]
Russia9,272 (2021 census)[3]
Turkey5,400[4][5]
Transnistria4,999 (2015 census)[6]
Romania1,000[7]
Languages
Religion
Eastern Orthodox Church[8]
Related ethnic groups
Turkish people, Azerbaijanis and Gajals
PeopleGagauzlar
LanguageGagauz
Gagauz dili / Gagauzça)
CountryGagauzia
Gagauz Yeri / Gagauziya

The Gagauz (/ɡəˈɡɔːz/; Gagauz: Gagauzlar) are a Turkic ethnic group[9] native to southern Moldova (Gagauzia, Taraclia District, Basarabeasca District) and southwestern Ukraine (Budjak).[10] Gagauz are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians.[8] The term Gagauz is also often used as a collective naming of Turkic people living in the Balkans, speaking the Gagauz language, a language separated from Balkan Gagauz Turkish.[11]

  1. ^ "Population and Housing Census". Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Gagauz in Ukraine".
  3. ^ https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx
  4. ^ "Энциклопедии@Mail.Ru". Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  5. ^ Project, Joshua. "Gagauz in Türkiye (Turkey)". joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  6. ^ "Ethnic composition of Transnistria 2015".
  7. ^ "Gagauz in Romania", Joshuaproject.net, retrieved 8 September 2025
  8. ^ a b Lipka, Michael (22 May 2022). "The Gagauz: 'Christian Turks' between two worlds". TRT World. Archived from the original on 6 December 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2022. The Gagauz, a Turkic-Orthodox Christian people, have lived in the Balkans for hundreds of years, managing to preserve their language and culture.
  9. ^ Menz, Astrid (2006). "The Gagauz". In Kuban, Doğan (ed.). The Turkic speaking peoples. Prestel. ISBN 978-3-7913-3515-5.
  10. ^ "Searching for the Origin of Gagauzes: Inferences from Y-Chromosome Analysis" (PDF). Medgenetics.ru. 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).