page_title: Azerbaijanis
section_title: Caucasian origin
hierarchical_section_title: Azerbaijanis / Origins of the Azerbaijanis / Caucasian origin
caption_attribution_description: English: An Azerbaijani woman from Shusha in silk national garments. ქართული: შუშელი თათარი ქალიშვილი აბრეშუმის ჩადრში. 1898 წ.
context_page_description: Azerbaijanis or Azeris, also known as Azerbaijani Turks, are a Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan region of Iran and the sovereign Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numerous ethnic group among the Turkic peoples after Turkish people and are predominantly Shia Muslims. They comprise the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the second-largest ethnic group in neighboring Iran and Georgia. The world's largest number of ethnic Azerbaijanis live in Iran, followed by the Republic of Azerbaijan. They speak the Azerbaijani language, belonging to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages.
  Following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1813 and 1828, the territories of the Qajar Iran in the Caucasus were ceded to the Russian Empire, and the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 finalized the borders between Russia and Iran. After more than 80 years of being under the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established in 1918 which established the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
context_section_description: According to Encyclopædia Britannica:
  The Azerbaijanis (peoples of the Republic of Azerbaijan) are of mixed ethnic origin, the oldest element deriving from the indigenous population of eastern Transcaucasia and possibly from the Medians of northern Persia.
  There is evidence that, despite repeated invasions and migrations, aboriginal Caucasians may have been culturally assimilated, first by Ancient Iranian peoples and later by the Oghuz. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians including their language, history, early conversion to Christianity. The Udi language, still spoken in Azerbaijan, may be a remnant of the Albanians' language.
caption: Azerbaijani girl from Shusha in silk national garments.
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