Circassians around the world trace their roots to Circassia—the ethnic homeland of the Circassian nation. Located in the North Caucasus, it was an independent country until 1864.
Circassia is situated north of Turkey and Georgia and bounded by the Black Sea to the west, and the Kuban River to the east.
Prior to the Russian-Circassian War (1763 – 1864), Circassia’s borders ranged from the present-day city of Anapa in Krasnadar Krai, extended southwards towards Mount Elbrus and eastward to Mazdok (now part of the Republic of North Ossettia.)
At the conclusion of the war, the vast majority of Circassians found themselves displaced from Circassia and dispersed across the Ottoman Empire. Today, there are an estimated 5 million Circassians, of which, approximately 4 million live outside of Circassia; large communities can be found in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Europe and the United States.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, several administrative regions of Circassia were given sovereignty within the construct of the modern Russian Federation, and granted the status of Semi-autonomous Republics.
Accordingly, modern Circassia is a geographic expression that describes regions in and around the three titular Circassian Republics in the North Caucasus of the Russian Federation. From West to East, these are Adygea, Karachai-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria. The total land mass of the modern Circassia is about 34,000 square kilometers (13,100 square miles). This makes Circassia about the same size as the US state of Maine, a bit bigger than the European country of Belgium, but a tad smaller than the island of Taiwan.