Karaims
| Population | about 6,000 |
| Language group | Kypchak group of Turkic languages |
| Language | Karaimic |
| Region | Lithuania, Ukraine (the Crimea) |
| Religion | Karaim beliefs |
*Population estimates for 1994
The Karaims are a small nationality. At present, the majority of them speak Russian. Their household and everyday life is not much different from that of the peoples among which they live.
The Karaims are considered to be the descendants of the Turkic tribes which belong to the Khazar kaganate. After its defeat by Kievan Rus’ princes in the tenth century, the Karaims remained in Crimea. At the end of the fourteenth century, some of the Karaims settled in Lithuania and the western regions of Ukraine as captives of the Great Princedom of Lithuania.
The rich Karaim folklore, which depicts the close ties of the Karaims with the Khazars, has been preserved.
Karaim believers follow their own specific religious ideas. The only Karaim holy book is the Old Testament.
This is Ad 1
