Dargins

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Dargin
Дарганти Darganti

Dargin flag
A Dargin man, c. late 1800s
Total population
700,000 (est.)
Regions with significant populations
Russia  Dagestan: 521,381[1]	626,601[1]
Levashinsky District	70,704
Akushinsky District	53,558
Dakhadayevsky District	36,709
Kaytagsky District	31,368
Sergokalinsky District	27,133
Ukraine	1,610[2]
Languages
Dargin languages
Religion
Majority: Sunni Islam Minority: Shia Islam[3]
Related ethnic groups
Adyghe, Circassians, Chechens, Avars

Dargins or Dargwa (Dargwa: дарганти, darganti) are a Northeast Caucasian native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus, and who make up the second largest ethnic group in the North Caucasian republic of Dagestan. They speak the Dargwa language. The ethnic group comprises, however, all speakers of the Dargin languages; Dargwa is simply the standard variety.

According to the 2021 Census, Dargins make up 16.6% of the population of Dagestan, with 521,381 people.^[1] They are concentrated in the Kaytagsky District, Dakhadayevsky District, Levashinsky District, Akushinsky District and Sergokalinsky Districts.

The Dargins have lived in their present-day location for many centuries. They formed the state of Kaitag in the Middle Ages and Renaissance until Russian conquest. Today, the Dargins are one of the most numerous ethnic groups in Dagestan (an amalgamation of many of the historical peoples in the region), the second most numerous after Avars.