Crimean Tatar subethnic groups

The subethnic groups of the Crimean Tatar people refer to ethnic subdivisions among Crimean Tatars deriving from their diverse pre-Tatarization origins, language dialect, and customs. The three main sub-ethnic groups are the Steppe, Mountain, and Coastal. Some anthropologists consider the Crimean Tatars of Romani descent to be a fourth subethnic group, within the predominant Tatar group of whichever part of Crimea they inhabit

Some historians with more broad definition of the term Crimean Tatar consider other groups such as the Crimean Urums, Lipka Tatars, and Dobrujan Tatars to also be subethnic groups of the Crimean Tatars, but these views are not widespread, since the Urums never adopted Islam, which is a core part of the Crimean Tatar identity, while the Lipka Tatars and Dobruja Tatars split off from the Crimean Tatars centuries ago and have grown more distant in culture and language over time.

Historically the differences between the different subethnic groups were much more distinct, but over time in exile the groups became much less differentiated, especially due to Soviet policy of denying that Crimean Tatars existed led to gradual decline in distinctions between the groups due to assimilation, a trend that continued even after their return to Crimea. Nevertheless, Crimean Tatars retain awareness of their families subethnic origins and customs. Geographic-based identities tied to where in Central Asia a Crimean Tatar family was exiled to have also developed.

While the Steppe subethnos was politically dominant in the era of the Crimean Khanate, the Southcoast and Mountain Crimean Tatar language dialects grew to be predominant in Crimean Tatar literature, with the Southcoast dialect being dominant in literature until Crimean Tatars switched to using the Central Mountain dialect for literature in 1927.