Tat people (Caucasus)

Tat people
1880 photograph depicting a group of Tat men from the village of Adur in the Kuba Uyezd of the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire
Total population
tens of thousands (various estimates)
Regions with significant populations
Azerbaijan27,700 (2019)
Russia575 (2021)
Languages
Tat, Azerbaijani, and Russian
Religion
Majority Shia Islam, minority Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Persians, other Iranian peoples, Armeno-Tats

The Tat people or Transcaucasian Persians (also: Tat, Parsi, Daghli, Lohijon) are an Iranian people presently living within Azerbaijan and Russia (mainly Southern Dagestan). The Tats are part of the indigenous peoples of Iranian origin in the Caucasus.

Tats use the Tat language, a southwestern Iranian language somewhat different from standard Persian, as well as Azerbaijani and Russian. Tats are mainly Shia Muslims with a significant Sunni Muslim minority.