Tags: Ethnic Group.
Cherkess or Cherkes (Russian: Черкесы Čerkesy; Adyghe: Шэрджэс Šerdžes) is a term derived from the Russian language name for the Circassians a people of the North Caucasus. While the term was traditionally applied to all Circassians before Soviet times it has since usually referred only to the Circassians living in northern Karachay-Cherkessia a federal subject of Russia where they are indigenous and formed just under 12% of the population in 2010.