Digor people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| est. 100,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Russia
|
est. 100,000 |
| Languages | |
| Ossetian: Digor and Iron dialects, Russian | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam, Orthodox Church | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Iron people | |
est. 100,000
The Digor (Digor dialect: дигорон - digoron, pl.: дигорæ, дигорæнттæ - digoræ, digorænttæ; Iron dialect: дыгурон - dyguron, pl.: дыгур, дыгурæттæ - dygur, dygurættæ) are a subgroup of the Ossetians. They speak the Digor dialect of the Eastern Iranian Ossetian language, which in USSR was considered a separate language until 1937. Starting from 1932 it is considered just a dialect of Ossetian language. The speakers of the other dialect - Iron - do not understand Digor, although the Digor usually understand Iron, as it was the official language of the Ossetian people and officially taught in schools. In the 2002 Russian Census 607 Digors were registered, but in the 2010 Russian Census their number was only 223. It was estimated that there are 100,000 speakers of the dialect, most of whom declared themselves Ossetians. The Digor mainly live in Digorsky, Irafsky, Mozdoksky districts and Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia–Alania, also in Kabardino-Balkaria, Turkey and Syria.
Among the tribal names given in "Ashkharatsuyts" there is an ethnonym ashtigor, which is considered to be the name of the Digors. This fact, and other linguistic considerations, have led experts to believe that Digor dialect became separated from Proto-Ossetian during the Mongol conquests.
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Wikipedia