Tatars, << TAH tuhrz >>, also called Tartars << TAHR tuhrz >>, are a Turkic-speaking people of Europe and Asia. Most of the 6 million Tatars in the world today live in Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, is an important center of Tatar culture (see Kazan). Sizable Tatar communities are also found in Bulgaria, China, Kazakhstan, Romania, and Turkey. Most Tatars belong to the Sunni branch of Islam.
In the 1200’s, Tatars joined the Mongols and other nomadic peoples to invade eastern Europe. In 1944, during World War II, the Soviet Union deported thousands of Tatars from the Soviet republic of Crimea to central Asia. The Tatars were falsely accused of helping the Nazis. Tatars began returning to Crimea in 1989. But many Crimean Tatars remain in exile.
