Circassia - Адыгэ Хэку - شركيسيا - Черкесия

Circassia as it was originally, doesn't exist anymore. It was the last country to be occupied by Russia during the Caucasian War, and the last to adopt Islam. Circassians were Christians years before the genocide happened.
The war ended with the Circassian Genocide, in 1864. According to the Circassian Cultural Institute, 1-1.5 million Circassians were killed. Another 1 million Circassians were deported.
Until now, the genocide needs recognition and the only government that actually recognized this event formally as a genocide was the government of Georgia.

1:41
Russian generals collected heads of the dead Circassians as trophies of war.

The Circassian national flag was designed by the Scottish diplomat David Urquhart during the Russo-Circassian War.
"The green is a symbol of the forests and vegetation of the Caucasus. The twelve stars symbolize the individual tribes of Adygea; the nine stars within the arc symbolize the nine aristocratic tribes of Adygea, in contrast to the three horizontal stars which symbolized the three democratic tribes. The arrows symbolize peace. The gold colors of the arrows and stars represent the plentiful havest of grain & wheat."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F....lag_of_the_Republic_

The 12 tribes at 0:14

http://www.circassian-genocide.info/

After the genocide came the fragmentation of the original territory and the diaspora.

The Circassian diaspora is the largest in the world, with about 85-86% of the entire population living in exile, in many countries: USA, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Iraq and Albania.
2:31

The original territory that can be seen at 0:21 is now divided into 3 republics.
2:44

The Republic of Adygea represented by the Circassian national flag;
2:51 - Karachay-Cherkessia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karachay-Cherkessia

2:58 - Kabardino-Balkaria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabardino-Balkaria

This video shows more about the fragmentation of the Circassian territory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJneM2gl-w

The Circassian language is endangered, with roughly 1.5 million speakers.
According to the UNESCO four levels of endangerment in languages, Circassian is in a vulnerable situation: "Most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains (e.g., home)."

The Northwest Caucasian language family:
Northwest Caucasian - Ubykh, Circassian, Abkhaz-Abaza.
Circassian - East: Besleney and Kabardian.
West - Natukhay, Shapsegh, Hakuchi, Bzhedukh, Chemgwi, Hatukhay, Yegerukay.
Abkhaz-Abaza - Abaza (Tapanta).
Abkhaz - Bzyb (Gudaut), Sadzwa, Abhzwi, Samurzakan, Ashkarwa (Abaza).

Two events in sequence awoke the Circassian communities around the globe: The Arab revolutions that started in 2011; in particular the painful Syrian Uprising. 2:38
And the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, with protests against the Olympic Games happening in many countries. 3:05
Sochi was the place of the genocide that happened exactly 150 years by the year 2014. The Russian government was disrepecting the burial site of the Circassians who fought and died in the war, and not mentioning at all on the Circassians and the genocide.
Circassian activists in that time got persecuted, imprisoned and tortured by the FSB and Russian police.

There is no written History before 1864. The alphabet was created around 1918.
Few books about Circassia and North Caucasus in general, are written in English. Most of the books in English about Caucasus are solely dedicated to Chechnya and the two wars.
Here is a list of some of the books about Circassia and Caucasian History and traditions:

Oliver Bullough's "Let Our Fame Be Great - Journeys among the defyant people of Caucasus"
http://www.oliverbullough.com/....letourfamebegreat.ht

Walter Richmond - "The Circassian Genocide"
http://www.amazon.com/Circassi....an-Genocide-Politica

John Colarusso - "Nart Sagas"
http://www.amazon.com/Nart-Sag....as-Caucasus-Legends-

Kadir Natho - "Circassian History"
http://www.amazon.com/Circassi....an-History-Kadir-I-N

Amjad Jaimoukha - "The Circassians: A Handbook"
http://www.amazon.com/The-Circassians-Handbook-Caucasus-Peoples/dp/0700706445/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=14DG5G7PANQ6T5NYND4Q

Charles King - "The Ghost of Freedom - A History of the Caucasus"
http://www.cerkesarastirmalari.....org/pdf/ingilizce/G