Rutuls

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Rutuls (мыхIадбыр in Rutul, рутульцы in Russian) are an ethnic group in Dagestan (Russia) and some parts of Azerbaijan. According to the 2002 census, there were 29,929 Rutuls in Russia (12,000 in 1970). The population figure for Rutuls in Azerbaijan is unknown since many of them choose to associate themselves with Lezgins.^[1] The Rutul language belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language family; its speakers often have a good command of Azeri, Lezgian and/or Russian, as Rutul was not a written language until 1990. The Rutuls adhere to Sunni Islam. The Rutul culture is close to that one of the Lezgins and other peoples, who inhabit the basin of the upper reaches of the Samur River. Most of the Rutuls are engaged in cattle breeding (mostly, sheep husbandry), farming, and gardening.