Crimean Tatars as a separate nation appeared approximately in the 15th century. Prior to this, various tribes and peoples lived on the peninsula, from which this nationality was formed. Now the appearance of the Tatars faintly resembles the one it was 500 years ago. Moreover, people living in different countries and regions are completely different from each other.
Representatives of this nation live mainly in the south of Ukraine, in Russia, Romania, Turkey and Uzbekistan (where they were massively deported from Crimea in the middle of the last century). In connection with this relocation, the Crimean Tatars (whose appearance at that time was mostly close to Slavic) were forced to coexist with the Asian peoples, as a result of which many national signs were lost.
Now, after returning to their historical homeland (at the end of the last century, they began to return to Crimea), this people is trying to revive its traditions. But not only cultural and historical values were lost in exile, the appearance of the Tatars also changed. The “purebred” representatives of this nation are rather tall people with light (often blond or red) hair, light eyes and skin. However, mixed with Uzbeks and other representatives of the eastern peoples, many Tatars became dark-skinned, brown-eyed, with dark hair and a characteristic Asian type of face.
Despite this external difference, life away from the homeland did not lead to significant internal contention. Now, like dozens of years ago, Crimean Tatars are trying to live together, children in families are brought up taking into account traditional morality and religion (most of them profess Islam), respect for elders, mutual assistance and support.
Despite the fact that the Tatar youth does not observe some rites and behaves more like Europeans, the main traditions (respect for elders, holidays, weddings and some other events) still retain their originality. Of course, the appearance of the Tatars now differs little from the appearance of representatives of other nationalities: no one wears national costumes, women, despite being Islamic, allow themselves to use makeup, wear revealing outfits and attend various events alone (which was absolutely unacceptable for several decades back).
But all this mainly concerns residents of large cities, in remote settlements and the outback of the Crimean steppes, many people live quite differently than in the city, including the Tatars. Appearance (men, women, children) is more reminiscent of those representatives of the nation who lived in the last century. Girls are more modest, children are more obedient. In many villages, all traditions are respected with jewelry precision, including fasting and celebrations, weddings and funerals.
From a geographical point of view, representatives of this people are divided into mountain foothill (Tatlar), steppe (nogai) and south-coast (bohlyu). The appearance of the Tatars also depends on this affiliation. So, the legs have more pronounced Asian facial features, a dense physique and short stature. Tatlars are more like Slavs - they are fair-skinned and tall. As for the boyle, they are usually dark-skinned, but higher than the Nogais and Tatlars, their facial features are more pleasant, although large. Currently, representatives of all three areas are so mixed that a clear border between them no longer exists.
