The Circassian tribes can be grouped and compared in various ways:
Circassians is located in Krasnodar KraiTemirgoyTemirgoyTemirgoyTemirgoyAdameyAdameyYegeruqwai [ru]Yegeruqwai [ru]MakhoshMakhoshBesleneyBesleneyKabardianKabardianPfeil rechts.svgKuban KabardianKuban KabardianHatuqwaiHatuqwaiBzhedugBzhedugAdeleAdeleCircassiansZhaneyZhaneyNatukhaiNatukhaiCircassiansNatukhaiNatukhaiAbdzakhAbdzakhCircassiansAbdzakhAbdzakhUbykhUbykhShapsugShapsugCircassiansShapsugShapsugMamkheghMamkheghShegakShegakAbazinAbazinTapantaTapantaAbkhazAbkhazAnapa-----Anapa-----Novorossisk-Novorossisk-Gelendzhik-Gelendzhik-Tuapse-----Tuapse-----Sochi-----Sochi-----Gagra-----Gagra----- Approximate location of Circassian tribes, Tsutsiev's Atlas The narrow Black Sea coast was occupied, from north to south by the Natukhai, Shapsug, and Ubykh. The main part of the Natukhai and Shapsug tribes were located in the north of the mountains. The Natukhai were enriched by trade since their coast was not backed by high mountains and opened onto the steppe. The north slope was inhabited, from north to south, by the Natukhai, Shapsug, and Abdzakh. They seem to have been the most populous tribes after the Kabarda and its inland location gave then some protection from Nogai and Cossack raiding. In the far west were three small tribes that were absorbed into the Natukhai and disappeared. These were the Adele Адале [ru] on the Taman peninsula and the Shegak and Chebsin (Хегайки [ru] and Чебсин [ru]) near Anapa. Along the Kuban were the Natukhai, Zhaney, Bzhedug, Hatuqwai, and Temirgoy. The tribes along the Kuban and Laba rivers were exposed to Nogai and Cossack raiding than those in the interior. On the east, between the Laba and Belaya, from north to south, were the Temirgoy, Yegeruqwai (Егерукаевцы [ru]), Makhosh (Махошевцы [ru]), and Besleney. The Besleney were a branch of the Kabardians. Along the Belaya River were the Temirgoy, the ill-documented Ademey (Адамийцы [ru]) and then the Mamkhegh near the modern Maykop. The Guaye (Гуайе [ru]) are poorly documented. The Tchelugay lived west of the Makhosh. The Hakuch lived on the coast south of the Natukhai. Other groups are mentioned without much documentation. There are reports of tribes migrating from one place to another, again without much documentation. Some sketch maps show a group of Karachays on the upper Laba without any explanation. In the Far east the Kabarda occupied about a third of the north Caucasus piedmont from mid Circassia proper eastward to the Chechen country. To their north were the Nogai nomads and to the south, deeper in the mountains, were from west to east, the Karachays, Balkars, Ossetes, Ingushes, and Chechens. The Kabardians were fairly advanced, interacted with the Russians from the sixteenth century and were much reduced by plague in the early nineteenth century
