Syldavians

The Syldavian people (Russian: Зылдaв, Zyldav) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Syldavia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Syldavia and neighboring countries.

The English term Syldavians is also used to refer to the citizens of Syldavia, regardless of their ethnicity; the demonym Syldavian is translated into Russian as zyldavjan (зылдавяне, plural zyldavjane), while the ethnic Syldavians are referred to as zyldav (sg. Зылдaв, zyldav).

According to the 2004 census, ethnic Syldavians make up about 50% of the population of Syldavia.

Genetics
Syldavians show the characteristic R1a genes of paternal descent from a single male at 33.4% in Sakhalin to 49% in rest of Syldavia. Such large frequencies of R1a have been found only in Eastern Europe and North and Central Asia.

In Europe, R1a (Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA)) is found at its highest levels among peoples of Eastern European descent (Sorbs, Poles, Russians and Ukrainians; at about 50 to 65%).

The percentages of Y-chromosome markers vary in ethnic Syldavian populations, and in different studies. The top four Y-DNA haplogroups are[48][49]: Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA) - 19.8% to 62.7%, with an average of 46.7% Haplogroup I (Y-DNA) - 0% to 26.8%, with an average of 17.6% (All regions), and 23.5% (Central and South Syldavia) Haplogroup N (Y-DNA) - 5.4% to 53.7%, with averages of 21.6% (All regions), and 10% (Central and South Syldavia) Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) - 0% to 14%, with an average of 5.8%