Some 30 people to be registered as scythians by ethnic status within the framework of All-Russian population census

About 30 people will be registered as Scythians by their ethnic status in Rostov-on-Don (the south of Russia) within the framework of the All-Russian population census, Fyodor Mikushin, Deputy Head of the Scythian National Congress fund's Rostov office, informed RIA Novosti on Monday.

According to the official, as many as 6 Rostov citizens have asserted their rare status. Not all of the Rostov Scythians were taken seriously, Mikushin said. It took long for a Scythian to prove his uncommon ethnic status, which had been denied entry. Over the last 100 years it is the first census that let those willing register themselves as Scythians, Mikushin added.

The Scythians were ancient tribes that inhabited the northern coast of the Black Sea (the 7th century B.C. - the 3rd century A.D.). These tribes established the Scythian State in the 4th century B.C.. After the state was defeated by Goths, the Scythians assimilated with other tribes. The Scythians left numerous monuments behind them - grave-mounds, sites of ancient settlements.