Quote: (11-25-2013 08:22 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:
Ok.
Question:
What if you meet a Russian girl, but suspect via features that she is Tatar?
If you guess wrong, would that blow up in your face?
Obviously, if you guess correct, I would guess you are on easy street.
Thoughts?
It's very difficult to tell by appearance. Russia has lots of nationalities, even within the Turkic group. In the European part alone there are Tatars, Chuvashi, Bashkirs, etc. I know Slavic girls who look Georgian, and Azerbaijanis who look Slavic. There was so much inter-ethnic mixing over the past 500 years that it's impossible to tell. It isn't like Estonia or Latvia where the Russian population was imported during a short period of time and look completely different to the locals.
There is an easy way to identify them though... Tatar names sound nothing like Russian ones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatar_name
In Kazan it isn't be a big deal for a 'clumsy foreigner' to mistake a Russian for a Tatar. It could be a problem in St. Petersburg or Moscow though.