Editing Cossacks (section)

== Modern-day Cossack identity ==
Ethnic, or "born" (''prirodnye''), Cossacks are those who can trace, or claim to trace, their ancestry to people and families identified as Cossack in the Tsarist era. They tend to be Christian, practicing as [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]]s or [[Old Believers]]; though there are growing numbers of [[Slavic Native Faith|Rodnovers]], especially among Ukrainian Cossacks.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Pilkington |first1=Hilary |last2=Popov |first2=Anton |year=2009 |contribution=Understanding Neo-paganism in Russia: Religion? Ideology? Philosophy? Fantasy? |title=Subcultures and New Religious Movements in Russia and East-Central Europe |editor=George McKay|pages=275–266 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-03911-921-9}}</ref>

Others may be initiated as Cossacks, particularly men in military service. Such initiates may be neither ethnic Slavs, nor Christian. Not all agree that such initiates should be considered Cossack. There is no consensus on an initiation rite or rules.

In other cases, individuals may wear Cossack uniform and pass themselves off as Cossack, perhaps because there is a large ethnic Cossack population in the area and the person wants to fit in. Others adopt Cossack clothing in an attempt to take on some of their mythic status. Ethnic Cossacks refer to the re-enactors as ''ryazhenye'' (ряженые, or "dressed up phonies").<ref>{{cite web |author=Nadezhda Kuznetsova |url=http://info.sibnet.ru/?id=294328 |script-title=ru:Казаки и "ряженые" |trans-title=Cossacks and "masqueraders" |language=ru |website=Info.sibnet.ru |date=21 September 2010 |access-date=2 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004135429/http://info.sibnet.ru/?id=294328 |archive-date=4 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Boris Almazov |url=http://borisalmazov.narod.ru/stati/kazachia_drama.htm |script-title=ru:Казачья драма |trans-title=The Cossack Drama |language=ru |website=Borisalmazov.narod.ru |date=2006 |access-date=2 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003114644/http://borisalmazov.narod.ru/stati/kazachia_drama.htm |archive-date=3 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Because of the lack of consensus on how to define Cossacks, accurate numbers are not available. According to the [[Russian Census (2010)|Russian Census of 2010]], 67,573&nbsp;people identify as ethnic Cossack in Russia.<ref name="Russtat">{{cite web |url=http://rg.ru/2011/12/16/stat.html |script-title=ru:Вот какие мы – россияне: Росстат об итогах Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года |trans-title=Here's what we are – the Russians: Russtat on the outcome of the National Population Census 2010 |language=ru |website=Rg.ru |date=22 December 2011 |access-date=2 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924151748/http://www.rg.ru/2011/12/16/stat.html |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 3.5 and 5&nbsp;million people associate themselves with the Cossack identity in Europe and across the world.<ref name="Cole2011"/><ref name="Tjoe2006"/>