Kalmyks (/ˌkælˈmiːks, ˌkɑːl-/ ^ⓘ), archaically anglicised as Calmucks (/ˌkælˈmʌks, ˌkɑːl-/), are the only Mongolic people found in Europe, residing in the easternmost part of the European Plain.

This dry steppe area, west of the lower Volga River, known among the nomads as Itil/Idjil, a basin on the northwest shore of the Caspian Sea, was the most suitable land for nomadic pastures. Itil or Idjil, the ancient name of the Volga River, written in the archaic Oirat script, means exactly that: the "pastures".^{[full citation needed]}

The ancestors of Kalmyks were nomadic groups of Oirat-speaking Mongols, who migrated from Western Mongolia to Eastern Europe three times: in early medieval times, establishing in the 6th–8th centuries the Avar Khanate; in medieval times, establishing the Ulus of Juchi and Il-Kanate as Khuda-in-laws of Genghis Khan; and finally, in early modern times, establishing the Kalmyk Khanate in the 17th century.

The Oirat language belongs to the western branch of the Mongolic language family, whose speakers include numerous sub-ethnic groups (Derbet, Torgut, Khoshut, Olot, Dzungar (Zunghar), Bayad, Zakhchin, Khoton, Myangad, Buzava) across a wide geographical area of Uvs and Khovd provinces (aimags) of Western Mongolia (N = 209,412), and in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China (N = 194,891). Ethnic groups of Oirat speakers in the Republic of Kalmykia, Russia (N = 162,740) include Torguts, Derbets, Buzavas and Khoshuts. Up until today the Kalmyks have retained their distinguished sub-ethnic groups, being quite separated from their geographical neighbours in Russia and northeast Caucasus.

The Kalmyks are the only traditionally Buddhist ethnic group who are located inside Europe. Through emigration, small Kalmyk communities have been established in the United States, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

The contemporary Kalmyks are a branch of the Mongolian Oirats, whose ancient grazing-lands spanned present-day parts of Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and China. After the fall of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China in 1368, the Oirats emerged as a formidable foe against the Khalkha Mongols, the Han-led Ming dynasty and the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. For 400 years, the Oirats conducted a military struggle for domination and control over both Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia. The struggle ended in 1757 with the defeat of the Oirats of the Dzungar Khanate against the Qing Empire, in the Dzungar–Qing Wars; they were the last of the Mongol groups to resist vassalage to Qing.

At the start of this 400-year era, the Western Mongols designated themselves as the Four Oirat. The alliance comprised four major Western Mongol tribes: Khoshut, Choros, Torghut and Dörbet. Collectively, the Four Oirat sought power as an alternative to the Mongols, who were the patrilineal heirs to Genghis Khan. The Four Oirat incorporated neighboring tribes or splinter groups at times, so there was a great deal of fluctuation in the composition of the alliance, with larger tribes dominating or absorbing the smaller ones. Smaller tribes belonging to the confederation included the Khoits, Zakhchin, Bayids and Khangal.

Together, these nomadic tribes roamed the grassy plains of western Inner Asia, between Lake Balkhash in present-day eastern Kazakhstan and Lake Baikal in present-day Russia north of central Mongolia. They pitched their yurts and kept herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, horses, donkeys and camels.