Slavs are the largest European
ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various
Slavic languages, belonging to the larger
Balto-Slavic branch of the
Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern
Eurasia, mainly inhabiting
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
Eastern Europe, and the
Balkans to the west; and
Siberia to the east. A large Slavic minority is also scattered across the
Baltic states
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
and
Central Asia, while a substantial Slavic diaspora is found throughout the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, as a result of
immigration.
Present-day Slavs are classified into
East Slavs (chiefly
Belarusians
, native_name_lang = be
, pop = 9.5–10 million
, image =
, caption =
, popplace = 7.99 million
, region1 =
, pop1 = 600,000–768,000
, region2 =
, pop2 ...
,
Russians,
Rusyns, and
Ukrainians),
West Slavs (chiefly
Czechs,
Kashubians,
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
,
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
and
Sorbs) and
South Slavs (chiefly
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
,
Bulgarians,
Croats,
Macedonians,
Montenegrins,
Serbs and
Slovenes).
The vast majority of Slavs are traditionally
Christians. However, modern Slavic nations and ethnic groups are considerably diverse both genetically and culturally, and relations between them – even within the individual groups – range from "ethnic solidarity to mutual feelings of hostility".
Ethnonym
The oldest mention of the Slavic ethnonym is from the 6th century AD, when
Procopius, writing in
Byzantine Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...
, used various forms such as ''Sklaboi'' (), ''Sklabēnoi'' (), ''Sklauenoi'' (), ''Sthlabenoi'' (), or ''Sklabinoi'' (),
and his contemporary
Jordanes refers to the in
Latin.
The oldest documents written in
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
, dating from the 9th century, attest the autonym as ''Slověne'' (). Those forms point back to a Slavic
autonym, which can be reconstructed in
Proto-Slavic as , plural ''Slověne''.
The reconstructed autonym is usually considered a derivation from ''slovo'' ("word"), originally denoting "people who speak (the same language)", meaning "people who understand one another", in contrast to the Slavic word denoting "
German people", namely , meaning "silent, mute people" (from Slavic "
mute
Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak.
Mute or the Mute may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart
* ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...
, mumbling"). The word ''slovo'' ("word") and the related ''slava'' ("glory, fame") and ' ("hearing") originate from the
Proto-Indo-European root ("be spoken of, glory"), cognate with Ancient Greek ( "fame"), as in the name
Pericles, Latin ("be called"), and English .
In medieval and early modern sources written in
Latin, Slavs are most commonly referred to as ''Sclaveni'' or the shortened version ''Sclavi''.
History
Origins
First mentions
Ancient Roman sources refer to the
Early Slavic peoples as
Veneti, who dwelt in a region of central Europe east of the
Germanic tribe of
Suebi
The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
, and west of the Iranian
Sarmatians in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, between the upper
Vistula and
Dnieper rivers. The Slavs under name of the ''
Antes'' and the ''
Sclaveni'' first appear in
Byzantine records in the early 6th century. Byzantine historiographers under emperor
Justinian I (527–565), such as
Procopius of Caesarea,
Jordanes and
Theophylact Simocatta describe tribes of these names emerging from the area of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
, the lower
Danube and the
Black Sea, invading the Danubian provinces of the
Eastern Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
.
Jordanes, in his work ''
Getica'' (written in 551 AD), describes the
Veneti as a "populous nation" whose dwellings begin at the sources of the
Vistula and occupy "a great expanse of land". He also describes the Veneti as the ancestors of Antes and Slaveni, two early Slavic tribes, who appeared on the Byzantine frontier in the early 6th century. Procopius wrote in 545 that "the Sclaveni and the Antae actually had a single name in the remote past; for they were both called ''
Sporoi Sporoi ( el, Σπόροι) or Spori was according to Eastern Roman scholar Procopius (500–560) the old name of the Antes and Sclaveni, two Early Slavic branches. Procopius stated that the Sclaveni and Antes spoke the same language, but he did no ...
'' in olden times". The name ''Sporoi'' derives from
Greek σπείρω ("I scatter grain"). He described them as barbarians, who lived under democracy, believed in one god, "the maker of lightning" (
Perun), to whom they made a sacrifice. They lived in scattered housing and constantly changed settlement. In war, they were mainly
foot soldiers with shields, spears, bows, and little armour, which was reserved mainly for chiefs and their inner circle of warriors. Their language is "barbarous" (that is, not Greek), and the two tribes are alike in appearance, being tall and robust, "while their bodies and hair are neither very fair or blond, nor indeed do they incline entirely to the dark type, but they are all slightly ruddy in color. And they live a hard life, giving no heed to bodily comforts..."
Jordanes described the Sclaveni having swamps and forests for their cities.
Another 6th-century source refers to them living among nearly-impenetrable forests, rivers, lakes, and marshes.
Menander Protector mentions a
Daurentius
Daurentius ( gr, Δαυρέντιος), Dauritas ( gr, Δαυρίτας), or Dobreta ( sr, Добрета) was a South Slavic (''Sclaveni'') chieftain. He seems to have been the supreme chief, having lesser ones subordinated to him. His realm was ...
(c. 577–579) who slew an
Avar envoy of Khagan
Bayan I for asking the Slavs to accept the suzerainty of the Avars; Daurentius declined and is reported as saying: "Others do not conquer our land, we conquer theirs – so it shall always be for us as long as there are wars and weapons".
Migrations
According to eastern homeland theory, prior to becoming known to the
Roman world,
Slavic-speaking tribes were part of the many multi-ethnic confederacies of
Eurasia – such as the Sarmatian, Hun and Gothic empires. The Slavs emerged from obscurity when the westward movement of Germanic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries CE (thought to be in conjunction with the movement of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe:
Huns, and later
Avars and
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
) started the
great migration of the Slavs, who settled the lands abandoned by Germanic tribes fleeing the Huns and their allies: westward into the country between the Oder and the
Elbe-
Saale line; southward into
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
,
Moravia, much of present-day
Austria, the
Pannonian plain and the
Balkans; and northward along the upper
Dnieper river. It has also been suggested that some Slavs migrated with the
Vandals to the
Iberian Peninsula and even
North Africa.
Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on
Byzantine borders in great numbers. Byzantine records note that Slav numbers were so great, that grass would not regrow where the Slavs had marched through. After a military movement even the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
and
Asia Minor were reported to have Slavic settlements. This southern movement has traditionally been seen as an invasive expansion.
By the end of the 6th century, Slavs had
settled the Eastern Alps regions.
Pope Gregory I in 600 CE wrote to Maximus, the bishop of
Salona (in
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
), in which he expresses concern about the arrival of the Slavs: ''"Et quidem de Sclavorum gente, quae vobis valde imminet, et affligor vehementer et conturbor. Affligor in his quae jam in vobis patior; conturbor, quia per Istriae aditum jam ad Italiam intrare coeperunt." ("I am both distressed and disturbed about the Slavs, who are pressing hard on you. I am distressed because I sympathize with you; I am disturbed because they have already begun to arrive in
Italy through the entry-point of
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...
.")''
Middle Ages
When Slav migrations ended, their first
state organizations appeared, each headed by a prince with a treasury and a defense force. In the 7th century, the Frankish merchant
Samo supported the Slavs against their
Avar rulers and became the ruler of the first known Slav state in Central Europe,
Samo's Empire. This early Slavic polity probably did not outlive its founder and ruler, but it was the foundation for later
West Slavic states on its territory. The oldest of them was
Carantania
Carantania, also known as Carentania ( sl, Karantanija, german: Karantanien, in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern ...
; others are the
Principality of Nitra, the
Moravian principality (see under
Great Moravia) and the
Balaton Principality. The
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...
was founded in 681 as an alliance between the ruling
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
and the numerous
slavs
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
in the area, and their
South Slavic language, the
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
, became the main and official language of the empire in 864. Bulgaria was instrumental in the spread of
Slavic literacy and Christianity to the rest of the Slavic world. The expansion of the
Magyars
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...
into the
Carpathian Basin and the
Germanization of
Austria gradually separated the
South Slavs from the
West and
East Slavs. Later Slavic states, which formed in the following centuries, included the
Kievan Rus', the
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...
, the
Kingdom of Poland,
Duchy of Bohemia, the
Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia may refer to:
* Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), an independent medieval kingdom
* Croatia in personal union with Hungary (1102–1526), a kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary
* Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) (152 ...
,
Banate of Bosnia
The Banate of Bosnia ( sh, Banovina Bosna / Бановина Босна), or Bosnian Banate (''Bosanska banovina'' / Босанска бановина), was a medieval state based in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although Hungarian kings ...
and the
Serbian Empire.
Modern era
Pan-Slavism, a movement which came into prominence in the mid-19th century, emphasized the common heritage and unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires: the Byzantine Empire,
Austria-Hungary, the
Ottoman Empire, and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
. Austro-Hungary envisioned its own political concept of
Austro-Slavism, in opposition of Pan-Slavism that was predominantly led by the
Russian Empire.
As of 1878, there were only three majority Slavic states in the world: the
Russian Empire,
Principality of Serbia and
Principality of Montenegro.
Bulgaria was effectively independent but was ''de jure'' vassal to the
Ottoman Empire until official independence was declared in 1908. The Slavic peoples who were, for the most part, denied a voice in the affairs of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, were calling for national self-determination. During
World War I, representatives of the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes set up organizations in the
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
countries to gain sympathy and recognition. In 1918, after World War I ended, the Slavs established such independent states as
Czechoslovakia, the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
, and the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
One of
Hitler's ambitions at the start of
World War II was to exterminate, expel, or enslave most or all
East and
West Slavs from their native lands, so as to make
living space for German settlers. This
plan of genocide was to be carried into effect gradually over 25 to 30 years. The first half of the 20th century in Russia and the
Soviet Union was marked by a succession of wars,
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
s and other disasters, each accompanied by large-scale population losses. Stephen J. Lee estimates that, by the end of World War II in 1945, the Russian population was about 90 million fewer than it could have been otherwise.
Former Soviet states in Central Asia such as
Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan have very large minority Slavic populations with most being Russians. Kazakhstan has the largest Slavic minority population.
Languages
Proto-Slavic, the supposed ancestor language of all Slavic languages, is a descendant of common
Proto-Indo-European, via a
Balto-Slavic stage in which it developed numerous lexical and morphophonological isoglosses with the
Baltic languages. In the framework of the
Kurgan hypothesis, "the Indo-Europeans who remained after the migrations
rom the steppe
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* R ...
became speakers of Balto-Slavic".
Proto-Slavic is defined as the last stage of the language preceding the geographical split of the historical
Slavic languages. That language was uniform, and on the basis of borrowings from foreign languages and Slavic borrowings into other languages, it cannot be said to have any recognizable dialects, which suggests that there was, at one time, a relatively-small
Proto-Slavic homeland.
Slavic linguistic unity was to some extent visible as late as
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
(or
Old Bulgarian) manuscripts which, though based on local Slavic speech of
Thessaloniki, could still serve the purpose of the first common Slavic literary language.
Standardised
Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...
Slavic languages that have official status in at least one country are:
Belarusian
Belarusian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to Belarus
* Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent
* A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus
* Belarusian language
* Belarusian culture
* Belarusian cuisine
* Byelor ...
,
Bosnian,
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
,
Croatian,
Czech,
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
,
Montenegrin,
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
,
Russian,
Serbian
Serbian may refer to:
* someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe
* someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people
* Serbian language
* Serbian names
See also
*
*
* Old Serbian (disambiguat ...
,
Slovak,
Slovene, and
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
. Russian is the most spoken Slavic language, and is the most spoken
native language in Europe.
The alphabets used for Slavic languages are usually connected to the dominant religion among the respective ethnic groups. Orthodox Christians use the
Cyrillic alphabet while Catholics use the
Latin alphabet; the Bosniaks, who are Muslim, also use the Latin alphabet. Additionally, some
Eastern Catholics and
Western Catholics use the Cyrillic alphabet.
Serbian
Serbian may refer to:
* someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe
* someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people
* Serbian language
* Serbian names
See also
*
*
* Old Serbian (disambiguat ...
and
Montenegrin use both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. There is also a Latin script to write in
Belarusian
Belarusian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to Belarus
* Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent
* A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus
* Belarusian language
* Belarusian culture
* Belarusian cuisine
* Byelor ...
, called
Łacinka
The Belarusian Latin alphabet or Łacinka (from be, лацінка or łacinka, BGN/PCGN: ''Latsinka'', ) for the Latin script in general is the common name for writing Belarusian using Latin script. It is similar to the Sorbian alphabet a ...
and in
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
, called
Latynka
The Ukrainian Latin alphabet (Ukrainian: Українська латиниця, tr. ''Ukrainska latynytsia'' or Латинка, tr. ''Latynka'') is the form of the Latin script used for writing, transliteration and retransliteration of Ukrainian ...
.
Ethno-cultural subdivisions
West Slavs originate from early Slavic tribes which settled in
Central Europe after the
East Germanic tribes had left this area during the
migration period
The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...
. They are noted as having mixed with
Germanics
The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...
,
Hungarians,
Celts (particularly the
Boii),
Old Prussians, and the
Pannonian Avars.
The West Slavs came under the influence of the
Western Roman Empire (Latin) and of the
Catholic Church.
East Slavs have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed and contacted with
Finns and
Balts.
Their early Slavic component,
Antes, mixed or absorbed
Iranians, and later received influence from the
Khazars and
Vikings. The East Slavs trace their national origins to the tribal unions of
Kievan Rus' and
Rus' Khaganate, beginning in the 10th century. They came particularly under the influence of the
Byzantine Empire and of the
Eastern Orthodox Church.
South Slavs from most of the region have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed with the local Proto-Balkanic tribes (
Illyrian,
Dacian,
Thracian,
Paeonian,
Hellenic tribes
Hellenic is a synonym for Greek. It means either:
*of or pertaining to the Hellenic Republic (modern Greece) or Greek people (Hellenes, el, Έλληνες) and culture
*of or pertaining to ancient Greece, ancient Greek people, culture and civili ...
), and
Celtic tribes
This is a list of Celtic tribes, organized in order of the likely ethnolinguistic kinship of the peoples and tribes.
In Classical antiquity, Celts were a large number and a significant part of the population in many regions of Western Europe, ...
(particularly the
Scordisci), as well as with Romans (and the Romanized remnants of the former groups), and also with remnants of temporarily settled invading East Germanic, Asiatic or Caucasian tribes such as
Gepids,
Huns,
Avars,
Goths and
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
. The original inhabitants of present-day Slovenia and continental Croatia have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed with Romans and romanized Celtic and Illyrian people as well as with Avars and Germanic peoples (Lombards and East Goths). The South Slavs (except the Slovenes and Croats) came under the cultural sphere of the
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), of the
Ottoman Empire and of the
Eastern Orthodox Church and
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, while the Slovenes and the Croats were influenced by the
Western Roman Empire (Latin) and thus by the
Catholic Church in a similar fashion to that of the West Slavs.
Genetics
Consistent with the proximity of their languages, analyses of
Y chromosomes
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...
,
mDNA, and
autosomal marker CCR5de132 shows the
gene pool
The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species.
Description
A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can surv ...
of
Eastern (Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians) and
Western Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic langu ...
(Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks) to be identical and demonstrating significant differences from neighboring Finno-Ugric,
Turkic
Turkic may refer to:
* anything related to the country of Turkey
* Turkic languages, a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages
** Turkic alphabets (disambiguation)
** Turkish language, the most widely spoken Turkic language
* ...
, and North Caucasian peoples. Such genetic homogeneity is somewhat unusual, given such a wide dispersal of Slavic populations, especially Russians. Together they form the basis of the "''East European''"
gene cluster, which also includes non-Slavic
Hungarians and
Aromanians.
Only
Northern Russians among East and West Slavs belong to a different, “''Northern European''” genetic cluster, along with
Balts,
Germanic and
Baltic Finnic peoples (Northern Russian populations are very similar to
Balts).
The 2006 Y-DNA study results "suggest that the Slavic expansion started from the territory of present-day Ukraine, thus supporting the hypothesis placing the earliest known homeland of Slavs in the basin of the middle
Dnieper".
According to genetic studies until 2020, the distribution, variance and frequency of the
Y-DNA haplogroups
In human genetics, a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by mutations in the non- recombining portions of DNA from the male-specific Y chromosome (called Y-DNA). Many people within a haplogroup share similar numbers of ...
R1a and
I2 and their subclades R-M558, R-M458 and I-CTS10228 among
South Slavs correlate with the spread of Slavic languages during the medieval Slavic expansion from Eastern Europe, most probably from the territory of present-day
Ukraine and
Southeastern Poland.
Religion
The
pagan Slavic populations
were Christianized between the 7th and 12th centuries.
Orthodox Christianity is predominant among East and South Slavs, while
Catholicism is predominant among West Slavs and some western
South Slavs. The religious borders are largely comparable to the
East–West Schism
The East–West Schism (also known as the Great Schism or Schism of 1054) is the ongoing break of communion between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches since 1054. It is estimated that, immediately after the schism occurred, a ...
which began in the 11th century. Islam first arrived in the 7th century during the
early Muslim conquests, and was gradually adopted by a number of Slavic ethnic groups through the centuries in the Balkans.
Among Slavic populations who profess a religion, the majority of contemporary Christian Slavs are Orthodox, followed by Catholic. The majority of Muslim Slavs follow the
Hanafi school of the
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
branch of Islam.
Religious delineations by nationality can be very sharp; usually in the Slavic ethnic groups, the vast majority of religious people share the same religion.
Mainly
Eastern Orthodoxy:
*
Russians
*
Ukrainians
*
Serbs
*
Bulgarians
*
Belarusians
, native_name_lang = be
, pop = 9.5–10 million
, image =
, caption =
, popplace = 7.99 million
, region1 =
, pop1 = 600,000–768,000
, region2 =
, pop2 ...
*
Macedonians
*
Montenegrins
Mainly
Catholicism:
*
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
(incl.
Silesians,
Kashubians,
Gorals)
*
Croats
*
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
*
Slovenes
*
Sorbs
*
Rusyns
*
Banat Bulgarians
Mainly
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
:
*
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
*
Pomaks
*
Gorani
*
Torbeši
The Macedonian Muslims ( mk, Македонци-муслимани, Makedonci-muslimani), also known as Muslim Macedonians or ''Torbeši'' ( mk, Торбеши), and in some sources grouped together with Pomaks, are a minority religious group w ...
*
Ethnic Muslims
Relations with non-Slavic people
Throughout their history, Slavs came into contact with non-Slavic groups. In the postulated homeland region (present-day
Ukraine), they had contacts with the Iranian
Sarmatians and the Germanic
Goths. After their subsequent spread, the Slavs began assimilating non-Slavic peoples. For example, in the Balkans, there were
Paleo-Balkan peoples, such as Romanized and
Hellenized
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the ...
(
Jireček Line
The Jireček Line is a conceptual boundary through the ancient Balkans that divides the influence of the Latin (in the north) and Greek (in the south) languages in the Roman Empire from antiquity until the 4th century. The border has been repeate ...
)
Illyrians,
Thracians and
Dacians
The Dacians (; la, Daci ; grc-gre, Δάκοι, Δάοι, Δάκαι) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often consid ...
, as well as
Greeks and
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
Scordisci and
Serdi. Because Slavs were so numerous, most indigenous populations of the Balkans were Slavicized. Thracians and Illyrians mixed as ethnic groups in this period. A notable exception is Greece, where
Slavs were Hellenized because
Greeks were more numerous, especially with more Greeks returning to Greece in the 9th century and the influence of the church and administration, however, Slavicized regions within
Macedonia
Macedonia most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
,
Thrace and
Moesia Inferior
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
also had a larger portion of locals compared to migrating Slavs. Other notable exceptions are the territory of present-day
Romania and
Hungary, where Slavs settled en route to present-day Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and
East Thrace
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace ( tr, Doğu Trakya or simply ''Trakya''; el, Ανατολική Θράκη, ''Anatoliki Thraki''; bg, Източна Тракия, ''Iztochna Trakiya''), also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the pa ...
but assimilated, and the modern
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
nation which claims descent from Illyrians and other Balkan tribes.
Ruling status of
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
and their control of land cast the nominal legacy of the
Bulgarian country and people onto future generations, but Bulgars were gradually also Slavicized into the present-day South Slavic ethnic group known as
Bulgarians. The Romance speakers within the fortified Dalmatian cities retained their culture and language for a long time. Dalmatian Romance was spoken until the high Middle Ages, but, they too were eventually assimilated into the body of Slavs.
In the Western Balkans, South Slavs and Germanic
Gepids intermarried with invaders, eventually producing a Slavicized population. In Central Europe, the West Slavs intermixed with
Germanic,
Hungarian, and
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
peoples, while in Eastern Europe the East Slavs had encountered
Finnic and
Scandinavian people
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swede ...
s. Scandinavians (
Varangians) and Finnic peoples were involved in the
early formation of the Rus' state but were completely Slavicized after a century. Some
Finnic tribes in the north were also absorbed into the expanding Rus population. In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic
Turkic
Turkic may refer to:
* anything related to the country of Turkey
* Turkic languages, a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages
** Turkic alphabets (disambiguation)
** Turkish language, the most widely spoken Turkic language
* ...
tribes, such as the
Kipchak and the
Pecheneg, caused a massive migration of East Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north.
In the Middle Ages, groups of
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
ore miners settled in medieval
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
Serbia and
Bulgaria, where they were Slavicized.
''
Saqaliba'' refers to the Slavic
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
and
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
s in the medieval Arab world in
North Africa,
Sicily and
Al-Andalus. Saqaliba served as caliph's guards.
In the 12th century,
Slavic piracy in the Baltics increased. The
Wendish Crusade was started against the Polabian Slavs in 1147, as a part of the
Northern Crusades. The pagan chief of the Slavic
Obodrite tribes,
Niklot, began his open resistance when
Lothar III,
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
, invaded Slavic lands. In August 1160 Niklot was killed, and German colonization (''
Ostsiedlung
(, literally "East-settling") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration-period when ethnic Germans moved into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire (that Germans had al ...
'') of the Elbe-Oder region began. In
Hanoverian Wendland
The adjective Hanoverian is used to describe:
* British monarchs or supporters of the House of Hanover, the dynasty which ruled the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901
* things relating to;
** Electorate of Hanover
** Kingdom of Hanover
** Province o ...
,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and
Lusatia, invaders started
germanization. Early forms of germanization were described by German monks:
Helmold in the manuscript ''
Chronicon Slavorum
The ''Chronica Sclavorum'' or ''Chronicle of the Slavs'' is a medieval chronicle which recounts the pre-Christian culture and religion of the Polabian Slavs, written by Helmold (ca. 1120 – after 1177), a Saxon priest and historian. It describ ...
'' and
Adam of Bremen in ''
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum.''
The
Polabian language survived until the beginning of the 19th century in what is now the German state of
Lower Saxony.
In
Eastern Germany, around 20% of Germans have historic Slavic paternal ancestry, as revealed in Y-DNA testing. Similarly, in Germany, around 20% of the foreign surnames are of Slavic origin.
Cossacks
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
, although Slavic and practicing
Orthodox Christianity, came from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, including
Tatars and other peoples. Initially, the Cossacks were a mini-
subethnos, but now they are less than 5%, and most of them live in the south of Russia. The
Gorals of southern
Poland and northern
Slovakia are partially descended from Romance-speaking
Vlachs, who migrated into the region from the 14th to 17th centuries and were absorbed into the local population. The population of
Moravian Wallachia also descended from the Vlachs. Conversely, some Slavs were assimilated into other populations. Although the majority continued towards Southeast Europe, attracted by the riches of the area that became the state of
Bulgaria, a few remained in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe and were assimilated into the
Magyar people. Numerous rivers and places in
Romania have a name with Slavic origins.
Population
''
Winkler Prins'' (2002) estimated the number of Slavs worldwide to be around 260 million at the time.
Historiography
See also
*
Ethnic groups in Europe
*
Gord (archaeology)
*
Lech, Čech, and Rus
*
List of modern ethnic groups
*
List of Slavic tribes
This is a list of Slavic peoples and Slavic tribes reported in Late Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, that is, before the year AD 1500.
Ancestors
*Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers)
** Proto-Balto-Slavs (common ancestors of Ba ...
*
Outline of Slavic history and culture
*
Panethnicity
*
Pan-Slavic colors
The pan-Slavic colours (or colors) — red, blue and white — were defined by the Prague Slavic Congress, 1848, based on the flag of Russia, which was introduced in the late 17th century. The tricolor flag of Russia was itself inspired by the ...
*
Slavic names
Given names originating from the Slavic languages are most common in Slavic countries.
The main types of Slavic names:
* Two-basic names, often ending in mir/měr (''Ostromir/měr'', ''Tihomir/měr'', '' Němir/měr''), *voldъ (''Vsevolod'', ...
*
Bulgarisation
*
Russification
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
*
Serbianisation
*
Polonization
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
; Primary sources
*
*
; Secondary sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Curta Florin
The early Slavs in Bohemia and Moravia: a response to my critics*
*
*
*
* Lacey, Robert. 2003. ''Great Tales from English History''. Little, Brown and Company. New York. 2004. .
* Lewis, Bernard. ''Race and Slavery in the Middle East''. Oxford Univ. Press.
*
* Nystazopoulou-Pelekidou, Maria. 1992
''The "Macedonian Question": A Historical Review'' © Association Internationale d'Etudes du Sud-Est Europeen (AIESEE, International Association of Southeast European Studies), Comité Grec. Corfu: Ionian University. (English translation of a 1988 work written in Greek.)
*
*
* Rębała, Krzysztof, ''et al.''. 2007
Y-STR variation among Slavs: evidence for the Slavic homeland in the middle Dnieper basin ''Journal of Human Genetics'', May 2007, 52(5): 408–414.
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeny in Eastern and Western Slavs, B. Malyarchuk, T. Grzybowski, M. Derenko, M. Perkova, T. Vanecek, J. Lazur, P. Gomolcaknd I. Tsybovsky, Oxford Journals*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slavic Peoples
Indo-European peoples
Modern Indo-European peoples