Slavic countries

The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and Northern Asia, though there is a large Slavic minority scattered across the Baltic states and Central Asia, and a substantial Slavic diaspora in the Americas, Western Europe, and Northern Europe.

Early Slavs lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately from the 5th to the 10th century AD), and came to control large parts of Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe between the sixth and seventh centuries. Beginning in the 7th century, they were gradually Christianized. By the 12th century, they formed the core population of a number of medieval Christian states: East Slavs in the Kievan Rus', South Slavs in the Bulgarian Empire, the Principality of Serbia, the Duchy of Croatia and the Banate of Bosnia, and West Slavs in the Principality of Nitra, Great Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, and the Kingdom of Poland.

Beginning in the mid-19th century, a pan-Slavic movement has emphasized the common heritage and unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus of the movement was in the Balkans, whereas the Russian Empire was opposed to it.

The Slavic languages belong to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. Present-day Slavs are classified into three groups:{{cite book , last1=Kamusella , last2=Nomachi , last3=Gibson , first1=Tomasz , first2=Motoki , first3=Catherine , date=2016 , title= The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders , location=London , publisher=Palgrave Macmillan , isbn=978-1-137-34839-5{{cite web , url=https://www.academia.edu/32675557 , title=Cultural Proximity of the Slavic Nations , website=Academia , last=Serafin , first=Mikołaj , format=PDF , date=January 2015 , access-date=28 April 2017 , archive-date=22 July 2020 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722200348/https://www.academia.edu/32675557/Cultural_Proximity_of_the_Slavic_Nations , url-status=dead {{cite book , last1=Živković , last2=Crnčević , last3=Bulić , last4=Petrović , last5=Cvijanović , last6=Radovanović , first1=Tibor , first2=Dejan , first3=Dejan , first4=Vladeta , first5=Irena , first6=Bojana , date=2013 , title=The World of the Slavs: Studies of the East, West and South Slavs: Civitas, Oppidas, Villas and Archeological Evidence (7th to 11th Centuries AD) , location=Belgrade , publisher=Istorijski institut , isbn=978-86-7743-104-4
* West Slavs (Czechs, Kashubians, Poles, Silesians, Slovaks, and Sorbs);
* East Slavs (Belarusians, Russians, Rusyns, and Ukrainians);
* South Slavs (Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Gorani, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs, and Slovenes).

Though the majority of Slavs are Christians, some groups, such as the Bosniaks, mostly identify as Muslims. Modern Slavic nations and ethnic groups are considerably diverse, both genetically and culturally, and relations between them may range from "ethnic solidarity to mutual feelings of hostility" — even within the individual groups.{{cite book , author1=Robert Bideleux , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vzw8CHYQobAC , title=A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change , author2=Ian Jeffries , date=January 1998 , publisher=Psychology Press , isbn=978-0-415-16112-1 , page=325

Ethnonym

{{main, Slavs (ethnonym)
The oldest mention of the Slavic ethnonym is from the 6th century AD, when Procopius, writing in Byzantine Greek, used various forms such as ''Sklaboi'' ({{lang, grc, Σκλάβοι), ''Sklabēnoi'' ({{lang, grc, Σκλαβηνοί), ''Sklauenoi'' ({{lang, grc, Σκλαυηνοί), ''Sthlabenoi'' ({{lang, grc, Σθλαβηνοί), or ''Sklabinoi'' ({{lang, grc, Σκλαβῖνοι), and his contemporary Jordanes refers to the {{lang, la, Sclaveni in Latin. The oldest documents written in Old Church Slavonic, dating from the 9th century, attest the autonym as ''Slověne'' ({{lang, cu, Словѣне). Those forms point back to a Slavic autonym, which can be reconstructed in Proto-Slavic as {{wikt-lang, sla-pro, *slověninъ, *Slověninъ, plural ''Slověne''.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

The reconstructed autonym {{lang, sla, *Slověninъ is usually considered a derivation from {{lang, sla, 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 {{wikt-lang, sla-pro, *němьcь, meaning "silent, mute people" (from Slavic {{wikt-lang, sla-pro, *němъ " mute, mumbling"). The word ''slovo'' ("word") and the related ''slava'' ("glory, fame") and ''{{lang, mis, sluh'' ("hearing") originate from the Proto-Indo-European root {{wikt-lang, ine-pro, *ḱlew- ("be spoken of, glory"), cognate with Ancient Greek {{lang, grc, κλέος ({{grc-tr, κλέος "fame"), as in the name Pericles, Latin {{wikt-lang, la, clueō ("be called"), and English {{wikt-lang, en, loud.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

In medieval and early modern sources written in Latin, Slavs are most commonly referred to as ''Sclaveni'' or the shortened version ''Sclavi''.{{sfn, Curta, 2001, pp=41–42, 50, 55, 60, 69, 75, 88

History

Origins

First mentions

{{Main, Early Slavs
{{See also, Vistula Veneti, Spori, Antes (people){{!Antes, Sclaveni, Wends, Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture, Middle Dnieper culture, Milograd culture, Zarubintsy culture, Kyiv culture, Prague-Korchak culture, Penkovka culture, Kolochin culture, Ipotești–Cândești culture

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 and west of the Iranian Sarmatians in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, between the upper Vistula and Dnieper rivers. Slavs – called '' Antes'' and ''Sclaveni'' – first appear in Byzantine records in the early 6th century AD. Byzantine historiographers of the era of the emperor Justinian I ({{reign , 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 lower Danube and the Black Sea to invade the Danubian provinces of the Eastern Empire.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

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'' in olden times". The name ''Sporoi'' derives from Greek σπείρω ("to sow"). He described them as barbarians, who lived under democracy and believed in one god, "the maker of lightning" (Perun), to whom they made 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 describes the Sclaveni as 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 Daurentius ({{reign , 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".{{sfn, Curta, 2001, pp=91–92, 315

Migrations

{{Further, Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe

According to eastern homeland theory,{{cn, date=August 2024 prior to becoming known to the Roman world, Slavic-speaking tribes formed part of successive 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 AD (thought{{cn, date=August 2024 to be in conjunction with the movement of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe: Huns, and later Avars and Bulgars) started the great migration of the Slavs, who settled the lands abandoned by Germanic tribes who had fled from the Huns and their allies. Slavs, according to this account, moved westward into the country between the Oder and the Elbe-Saale line; southward into Bohemia, 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 to North Africa.

Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on Byzantine borders in large numbers. Byzantine records note that Slav numbers were so great, that grass would not regrow where the Slavs had marched through{{citation needed, date=November 2021. Military movements resulted in even the Peloponnese and Asia Minor being 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 AD wrote to Maximus, the bishop of Salona (in Dalmatia), expressing concern about the arrival of the Slavs,

{{blockquote, Latin: ''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.''

{{Blockquote, English: 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.

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; others are the Principality of Nitra, the Moravian principality (see under Great Moravia) and the Balaton Principality. The First Bulgarian Empire was founded in 681 as an alliance between the ruling Bulgars and the numerous Slavs in the area, and their South Slavic language, the Old Church Slavonic, became the main and official language of the empire in 864 AD. Bulgaria was instrumental in the spread of Slavic literacy and Christianity to the rest of the Slavic world. Duchy of Croatia was founded in 7th century and later became Kingdom of Croatia. Principality of Serbia was founded in 8th, Duchy of Bohemia and Kievan Rus' both in the 9th century.

The expansion of the Magyars 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 Second Bulgarian Empire, the Kingdom of Poland, Banate of Bosnia, Duklja and Kingdom of Serbia which later grew into Serbian Empire.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

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. Austria-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, 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 countries to gain sympathy and recognition.{{cite web , last1=Stergar , first1=Rok , title=Nationalities (Austria-Hungary) , url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/nationalities_austria-hungary , publisher=International Encyclopedia of the First World War In 1918, after World War I ended, the Slavs established such independent states as Czechoslovakia, the Second Polish Republic, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

The first half of the 20th century in Russia and the Soviet Union was marked by a succession of wars, famines and other disasters, each accompanied by large-scale population losses.Mark Harrison (2002). "
Accounting for War: Soviet Production, Employment, and the Defence Burden, 1940–1945
'". Cambridge University Press. p.167. ISBN 0-521-89424-7 The two major famines were in 1921 to 1922 and 1932 to 1933, which caused millions of deaths mostly around the Volga region, Ukraine and the Northern Caucasus. The latter resulted from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's collectivization of agriculture in Ukraine.{{Cite web , date=2023-02-24 , title=Russia and Ukraine: the tangled history that connects—and divides—them , url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/russia-and-ukraine-the-tangled-history-that-connects-and-divides-them , access-date=2024-05-23 , website=History , language=en

During the war, Nazi Germany used hundreds of thousands of people for slave labor in their concentration camps, the majority of whom were Jewish or Slavic.{{Cite journal , last=Gwiazda II , first=Henry J. , date=2016 , title=The Nazi Racial War: Concentration Camps in the New Order , url=https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/tpr/article/61/3/59/215387/The-Nazi-Racial-War-Concentration-Camps-in-the-New , journal=The Polish Review , language=en , volume=61 , issue=3 , pages=59–84 , doi=10.5406/polishreview.61.3.0059 Both groups were a part of what Germans claimed to be a "vast racially subhuman surplus population" that they " intended to eliminate in time from their new empire", their term for "racial subhumans" being ''Untermensch''. Thus, one of Adolf Hitler's ambitions at the start of World War II was to exterminate, expel, or enslave most or all West and East Slavs from their native lands, so as to make "living space" for German settlers.

In early 1941, Germany began planning Generalplan Ost, the genocide of Slavs in Eastern Europe which was supposed to start after a major expansion of German concentration camps in occupied Poland and the fall of Stalin's regime.{{Cite web , date=2022-03-18 , title=Remembrance of the Great Patriotic War and Russia's Invasion of Ukraine , url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/great-patriotic-war-russia-invasion-ukraine , access-date=2024-05-23 , website=The National WWII Museum {{! New Orleans , language=en This plan was to be carried out gradually over 25 to 30 years.{{cite book , last1=Fritz , first1=Stephen G. , title=Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxGxGgzxKHsC&q=Generalplan+Ost , at=Generalplan Ost (General plan for the east) , year=2011 , publisher=University Press of Kentucky , via=Google Books , isbn=978-0-8131-4050-6 After an approximate 30 million{{Cite web , last=Blakemore , first=Erin , date=2017-02-21 , title=The Nazis' Nightmarish Plan to Starve the Soviet Union , url=https://daily.jstor.org/the-nazis-nightmarish-plan-to-starve-the-soviet-union/ , access-date=2024-05-23 , website=JSTOR Daily , language=en-US Slavs would be killed through starvation and their major cities depopulated, the Germans were supposed to repopulate Eastern Europe.{{Cite news , last=Rubenstein , first=Joshua , date=2010-11-26 , title=The Devils' Playground , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/books/review/Rubenstein-t.html , access-date=2024-05-23 , work=The New York Times , language=en-US , issn=0362-4331 In June 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, Hitler paused the plan to focus on the extermination of the Jews. However, some of the plan was nonetheless implemented. Millions of Slavs were murdered in Eastern Europe; this includes victims of the Hunger Plan, Germany's intentional starvation of the region, as well as the murders of 3.3. million Soviet prisoners of war. Germany's Heinrich Himmler also ordered his subordinate Ludolf-Hermann von Alvensleben to start repopulating Crimea, and hundreds of ethnic Germans were forcibly moved to cities and villages there. The Soviet Red Army took back their land from the Germans in 1944. 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.

The ultra-nationalist, fascist Ustaše committed genocide against Serbs during World War II. The Serbian nationalist Chetniks committed genocide against Croats and Bosniaks. Also during World War II, fascist Italy sent tens of thousands of Slavs to concentration camps in mainland Italy, Libya, and the Balkans.

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and many former Soviet republics became independent countries.{{cite news , date=10 December 2013 , title=Kyrgyzstan Offers an Unlikely Window Into Slavic Culture , url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2013/12/10/kyrgyzstan-offers-an-unlikely-window-into-slavic-culture-a30350 , work=The Moscow Times Currently, 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

{{main, History of the Slavic languages, Slavic 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 steppebecame 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. However, from a historical and archaeological point of view, the existence of a homogeneous Proto-Slavic people is judged improbable.{{sfn, Brather, 2008, pp=54-55

Slavic linguistic unity was to some extent visible as late as Old Church Slavonic manuscripts which, though based on local Slavic speech of Thessaloniki, could still serve the purpose of the first common Slavic literary language.

Standard language, Standardised Slavic languages that have official status in at least one country are: Belarusian language, Belarusian, Bosnian language, Bosnian, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian, Croatian language, Croatian, Czech language, Czech, Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin, Polish language, Polish, Russian language, Russian, Serbian language, Serbian, Slovak language, Slovak, Slovene language, Slovene, and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. 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 script, Cyrillic alphabet while Catholics use the Latin alphabet; the Bosniaks, who are Muslim, also use the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet in Serbia. Additionally, some Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholics and Latin Church, Western Catholics use the Cyrillic alphabet. Serbian and Montenegrin use both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. There is also a Latin script to write in Belarusian, called Belarusian Latin alphabet, Łacinka and in Ukrainian, called Ukrainian Latin alphabet, Latynka.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

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. They are noted as having mixed with Germans, Germanics, Hungarians, Celts (particularly the Boii), Old Prussians, and the Pannonian Avars.{{cite book, author=Roman Smal Stocki , title=Slavs and Teutons: The Oldest Germanic-Slavic Relations , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VM0KAQAAIAAJ , year=1950 , publisher=Bruce The West Slavs came under the influence of the Western Roman Empire (Latin) and of the Catholic Church.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

East Slavs have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed and contacted with Finnic peoples, Finns, Balts{{cite book, author1=Raymond E. Zickel, author2=Library of Congress. Federal Research Division, title=Soviet Union: A Country Study, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnYsAAAAYAAJ, date=1 December 1991, publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, isbn=978-0-8444-0727-2, page=138 and with the remnants of the people of the Goths. Their early Slavic component, Antes people, Antes, mixed or absorbed Iranian peoples, Iranians, and later received influence from the Khazars and Vikings.{{sfn, Vlasto, 1970, p=237 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.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

South Slavs from most of the region have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed with the local Proto-Balkanic tribes (Illyrian tribes, Illyrian, Dacian tribes, Dacian, Thracian tribes, Thracian, Paeonian tribes, Paeonian, Hellenic tribes), and Celtic tribes (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.{{citation needed, date=December 2015 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, 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.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

Genetics

Consistent with the proximity of their languages, analyses of Y chromosomes, Mitochondrial DNA, mDNA, and autosome, autosomal marker CCR5 delta 32 shows that East Slavs and West Slavs are genetically very similar, but demonstrating significant differences from neighboring Finno-Ugric, Turkic peoples, Turkic, and North Caucasian peoples. Such genetic homogeneity is somewhat unusual, given such a wide dispersal of Slavic populations.{{sfn, Verbenko, 2005, pp=10–18{{sfn, Balanovsky, 2012, p=13 Together they form the basis of the "''East European''" gene cluster, which also includes non-Slavic Hungarians and Aromanians.{{sfn, Verbenko, 2005, pp=10–18{{sfn, Balanovsky, 2012, p=23

Only Northern Russian dialects, Northern Russians among East and West Slavs belong to a different, "''Northern European''" genetic cluster, along with Balts, Germanic-speaking Europe, Germanic and Baltic Finnic peoples (Northern Russian populations are very similar to Balts).{{sfn, Balanovsky, Rootsi, 2008, pp=236–250{{sfn, Balanovsky, 2012, p=26

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".{{cite journal , pmid = 17364156 , year = 2007 , last1 = Rebała , first1 = K , last2 = Mikulich , first2 = AI , last3 = Tsybovsky , first3 = IS , last4 = Siváková , first4 = D , last5 = Dzupinková , first5 = Z , last6 = Szczerkowska-Dobosz , first6 = A , last7 = Szczerkowska , first7 = Z , title = Y-STR variation among Slavs: Evidence for the Slavic homeland in the middle Dnieper basin , volume = 52 , issue = 5 , pages = 406–14 , doi = 10.1007/s10038-007-0125-6 , journal = Journal of Human Genetics , doi-access = free According to genetic studies until 2020, the distribution, variance and frequency of the Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, Y-DNA haplogroups Haplogroup R1a, R1a and Haplogroup I-M438#I2a-L621, 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 Lesser Poland, Southeastern Poland.{{cite thesis , type=PhD , author=O.M. Utevska , date=2017 , title=Генофонд українців за різними системами генетичних маркерів: походження і місце на європейському генетичному просторі , trans-title=The gene pool of Ukrainians revealed by different systems of genetic markers: the origin and statement in Europe , publisher=National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, url=http://nrcrm.gov.ua/science/councils/dissertation/, language=uk, pages=219–226, 302{{cite journal , last1=Neparáczki , first1=Endre , last2=Maróti , first2=Zoltán , display-authors=1 , date=2019 , title=Y-chromosome haplogroups from Hun, Avar and conquering Hungarian period nomadic people of the Carpathian Basin , journal=Scientific Reports , publisher=Nature Research , volume=9 , issue=16569 , page=16569 , doi=10.1038/s41598-019-53105-5 , pmc=6851379 , pmid=31719606 , bibcode=2019NatSR...916569N , quote=Hg I2a1a2b-L621 was present in 5 Conqueror samples, and a 6th sample form Magyarhomorog (MH/9) most likely also belongs here, as MH/9 is a likely kin of MH/16 (see below). This Hg of European origin is most prominent in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, especially among Slavic speaking groups.{{cite book, first1=Horolma, last1=Pamjav, first2=Tibor, last2=Fehér, first3=Endre, last3=Németh, first4=László, last4=Koppány Csáji, title=Genetika és őstörténet, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xq2xDwAAQBAJ, year=2019, publisher=Napkút Kiadó, language=hu, isbn=978-963-263-855-3, page=58, quote=Az I2-CTS10228 (köznevén "dinári-kárpáti") alcsoport legkorábbi közös őse 2200 évvel ezelőttre tehető, így esetében nem arról van szó, hogy a mezolit népesség Kelet-Európában ilyen mértékben fennmaradt volna, hanem arról, hogy egy, a mezolit csoportoktól származó szűk család az európai vaskorban sikeresen integrálódott egy olyan társadalomba, amely hamarosan erőteljes demográfiai expanzióba kezdett. Ez is mutatja, hogy nem feltétlenül népek, mintsem családok sikerével, nemzetségek elterjedésével is számolnunk kell, és ezt a jelenlegi etnikai identitással összefüggésbe hozni lehetetlen. A csoport elterjedése alapján valószínűsíthető, hogy a szláv népek migrációjában vett részt, így válva az R1a-t követően a második legdominánsabb csoporttá a mai Kelet-Európában. Nyugat-Európából viszont teljes mértékben hiányzik, kivéve a kora középkorban szláv nyelvet beszélő keletnémet területeket.{{Citation , last1=Fóthi , first1=E. , last2=Gonzalez , first2=A. , last3=Fehér , first3=T. , display-authors=etal , title=Genetic analysis of male Hungarian Conquerors: European and Asian paternal lineages of the conquering Hungarian tribes , journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences , volume=12 , issue=1 , date=2020 , page=31 , doi=10.1007/s12520-019-00996-0, doi-access=free, bibcode=2020ArAnS..12...31F , quote=Based on SNP analysis, the CTS10228 group is 2200 ± 300 years old. The group's demographic expansion may have begun in Southeast Poland around that time, as carriers of the oldest subgroup are found there today. The group cannot solely be tied to the Slavs, because the proto-Slavic period was later, around 300–500 CE... The SNP-based age of the Eastern European CTS10228 branch is 2200 ± 300 years old. The carriers of the most ancient subgroup live in Southeast Poland, and it is likely that the rapid demographic expansion which brought the marker to other regions in Europe began there. The largest demographic explosion occurred in the Balkans, where the subgroup is dominant in 50.5% of Croatians, 30.1% of Serbs, 31.4% of Montenegrins, and in about 20% of Albanians and Greeks. As a result, this subgroup is often called Dinaric. It is interesting that while it is dominant among modern Balkan peoples, this subgroup has not been present yet during the Roman period, as it is almost absent in Italy as well (see Online Resource 5; ESM_5).{{citation , last1=Kushniarevich , first1=Alena , last2=Kassian , first2=Alexei , editor=Marc L. Greenberg , date=2020 , title=Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics Online , chapter=Genetics and Slavic languages , publisher=Brill , doi=10.1163/2589-6229_ESLO_COM_032367 , access-date=10 December 2020 , chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341945550 , quote=The geographic distributions of the major eastern European NRY haplogroups (R1a-Z282, I2a-P37) overlap with the area occupied by the present-day Slavs to a great extent, and it might be tempting to consider both haplogroups as Slavic-specic patrilineal lineages

According to a 2017 study, Slavic speakers like Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians have similar genetic components. Ukrainians and Belarusians have near-equal amounts of two "European components", which are commonly found in North Europe and Caucasus respectively. There is also no evidence of Asian admixture. However, samples of Novosibirsk residents and Old Believers in Siberia have 5-10% Central Siberian ancestry despite being genetically close to European Slavs.

Religion

{{See also, Slavic paganism

The Slavic paganism, pagan Slavic populations Christianization of the Slavs, were Christianized between the 7th and 12th centuries. Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christianity is predominant among East and South Slavs, while Catholic Church, Catholicism is predominant among West Slavs and some western South Slavs. The religious borders are largely comparable to the East–West Schism 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.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

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 branch of Islam.{{cite book, author-link=Sabrina P. Ramet, author=Sabrina P. Ramet, title=Religion and Nationalism in Soviet and East European Politics, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50GTIhntKvYC&pg=PA380, year=1989, publisher=Duke University Press, isbn=978-0-8223-0891-1, pages=380– Religious delineations by nationality can be very sharp; usually in the Slavic ethnic groups, the vast majority of religious people share the same religion.{{Citation needed, date=August 2022

{{Col-begin, width=60%
{{Col-break
Mainly Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy:
* Russians
* Ukrainians
* Serbs
* Bulgarians
* Belarusians
* Macedonians
* Montenegrins
{{Col-break
Mainly Catholicism:{{Citation needed, date=August 2022
* Poles
* Silesians
* Kashubians
* Gorals
* Czechs (largely Irreligion in the Czech Republic, irreligious)
* Slovaks
* Croats
* Slovenes
* Sorbs
* Rusyns{{efn, name=rusyn-religion, Originally Eastern Orthodox, with some groups adopting Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, Byzantine-Rite Catholicism under Polish and Austro-Hungarian rule and reverting to Eastern Orthodoxy starting in the late 19th Century.{{Citation needed, date=August 2022
* Banat Bulgarians{{cite journal , last=Vučković , first=Marija , date=2008 , title=Savremena istraživanja malih etničkih zajednica , trans-title=Contemporary studies of small ethnic communities , url=https://www.academia.edu/5364641 , language=sh , journal=XXI Vek , volume=3 , pages=2–8 , access-date=1 March 2019
{{Col-break
Mainly Islam in Europe, Islam:
* Bosniaks
* Pomaks
* Gorani
* Torbeši
* Muslims (ethnic group), Ethnic Muslims
{{col-end

Relations with non-Slavic people

{{See also, Baltic Slavic piracy, Narentines, Germania Slavica, Bavaria Slavica
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 Northern Black Sea region, the Slavs assimilated the remnants of the Goths. In the Balkans, there were Prehistory of Southeastern Europe, Paleo-Balkan peoples, such as Romanized and Hellenization, Hellenized (Jireček Line) Illyrians, Thracians and Dacians, as well as Greeks and Celts, Celtic 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 Sclaveni#Relationship between the Slavs in Byzantium, Slavs were Hellenized because Byzantine Greeks, Greeks were more numerous, especially with more Greeks returning to Greece in the 9th century and the influence of the church and administration,{{sfn, Fine, 1991, p=41 however, Slavicized regions within Macedonia (region), Macedonia, Thrace and Moesia Inferior 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 but assimilated, and the modern Albanians, Albanian nation which claims descent from Illyrians and other Balkan tribes.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

The status of the Bulgars as a ruling class and their control of the land nominally left their legacy in the Bulgaria, Bulgarian country and people, but Bulgars were gradually also Slavicized into the present-day South Slavic ethnic group known as Bulgarians. The Romance languages, Romance speakers within Dalmatian city-states, the fortified Dalmatian cities retained their culture and language for a long time.{{sfn, Fine, 1991, p=35 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.{{citation needed, date=April 2015 In Central Europe, the West Slavs intermixed with Germanic peoples, Germanic, Hungarians, Hungarian, and Celts, Celtic peoples, while in Eastern Europe the East Slavs had encountered Baltic Finns, Finnic and Varangians, Scandinavian peoples. Scandinavians (Varangians) and Finnic peoples were involved in the Kievan Rus', early formation of the Rus' state but were completely Slavicized after a century. Some Finno-Ugric peoples, Finno-Ugric tribes in the north were also absorbed into the expanding Rus population.{{sfn, Balanovsky, Rootsi, 2008, pp=236—250 In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkic peoples, Turkic tribes, such as the Kipchaks, Kipchak and the Pecheneg, caused a massive migration of East Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north.{{cite book , last=Klyuchevsky , first=Vasily , date=1987 , chapter-url=http://www.kulichki.com/inkwell/text/special/history/kluch/kluch16.htm , title=The course of the Russian history , chapter=1: Mysl , publisher=Мысль , language=ru , isbn=5-244-00072-1 , access-date=9 October 2009 In the Middle Ages, groups of Saxons, Saxon ore miners settled in medieval Bosnia, Serbia and Bulgaria, where they were Slavicized.{{Citation needed, date=April 2022

''Saqaliba'' refers to the Slavic Mercenary, mercenaries and Slavery, slaves in the medieval Arab world in North Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus. Saqaliba served as caliph's guards.{{cite web , url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html , title=ch 1 , author=Lewis , year=1994 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010401012040/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html , archive-date=1 April 2001 In the 12th century, Baltic Slavic piracy, 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 Obotrites, Obodrite tribes, Niklot, began his open resistance when Lothar III, Holy Roman Emperor, invaded Slavic lands. In August 1160, Niklot was killed, and German colonization (''Ostsiedlung'') of the Elbe-Oder region began. In Hanoverian Wendland, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lusatia, invaders started germanization. Early forms of germanization were described by German monks: Helmold in the manuscript ''Chronicon Slavorum'' and Adam of Bremen in ''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum.''{{cite web , url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/639735/Wend , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507201210/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/639735/Wend , archive-date=2008-05-07 , title=Wend , website=Britannica.com , date=13 September 2013 , access-date=4 April 2014 The Polabian language survived until the beginning of the 19th century in what is now the German state of Lower Saxony.{{cite web , url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/Polabian-language , title=Polabian language , website=Britannica.com , access-date=4 April 2014 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.

History of the Cossacks, Cossacks, although Slavic and practicing Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christianity, came from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, including Tatars and other peoples.{{citation needed, date=August 2022 The Gorals of southern Poland and northern Slovakia are partially descended from the originally Balkan Romance speaking Vlachs, who migrated into the region from the 14th to 17th centuries and were quickly absorbed into the local population, especially since the majority of Vlachs were already Slavicisation, slavicized and the term became synonymous with Ruthenians. The populations of Moravian Wallachia, Carpathian Ruthenia and parts of northern Slovakia are also descended partially 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 Hungarian people, Magyar people. Numerous rivers and places in History of Romania, Romania have a name with Slavic origins.

Population

''Winkler Prins'' (2002) estimated the number of Slavs worldwide to be around {{circa 260 million at the time.{{reliable source, date=August 2022 Currently it is estimated that there are 300 million Slavic inhabitants in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.
{, class="wikitable sortable"
, -
! Ethnicity
! colspan="2" data-sort-type="number" , Estimates and census data
, -
, Belarusians
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 8.37 million Belarusians in Belarus (2009 Belarusian census){{cite web, url=http://www.belstat.gov.by/en/perepis-naseleniya/perepis-naseleniya-2009-goda/main-demographic-and-social-characteristics-of-population-of-the-republic-of-belarus/changes-in-the-populations-of-the-majority-ethnic-groups/, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728160107/http://www.belstat.gov.by/en/perepis-naseleniya/perepis-naseleniya-2009-goda/main-demographic-and-social-characteristics-of-population-of-the-republic-of-belarus/changes-in-the-populations-of-the-majority-ethnic-groups/, archive-date=28 July 2016 , title=Changes in the populations of the majority ethnic groups , website=belstat.gov.by, access-date=2016-07-28
* 46,787 Belarusian minority in Poland, Belarusians in Poland (2011 Polish census)
* 20,710 "Byelorussian" (5,125 Byelorussian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Bosniaks (previously called "Bosnian Muslims")
, colspan="2" ,
* 1,898,963 Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991, according to Statistic yearbook of SRBiH 1992){{Cite web , url=http://www.eured-bih.org/publikacije/SERSEA_SWOTeng.pdf , title=Socio-Economic Audit of Sarajevo Macro Region , date=March 2004 , access-date=8 March 2020 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227125845/http://www.eured-bih.org/publikacije/SERSEA_SWOTeng.pdf , archive-date=27 February 2007 {{rp, 43
* {{circa 1.9 million Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2013–2022 ''The World Factbook, CIA World Factbook'' estimate)
* 153,801 Bosniaks in Serbia (2022 Serbian census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=143
* 58,956 Bosniaks in Montenegro (2023 Montenegrin census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=144
* 17,018 Bosniaks in North Macedonia (2002 North Macedonia census)
* 26,740 "Bosnians" (15,610 Bosnian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Bulgarians
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 10 million Bulgarians worldwide (Kolev early 2000s estimate)
* {{circa 6.5 million Bulgarians in Bulgaria (Jeffreys et al. 2008 estimate){{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hc6pDjcpnoUC&pg=PA7, title=The Report: Bulgaria 2008, publisher=Oxford Business Group, year=2008, isbn=978-1-902339-92-4, pages=7–8, access-date=26 March 2016
* {{circa 10 million Bulgarian speakers worldwide (Jeffreys et al. 2008 estimate)
* {{circa 9 million Bulgarians worldwide, of which nearly 7 million in Bulgaria (Cole 2011 estimate){{cite book , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9fDifnkMJMC&pg=PA55 , title=Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia, work=google.bg, isbn=978-1-59884-303-3, last1=Cole, first1=Jeffrey E., author-link1=Jeffrey Cole, date=2011-05-25, publisher=Abc-Clio
* {{circa 9 million Bulgarians worldwide, of which {{circa 7.3 million in Bulgaria (Danver 2015 estimate)
* 12,918 Bulgarians in Serbia (2022 Serbian census)
* 34,560 Bulgarians (19,965 Bulgarian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Bunjevci
, colspan="2" ,
* 11,104 Bunjevci in Serbia (2022 Serbian census)
, -
, Croats
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 4.5 million Croats in Croatia and {{circa 4 million Croats abroad (1993 estimate by Palermo & Sabanadze 2011){{cite book, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cDm-lw2nQ7IC&pg=PA11, title=National Minorities in Inter-State Relations, last=Palermo, first=Francesco, publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, others=Natalie Sabanadze, year=2011, isbn=978-90-04-17598-3, editor=Francesco Palermo, page=11, chapter=National Minorities in Inter-State Relations: Filling the Legal Vacuum?
* 759,906 Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991, according to Statistic yearbook of SRBiH 1992){{rp, 43
* {{circa 4.5 million Croats outside Croatia (Winland 2004 estimate){{citation, author=Daphne Winland, title=Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Volume I: Overviews and Topics; Volume II: Diaspora Communities, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QEjPVyd9YMC, year=2004, volume=2, page=76, chapter=Croatian Diaspora, edition=illustrated, publisher=Springer Science+Business Media, isbn=978-0-306-48321-9, quote=It is estimated that 4.5 million Croatians live outside Croatia ..., editor1=Melvin Ember, editor2=Carol R. Ember, editor3=Ian Skoggard
* {{circa 4.5 million Croats and people of Croatian heritage outside Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (HWC 2003 estimate){{cite web, url=http://www.crowc.org/english/about.asp?subcat=general, title=Hrvatski Svjetski Kongres, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030623031342/http://www.crowc.org/english/about.asp?subcat=general, archive-date=2003-06-23, access-date=1 June 2016, Croatian World Congress, "''4.5 million Croats and people of Croatian heritage live outside of the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina''"
* 39,107 Croats in Serbia (2022 Serbian census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=143
* 5,150 Croats in Montenegro (2023 Montenegrin census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=144
* 133,965 Croats (55,595 Croatian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Czechs
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 6.1 million Czechs in Czechia (2021–22 ''The World Factbook, CIA World Factbook'' estimate)
* 6,732,104 Czechs in Czechia (2011 Czech census){{cite web, url=http://notes2.czso.cz/cz/sldb2011/cd_sldb2011_11_12/index_html_files/PVCR062.pdf, title=Tab. 6.2 Obyvatelstvo podle národnosti podle krajů, date=2011, website=Czech Statistical Office, language=cs, trans-title=Table. 6.2 Population by nationality, by region, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131022340/http://notes2.czso.cz/cz/sldb2011/cd_sldb2011_11_12/index_html_files/PVCR062.pdf, archive-date=31 January 2012
* 28,996 Czechs in Slovakia (2021 Slovak census)
* 3,447 Czechs in Poland (2011 Polish census)
* 104,585 Czechs (23,250 Czech-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Czechoslovaks (a supra-ethnic category of Czechs and Slovaks)
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 304,000 people with Czechoslovak ancestry in the United States (2010 American Community Survey)
* 40,715 "Czechoslovak, not otherwise specified" (5,075 Czechoslovak-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Gorani
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 60,000 Gorani worldwide (2009 estimate by political party Građanska inicijativa Goranaca)
* 7,700 Gorani in Serbia (2022 Serbian census)
, -
, Kashubians
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 331,000 Kashubs and {{circa 184,000 "half-Kashubs" (couldn't speak Kashubian) in the Gdańsk Voivodeship (1975–1998), Gdańsk region (Latoszek 1980s){{Cite book , last1=Kwidzińska , first1=Sławina , date=2007 , title=The Kashubs Today: Culture — Language — Identity , url=http://instytutkaszubski.republika.pl/pdfy/angielski.pdf , location=Gdańsk , publisher=The Kashubian Institute , pages=34–35 , isbn=978-83-89079-78-7 , access-date=19 August 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304134213/http://instytutkaszubski.republika.pl/pdfy/angielski.pdf , archive-date=4 March 2016
* 52,665 inhabitants of Poland spoke Kashubian at home (49,855 of them also spoke Polish at home) (2002 Polish census)
* 566,737 "Kashubs and people with partial Kashubian ancestry" in Pomerania (Mordawski 2005)["Polen-Analysen. Die Kaschuben" (PDF). Länder-Analysen (in German). Polen NR. 95: 10–13. September 2011. http://www.laender-analysen.de/polen/pdf/PolenAnalysen95.pdf]
* 232,547 Kashubians in Poland (2011 Polish census){{efn, Including 16,000 single ethnic identity, 216,000 multiple ethnic identity Polish and Kashubian, 1,000 multiple ethnic identity Kashubian and another in Poland.
, -
, Macedonians
, colspan="2" ,
* 1,297,981 Macedonians in North Macedonia (2002 North Macedonia census){{cite web , url=http://www.stat.gov.mk/Publikacii/knigaX.pdf , title=Census of population in the Republic of Macedonia 2002 , website=www.stat.gov.mk (page 62)
* {{circa 580,000 Macedonian diaspora, Macedonian emigrants (1964 estimate)
* 14,767 Macedonians in Serbia (2022 Serbian census)
* 43,110 Macedonians (18,405 Macedonian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Montenegrins
, colspan="2" ,
* 256,436 Montenegrins in Montenegro (2023 Montenegrin census){{cite web , title=Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Montenegro 2023 , url=https://monstat.org/uploads/files/popis%202021/saopstenja/SAOPSTENJE_Popis%20stanovnistva%202023%20II_cg.pdf , publisher=Statistical Office of Montenegro , access-date=15 October 2024{{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=144
* {{circa 500,000 Montenegrins outside Montenegro (2014 Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Montenegro), Montenegrin Foreign Ministry estimate)
** 20,238 Montenegrins in Serbia (2022 Serbian census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=143
** 4,165 Montenegrins (915 Montenegrin-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Moravians (ethnic group), Moravians
, colspan="2" ,
* 522,474 Moravians in Czechia (2011 Czech census)
* 1,098 Moravians in Slovakia (2021 Slovak census)
, -
, Muslims (ethnic group) (a supra-ethnic category of Bosniaks, Gorani, Torbeši)
, colspan="2" ,
* 13,011 Muslims in Serbia (2022 Serbian census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=143
* 10,162 Muslims in Montenegro (2023 Montenegrin census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=144
* 12,121 Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2013 BiH census){{rp, 27
, -
, Poles
, colspan="2" ,
* 37,393,651 inhabitants of Poland with declared Polish ethnicity (2011 Polish census){{cite book, author=Główny Urząd Statystyczny, date=January 2013, title=Ludność. Stan i struktura demograficzno-społeczna, trans-title=Narodowy Spis Powszechny Ludności i Mieszkań 2011, url=http://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/LUD_ludnosc_stan_str_dem_spo_NSP2011.pdf, language=pl, publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny, access-date=12 December 2014 , pages=89–101
* Over 20,000,000 Polish diaspora (2015 estimate by wspolnotapolska.org.pl){{better source needed, date=August 2022, reason=Not a scholary source.
* 1,106,585 Poles (264,415 Polish-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Russians
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
* 622,445 Russians (120,165 Russian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Rusyns
(incl. Boykos, Lemkos, Hutsuls)
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 1.2 million Rusyns worldwide (1995 Magocsi estimate)
* 23,746 Rusyns in Slovakia (2021 Slovak census)
* 11,483 Ruthenians in Serbia (2022 Serbian census)
* 10,531 Lemkos in Poland (2011 Polish census)
, -
, Serbs
, colspan="2" ,
* 5,360,239 Serbs in Serbia (2022 Serbian census){{cite web , url=https://popis2022.stat.gov.rs/en-us/5-vestisaopstenja/news-events/20230428-konacnirezpopisa/ , title=Final results of the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings, 2022 , publisher=Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia , date=28 April 2023 , access-date=28 April 2023 , language=en
* {{circa 2.3 million Serbian diaspora (2008 World Bank estimate){{cite web, url=http://rs.one.un.org/organizations/12/Serbian%20Diaspora%20and%20Youth,%20June%202011.pdf, title=Svaki drugi Srbin živi izvan Srbije , author=Theodore E. Baird and Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels , date=May 2014, publisher=Novosti, page=5, archive-date=18 October 2012, access-date=31 May 2018, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018231514/http://rs.one.un.org/organizations/12/Serbian%20Diaspora%20and%20Youth,%20June%202011.pdf
* {{circa 3.2–3.8 million Serbian diaspora (2006 MARRI estimate)
* {{circa 3.9–4.2 million Serbian diaspora broadly defined (2008 Ministry of Religion and Diaspora (Serbia), Serbian Ministry for Diaspora estimate)
* 1,365,093 Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991, according to Statistic yearbook of SRBiH 1992){{rp, 43
* 205,370 Serbs of Montenegro, Serbs in Montenegro (2023 Montenegrin census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=143
* 35,939 Serbs in North Macedonia (2002 North Macedonia census)
* 96,535 Serbs (52,730 Serbian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Silesians
, colspan="2" ,
* 435,750 Silesians in Poland (2011 Polish census)
* 12,231 Silesians in Czechia (2011 Czech census)
* {{circa 2 million Silesians in Poland (Grabowska 2002 estimate){{rp, 6
, -
, ''Slavs'' (in the United States and Canada)
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 137,000 people with "Slavic" ancestry in the United States (2010 American Community Survey)
* 4,870 "Slavic, not otherwise specified" (1,470 Slavic-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census){{cite web, date=October 25, 2017, title=Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables (2016 Canadian census) , url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/imm/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=31&Geo=01&SO=4D, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027195802/http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/imm/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=31&Geo=01&SO=4D, archive-date=October 27, 2017, publisher=Statistics Canada
, -
, Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia, Slavs in Greece (also a sub-ethnic category of Macedonians and Bulgarians)
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 200,000 speakers of "Macedonian" in Greece (Friedman 1985)
* {{circa 150,000—350,000 "Macedonians in Greek Macedonia" (various estimates around 1995){{cite book , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_NbmSoRsRcC , title=Who are the Macedonians?, last=Poulton, first=Hugh, year=1995, publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, isbn=1-85065-238-4, page=167 , quote=As often occurs with Yugoslav sources, there appears to be confusion about the numbers as there is about the numbers of Macedonians in Greek Macedonia at present: some Yugoslav sources put the latter figure at 350,000 but more sober estimates put it at 150–200,000.
* {{circa 20,000—50,000 "Slavic-speakers in northern Greece" (1990 United States Department of State, USDoS estimates){{cite web , url=http://www.gate.net/~mango/Danforth_National_Conflict.htm , title=National Conflict in a Transnational World: Greeks and Macedonians at the CSCE , publisher=Gate.net , access-date=2015-09-04 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924020829/http://www.gate.net/~mango/Danforth_National_Conflict.htm , archive-date=2015-09-24
** {{circa 5,000—10,000 of them self-identified as "Macedonians" (1990 United States Department of State, USDoS estimates)
* {{circa 10,000—50,000 Slavs in Greece (2002 United States Department of State, USDoS estimates)
, -
, Slovaks
, colspan="2" ,
* 4,353,775 Slovaks in Slovakia (2011 Slovak census){{rp, 10
* 4,567,547 Slovaks in Slovakia (2021 Slovak census){{Cite web , title=Ethnic composition of Slovakia 2021 , url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/slovakia-ethnic-loc2021.htm , access-date=5 July 2022
* 149,140 Slovaks in Czechia (2011 Czech census)
* 41,730 Slovaks in Serbia (2022 Serbian census)
* {{circa 762,000 people with Slovak ancestry in the United States (2010 American Community Survey){{Cite web , url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B04003&prodType=table , title=2010 American Community Survey , author= , work=American FactFinder , publisher= , date=2010 , access-date=18 August 2022 , language= , archive-url=https://archive.today/20150118121537/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B04003&prodType=table , archive-date=18 January 2015
* 2,294 (1,889 single, 947 multiple ethnic identity) Slovaks in Poland (2011 Polish census)
* 72,290 Slovaks (20,475 Slovak-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Slovenes
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 1,632,000 Slovenes in Slovenia (2002 Slovenian census){{cite web , url=http://zgs.zrc-sazu.si/Portals/8/Slo_Geo_Over/16.pdf , title=Ethnic Structure of Slovenia and Slovenes in Neighbouring Countries , work=Slovenia: a geographical overview , first=Jernej , last=Zupančič , publisher=Association of the Geographic Societies of Slovenia , date=August 2004 , access-date=18 August 2022
* {{circa 2.5 million Slovenes worldwide (2004 Zupančič estimate)
** {{circa 1.8 million Slovenes in Slovenia (2004 Zupančič estimate)
** {{circa 0.7 million Slovene diaspora (2004 Zupančič estimate)
* 2,829 Slovenes in Serbia (2022 Serbian census)
* 40,470 Slovenes (13,690 Slovenian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
, -
, Sorbs
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 60,000 Sorbs in Germany (20,000 of which still spoke Sorb) (2007 Reuters estimate)
, -
, Ukrainians
, colspan="2" ,
* {{circa 46.7~51.8 million Ukrainians worldwide (2001 Ukrainian census + various diaspora estimates){{cite book, author=Paul R. Magocsi, title=A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TA1zVKTTsXUC&pg=PA10, year=2010, publisher=University of Toronto Press, isbn=978-1-4426-1021-7, pages=10–
* {{circa 58,693,854 Ukrainians worldwide (1994 Pawliczko estimate{{cite book, author=Vic Satzewich, title=The Ukrainian Diaspora, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SfWBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19, year=2003, publisher=Routledge, isbn=978-1-134-43495-4, pages=19–21)
** {{circa 37,419,000 Ukrainians in Ukraine (1994 Pawliczko estimate)
** {{circa 21,274,854 Ukrainian diaspora (1994 Pawliczko estimate)
* 1,359,655 Ukrainians (273,810 Ukrainian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
* 51,001 Ukrainians in Poland (2011 Polish census)
* {{circa 1.2 million 2022 Ukrainian refugee crisis#Poland, Ukrainian refugees recorded in Poland (August 2022 UNHCR figures)
, -
, Yugoslavs (a supra-ethnic category of Bosniaks, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes)
, colspan="2" ,
* 210,395 Yugoslav Americans, Yugoslavs in the United States (2021 American Community Survey){{cite web , url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=people%20reporting%20ancestry&t=Ancestry&tid=ACSDT1Y2021.B04006 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408113537/https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=people%20reporting%20ancestry&t=Ancestry&tid=ACSDT1Y2021.B04006 , title=2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates , work=American Community Survey 2021 , publisher=United States Census Bureau , archive-date=8 April 2022 , access-date=19 November 2022
* 38,480 "Yugoslavian, not otherwise specified" (8,570 Yugoslav Canadians, Yugoslav-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
* 27,143 Yugoslavs in Serbia (2022 Serbian census){{sfn, Đečević, Vuković-Ćalasan, Knežević, 2017, p=143
* 26,883 Yugoslavs in Australia (2011 Australian census){{cite web , url=https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/factsheetsancserb?opendocument&navpos=450 , title=Fact sheets: Ancestry – Serbian , publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics , date=20 September 2016 , access-date=30 July 2023
* 2,570 Yugoslavs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2013 Bosnian and Herzegovinian census){{cite web , url=https://www.popis.gov.ba/popis2013/doc/Knjiga2/K2_B_E.pdf#page=14 , page=27 , title=Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova u Bosni i Hercegovini - Etnička/nacionalna pripadnost, vjeroispovjest i maternji jezik , trans-title=Census of population, households and dwellings in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Ethnic/national affiliation, religion and mother tongue , publisher=Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina , publication-date=2019
* 1,632 Yugoslavs in Montenegro (2023 Montenegrin census)

Historiography

{{Main, List of Slavic studies journals

See also

{{div col, colwidth=18em
* Asia Minor Slavs
* Ethnic groups in Europe
* Gord (archaeology)
* Church Slavonic
* Lech, Čech, and Rus
* List of contemporary ethnic groups
* List of Slavic tribes
* Outline of Slavic history and culture
* Panethnicity
* Pan-Slavic colors
* Slavic names
* Bulgarisation
* Polonization
* Russification
* Serbianisation
* Polonization
{{div col end

Notes

{{notelist, 30em

References

Citations

{{Reflist
, refs =

{{cite encyclopedia , author=Encyclopædia Britannica , url = http://www.britannica.com/topic/Slav , title = Slav (people) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia , encyclopedia=Britannica.com , date=18 September 2006 , access-date=18 August 2010

Mallory & Adams "Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture

Nystazopoulou-Pelekidou 1992
Middle Ages
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227041253/http://www.hri.org/docs/macque/text5.html , date=27 December 2007

Jordanes, ''The Origin and Deeds of the Goths,'' V.33.

Jordanes, ''The Origin and Deeds of the Goths'', V. 35.

F. Kortlandt, The spread of the Indo-Europeans
''Journal of Indo-European Studies'', vol. 18 (1990), pp. 131–140. Online version, p. 4.

F. Kortlandt, The spread of the Indo-Europeans
''Journal of Indo-European Studies'', vol. 18 (1990), pp. 131–140. Online version, p. 3.

{{Cite web, url=http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lecture1.html, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990225154722/http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lecture1.html, archive-date=25 February 1999, title=Geography and ethnic geography of the Balkans to 1500, date=25 February 1999

Procopius, ''History of the Wars,\'', VII. 14. 22–30, VIII.40.5

''Maurice's Strategikon: handbook of Byzantine military strategy'', trans. G.T. Dennis (1984), p. 120.

{{cite web, url=http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/fcurta/Procopius.htm , title=Procopius, History of the Wars, VII. 14. 22–30 , publisher=Clas.ufl.edu , access-date=4 April 2014

Sources

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{{refbegin, 30em
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{{refend
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* {{cite thesis , year=2012 , surname=Balanovsky , given=Oleg P. , title=Изменчивость генофонда в пространстве и времени: синтез данных о геногеографии митохондриальной ДНК и Y-хромосомы , trans-title=Variability of the gene pool in space and time: synthesis of data on the genogeography of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome , type=Dr. habil. in Biology thesis , url=http://www.med-gen.ru/ar/ar_Balanovsky.pdf , place=Moscow: USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences , language=ru
* {{cite book , last=Barford , first=Paul M. , title=The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe , year=2001 , location=Ithaca, NY , publisher=Cornell University Press , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Z9ItAtbJ5AC , isbn=978-0-8014-3977-3 , ref=none
* {{cite book , last=Brather , first=Sebastian , author-link=Sebastian Brather, date=2008, lang=de , title=Archäologie der westlichen Slawen. Siedlung, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im früh- und hochmittelalterlichen Ostmitteleuropa , trans-title=Archaeology of the Western Slavs. Settlement, economy and society in early and high medieval East-Central Europe , publisher=de Gruyter, location=Berlin, New York , isbn=978-3-11-020609-8 , edition=2
* {{cite book , last=Curta , first=Florin , author-link=Florin Curta , title=The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500–700 , year=2001 , location=Cambridge , publisher=Cambridge University Press , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rcFGhCVs0sYC , isbn=978-1-139-42888-0
* {{cite book , last=Curta , first=Florin , author-link=Florin Curta , title=Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250 , year=2006 , location=Cambridge , publisher=Cambridge University Press , url=https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt , url-access=registration , isbn=978-0-521-81539-0 , ref=none
* Curta Florin
The early Slavs in Bohemia and Moravia: a response to my critics
* {{Cite journal , last1=Đečević , first1=Mehmed , last2=Vuković-Ćalasan , first2=Danijela , last3=Knežević , first3=Saša , date=2017 , title=Re-designation of Ethnic Muslims as Bosniaks in Montenegro , url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0888325416678042 , journal=East European Politics and Societies , volume=31 , issue=1 , pages=137–157 , doi=10.1177/0888325416678042 , s2cid=152238874 , access-date=18 August 2022
* {{cite book , last=Dvornik , first=Francis , author-link=Francis Dvornik , title=The Slavs in European History and Civilization , year=1962 , location=New Brunswick , publisher=Rutgers University Press , url=https://archive.org/details/slavsineuropeanh0000dvor , url-access=registration , ref=none
* {{cite book , last=Fine , first=John Van Antwerp Jr. , author-link=John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. , title=The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century , year=1991 , orig-date=1983 , location=Ann Arbor, Michigan , publisher=University of Michigan Press , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C , isbn=978-0-472-08149-3
* {{cite book , last=Fine , first=John Van Antwerp Jr. , author-link=John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. , title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest , year=1994 , orig-date=1987 , location=Ann Arbor, Michigan , publisher=University of Michigan Press , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvVbRrH1QBgC , isbn=978-0-472-08260-5 , ref=none
* Lacey, Robert. 2003. ''Great Tales from English History''. Little, Brown and Company. New York. {{ISBN, 0-316-10910-X.
* Lewis, Bernard. ''Race and Slavery in the Middle East''. Oxford Univ. Press.
* {{cite journal , last1=Mathieson , first1=Iain , date=February 21, 2018 , title=The Genomic History of Southeastern Europe , journal=Nature (journal), Nature , publisher=Nature Research , volume=555 , issue=7695 , pages=197–203 , bibcode=2018Natur.555..197M , doi=10.1038/nature25778 , pmc=6091220 , pmid=29466330 , ref=none
* 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.)
* {{cite book , last=Obolensky , first=Dimitri , author-link=Dimitri Obolensky , title=The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500–1453 , year=1974 , orig-date=1971 , location=London , publisher=Cardinal , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlBoAAAAMAAJ , isbn=978-0-351-17644-9 , ref=none
* {{cite book , last=Ostrogorsky , first=George , author-link=George Ostrogorsky , year=1956 , title=History of the Byzantine State , location=Oxford , publisher=Basil Blackwell , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ , ref=none
* 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.
* {{cite journal , last=Verbenko , first=Dmitry A. , display-authors=etal , title=Variability of the 3'ApoB Minisatellite Locus in Eastern Slavonic Populations , journal=Human Heredity , date=2005 , volume=60 , number=1 , pages=10–18 , doi=10.1159/000087338 , pmid=16103681 , s2cid=8926871
* {{cite book , last=Vlasto , first=Alexis P. , author-link=Alexis P. Vlasto , title=The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs , year=1970 , location=Cambridge , publisher=Cambridge University Press , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpVOAAAAIAAJ , isbn=978-0-521-07459-9
{{refend

External links

{{Wikimedia
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
(archived 14 June 2010)
*{{Wikisource-inline, list=
**{{Cite Americana, short=1, wstitle=Slavs, noicon=x
**{{Cite NSRW, wstitle=Slavs, short=1, noicon=x
**{{CathEncy, wstitle=The Slavs, author=Leopold Lénard, noicon=x

{{Slavic ethnic groups
{{History of Slavs
{{Authority control

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slavic Peoples
Slavs,
Indo-European peoples