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Total population
350 million [1]
Regions with significant populations
Russia Russians 150,000,000[2][3][4][5]
Poland Poles 57,393,000[6]
Ukraine Ukrainians 57,000,000[7][8]
Serbia Serbs 12,000,000[9][10]
Czech Republic Czechs 12,000,000[11]
Bulgaria Bulgarians 10,000,000[12][13]
Belarus Belarusians 10,000,000[14]
Croatia Croats 8,000,000[15][16][17]
Slovakia Slovaks 5,401,000[18]
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosniaks 2,800,000[citation needed]
Slovenia Slovenes 2,500,000[19]
Republic of Macedonia Macedonians 2,200,000[20]
Montenegro Montenegrins 750,000[citation needed]

Slavs without a state:
Rusyns 1,200,000[21]
Moravians 631,000[22]
Kashubians 233,000[23]
Sorbs 65,000[24][25]
Gorani 60,000[26]
Lemkos 11,000[27]
Yugoslavs 415,000[28]
Czechoslovaks 341,000[29]
Slavs 143,000[30]
Slavic languages
North (West/East) and South
Christianity (mostly Orthodox and Catholic)
Minority Atheism and Islam (mostly Sunni)
Distribution of Slavic languages in Europe

Slavs are the largest Indo-European ethno-linguistic group in Europe. They live in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. They speak the Indo-European Slavic languages, and share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds. From the early 6th century they spread to inhabit most of Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe. Over half of Europe's territory is inhabited by Slavic-speaking communities. Present-day Slavic people are classified into West Slavs, East Slavs and South Slavs.



The Slavs are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group living in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia, who speak the Indo-European Slavic languages, and share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds. From the early 6th century they spread to inhabit most of Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe;[31] while at the other geographic extreme, Slavic mercenaries fighting for the Byzantines and Arabs settled Asia Minor and even as far as Syria.[32] Later, East Slavs colonized Siberia[33] and Central Asia.[34][better source needed] Every Slavic ethnicity has emigrated to other parts of the world. Over half of Europe's territory is inhabited by Slavic-speaking communities.[35]

Modern nations and ethnic groups called by the ethnonym Slavs are considerably diverse both genetically and culturally, and relations between them – even within the individual ethnic groups themselves – are varied, ranging from a sense of connection to mutual feelings of hostility. [36]

Present-day Slavic people are classified into West Slavic (chiefly Poles, Czechs and Slovaks), East Slavic (chiefly Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians), and South Slavic (chiefly Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosniaks, Macedonians, Slovenes, and Montenegrins),[37] though sometimes the West Slavs and East Slavs are combined into a single group known as North Slavs. For a more comprehensive list, see the ethnocultural subdivisions.


Main article: Slavs (ethnonym)

The Slavic autonym is reconstructed in Proto-Slavic as *Slověninъ, plural *Slověne. The oldest documents written in Old Church Slavonic and dating from the 9th century attest Словѣне Slověne to describe the Slavs. Other early Slavic attestations include Old East Slavic Словѣнѣ Slověně for "an East Slavic group near Novgorod." However, the earliest written references to the Slavs under this name are in other languages. In the 6th century AD Procopius, writing in Byzantine Greek, refers to the Σκλάβοι Sklaboi, Σκλαβηνοί Sklabēnoi, Σκλαυηνοί Sklauenoi, Σθλαβηνοί Sthlabenoi, or Σκλαβῖνοι Sklabinoi,[38] while his contemporary Jordanes refers to the Sclaveni in Latin.[39]

The Slavic autonym *Slověninъ is usually considered a derivation from slovo "word", originally denoting "people who speak (the same language)," i.e. people who understand each other, in contrast to the Slavic word denoting "foreign people" – němci, meaning "mumbling, murmuring people" (from Slavic *němъ – "mumbling, mute"). The latter word may be the derivation of words to denote German/Germanic people in many later Slavic languages: e.g., Czech Němec, Slovak Nemec, Slovene Nemec, Belarusian, Russian and Bulgarian Немец, Serbian Немац, Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian Nijemac, Polish Niemiec, Ukrainian Німець, etc.,[40] but another theory states that rather these words are derived from the name of the Nemetes tribe,[41][42] which is derived from the Celtic root nemeto-.[43][44]

The English word Slav could be derived from the Middle English word sclave, which was borrowed from Medieval Latin sclavus or slavus,[45] itself a borrowing and Byzantine Greek σκλάβος sklábos "slave," which was in turn apparently derived from a misunderstanding of the Slavic autonym (denoting a speaker of their own languages). However, the origin of this word is disputed.[46][47] The Byzantine term Sklavinoi was loaned into Arabic as Saqaliba صقالبة (sing. Saqlabi صقلبي) by medieval Arab historiographers.

Alternative proposals for the etymology of *Slověninъ propounded by some scholars have much less support. Lozinski argues that the word *slava once had the meaning of worshipper, in this context meaning "practicer of a common Slavic religion," and from that evolved into an ethnonym.[48] S.B. Bernstein speculates that it derives from a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *(s)lawos, cognate to Ancient Greek λαός laós "population, people," which itself has no commonly accepted etymology.[49] Meanwhile, others have pointed out that the suffix -enin indicates a man from a certain place, which in this case should be a place called Slova or Slava, possibly a river name. The Old East Slavic Slavuta for the Dnieper River was argued by Henrich Bartek (1907–1986) to be derived from slova and also the origin of Slovene.[50]

Last scientific opinions about the earliest mentions of Slavic raids across the lower River Danube show that they may be dated to the first half of the 6th century, yet no archaeological evidence of a Slavic settlement in the Balkans could be securely dated before c. 600 AD.[51][52][53]

Early history[edit]

Main article: Early Slavs

First mentions[edit]


Procopius wrote in 545 that "the Sclaveni and the Antae actually had a single name in the remote past; for they were both called Spori in olden times." He describes their social structure and beliefs:

For these nations, the Sclaveni and the Antae, are not ruled by one man, but they have lived from of old under a democracy, and consequently everything which involves their welfare, whether for good or for ill, is referred to the people. It is also true that in all other matters, practically speaking, these two barbarian peoples have had from ancient times the same institutions and customs. For they believe that one god, the maker of lightning, is alone lord of all things, and they sacrifice to him cattle and all other victims.

He mentions that they were tall and hardy:

"They live in pitiful hovels which they set up far apart from one another, but, as a general thing, every man is constantly changing his place of abode. When they enter battle, the majority of them go against their enemy on foot carrying little shields and javelins in their hands, but they never wear corselets. Indeed, some of them do not wear even a shirt or a cloak, but gathering their trews up as far as to their private parts they enter into battle with their opponents. And both the two peoples have also the same language, an utterly barbarous tongue. Nay further, they do not differ at all from one another in appearance. For they are all exceptionally tall and stalwart men, 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 ...".[54]

Jordanes tells us that the Sclaveni had swamps and forests for their cities.[55] Another 6th-century source refers to them living among nearly impenetrable forests, rivers, lakes, and marshes.[56]

Menander Protector mentions a Daurentius (577–579) that slew an Avar envoy of Khagan Bayan I. The Avars asked the Slavs to accept the suzerainty of the Avars, he however declined and is reported as saying: "Others do not conquer our land, we conquer theirs – so it shall always be for us".[57]


Further information: Vistula Veneti



Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on Byzantine borders in great numbers.[59][page needed] The Byzantine records note that grass would not regrow in places where the Slavs had marched through, so great were their numbers. After a military movement even the Peloponnese and Asia Minor were reported to have Slavic settlements.[60] This southern movement has traditionally been seen as an invasive expansion.[61] By the end of the 6th century, Slavs had settled the Eastern Alps regions.

Early Slavic states[edit]

When their migratory movements ended, there appeared among the Slavs the first rudiments of state organizations, each headed by a prince with a treasury and a defense force. Moreover, it was the beginnings of class differentiation, and nobles pledged allegiance either to the Frankish/ Holy Roman Emperors or the Byzantine Emperors.


Modern history[edit]

The Slavs (green) in Southeastern Europe (1869)
Ethno-linguistic map of Austria–Hungary and surroundings, 1880
Ethnic map of European Russia (1898)

As of 1878, there were only three free Slavic states in the world: the Russian Empire, Serbia and Montenegro. Bulgaria was also free but was de jure vassal to the Ottoman Empire until official independence was declared in 1908. In the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire of approximately 50 million people, about 23 million were Slavs. 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.[62] In 1918, after World War I ended, the Slavs established such independent states as Czechoslovakia, the Second Polish Republic, and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.

During World War II, Hitler's Generalplan Ost (general plan for the East) entailed killing, deporting, or enslaving the Slavic and Jewish population of occupied Eastern Europe to create Lebensraum (living space) for German settlers.[63] The Nazi Hunger Plan and Generalplan Ost would have led to the starvation of 80 million people in the Soviet Union.[64] These partially fulfilled plans resulted in the deaths of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war.[65]

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.[66] 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.[67]

Because of the vastness and diversity of the territory occupied by Slavic people, there were several centers of Slavic consolidation. In the 19th century, Pan-Slavism developed as a movement among intellectuals, scholars, and poets, but it rarely influenced practical politics and did not find support in some nations that had Slavic origins. Pan-Slavism became compromised when the Russian Empire started to use it as an ideology justifying its territorial conquests in Central Europe as well as subjugation of other ethnic groups of Slavic origins such as Poles and Ukrainians, and the ideology became associated with Russian imperialism. The common Slavic experience of communism combined with the repeated usage of the ideology by Soviet propaganda after World War II within the Eastern bloc (Warsaw Pact) was a forced high-level political and economic hegemony of the USSR dominated by Russians. A notable political union of the 20th century that covered most South Slavs was Yugoslavia, but it ultimately broke apart in the 1990s along with the Soviet Union.






Area of Balto-Slavic dialectic continuum (purple) with proposed material cultures correlating to speakers Balto-Slavic in Bronze Age (white). Red dots= archaic Slavic hydronyms
European countries where a Slavic language is the official one on the entire territory


A page from Azbuka, the first Russian textbook, printed by Ivan Fyodorov in 1574, features the Cyrillic script.

Slavic standard languages which are official in at least one country: Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, and Ukrainian. The alphabet depends on what religion is usual for the respective Slavic ethnic groups. The Orthodox use the Cyrillic alphabet and the Roman Catholics use Latin alphabet, the Bosniaks who are Muslims also use the Latin. Few Greek Roman and Roman Catholics use the Cyrillic alphabet however. The Serbian language and Montenegrin language uses both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. There is also a Latin script to write in Belarusian, called the Lacinka alphabet.

Proto-Slavic language[edit]

Main article: Proto-Slavic language


Proto-Slavic, sometimes referred to as Common Slavic or Late 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, cannot be said to have any recognizable dialects, suggesting a comparatively compact homeland.[70] 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.[71]


The pagan Slavic populations were Christianized between the 6th and 10th centuries. Orthodox Christianity is predominant in the East and South Slavs, while Roman Catholicism is predominant in West Slavs and the western South Slavs. The religious borders are largely comparable to the East–West Schism which began in the 11th century. The majority of contemporary Slavic populations who profess a religion are Orthodox, followed by Catholic, while a small minority are Protestant. There are minor Slavic Muslim groups. Religious delineations by nationality can be very sharp; usually in the Slavic ethnic groups the vast majority of religious people share the same religion. Some Slavs are atheist or agnostic: only 19% of Czechs professed belief in god/s in the 2005 Eurobarometer survey.

The main Slavic ethnic groups by religion:

Ethnocultural subdivisions[edit]

Present-day distribution of Slavic languages and language groups
World map of countries with
  Significant (10%+) minority populations
  Majority Slavic ethnicities

Slavs are customarily divided along geographical lines into three major subgroups: East Slavs, West Slavs, and South Slavs, each with a different and a diverse background based on unique history, religion and culture of particular Slavic group within them. Apart from prehistorical archaeological cultures, the subgroups have had notable cultural contact with non-Slavic Bronze- and Iron Age civilisations.

West Slavs[edit]

Main article: West Slavs

Czech-Slovak group[edit]

Lechitic group[edit]

East Slavs[edit]

Main article: East Slavs

South Slavs[edit]

Main article: South Slavs

Eastern group[edit]

  • Gorani (recognized ethnicity)

Western group[edit]

  • Gorani (recognized ethnicity)

^e Extinct
^1 Also considered part of Rusyns
^2 Considered transitional between Ukrainians and Belarusians
^3 The ethnic affiliation of the Lemkos has become an ideological conflict. It has been alleged that among the Lemkos the idea of "Carpatho-Ruthenian" nation is supported only by Lemkos residing in Transcarpathia and abroad[73]
^4 Most inhabitants of historic Moravia considered themselves as Czechs but significant amount declared their Moravian nationality, different from that Czech (although people from Bohemia and Moravia use the same official language).
^5 Also considered Poles.
^6 There are sources that show Silesians as part of the Poles.[74] Parts of the southmost population of Upper Silesia is sometimes considered Czech (controversial).

^7 A census category recognized as an ethnic group. Most Slavic Muslims (especially in Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia) now opt for Bosniak ethnicity, but some still use the "Muslim" designation. Bosniak and Muslim are considered two ethnonyms for a single ethnicity and the terms may even be used interchangeably. However, a small number of people within Bosnia and Herzegovina declare Bosniak but are not necessarily Muslim by faith.

^8 This identity continues to be used by a minority throughout the former Yugoslav republics. The nationality is also declared by diasporans living in the USA and Canada. There are a multitude of reasons as to why people prefer this affiliation, some published on the article.

^9 Sub-groups of Croats include Bunjevci (in Bačka), Šokci (in Slavonia and Vojvodina), Janjevci (in Kosovo), Burgenland Croats (in Austria), Bosniaks (in Hungary), Molise Croats (in Italy), Krashovans (in Romania), Moravian Croats (in the Czech Republic)

^10 Sub-groups of Slovenes include Prekmurians, Hungarian Slovenes, Carinthian Slovenes, Venetian Slovenes, Resians, and the extinct Carantanians and Somogy Slovenes.

Note: Besides ethnic groups, Slavs often identify themselves with the local geographical region in which they live. Some of the major regional South Slavic groups include: Zagorci in northern Croatia, Istrijani in westernmost Croatia, Dalmatinci in southern Croatia, Boduli in Adriatic islands, Vlaji in hinterland of Dalmatia, Slavonci in eastern Croatia, Bosanci in Bosnia, Hercegovci in Herzegovina, Krajišnici in western Bosnia, Semberci in northeast Bosnia, Srbijanci in Serbia proper, Šumadinci in central Serbia, Vojvođani in northern Serbia, Sremci in Syrmia, Bačvani in northwest Vojvodina, Banaćani in Banat, Sandžaklije (Muslims in Serbia/Montenegro border), Kosovci in Kosovo, Bokelji in southwest Montenegro, Trakiytsi in Upper Thracian Lowlands, Dobrudzhantsi in north-east Bulgarian region, Balkandzhii in Central Balkan Mountains, Miziytsi in north Bulgarian region, Warmiaks and Masurians in north-east Polish regions Warmia and Mazuria, Pirintsi in Blagoevgrad Province, Ruptsi in the Rhodopes etc.

Another interesting note is that the very term Slavic itself was registered in the US census of 2000 by more than 127,000 residents.


Further information: Genetic history of Europe
Haplogroup R1a distribution

The modern Slavic peoples carry a variety of mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups. Yet two paternal haplogroups predominate: R1a1a [M17] and I2a2a [L69.2=T/S163.2]. The frequency of Haplogroup R1a ranges from 63.39% in the Sorbs, through 56.4% in Poland, 54% in Ukraine, 52% in Russia, Belarus, to 15.2% in Republic of Macedonia, 14.7% in Bulgaria and 12.1% in Herzegovina.[75] The correlation between R1a1a [M17] and the speakers of Indo-European languages, particularly those of Eastern Europe (Russian) and Central and Southern Asia, was noticed in the late 1990s. From this Spencer Wells and colleagues, following the Kurgan hypothesis, deduced that R1a1a arose on the Pontic-Caspian steppe.[76]

Specific studies of Slavic genetics followed. In 2007 Rębała and colleagues studied several Slavic populations with the aim of localizing the Proto-Slavic homeland.[77] The significant findings of this study are that:

  1. Two genetically distant groups of Slavic populations were revealed: One encompassing all Western-Slavic, Eastern-Slavic, and few Southern-Slavic populations (north-western Croats and Slovenes), and one encompassing all remaining Southern Slavs. According to the authors most Slavic populations have similar Y chromosome pools — R1a. They speculate that this similarity can be traced to an origin in the middle Dnieper basin of Ukraine during the Late Glacial Maximum 15 kya.[78]
  2. However, Southern-Slavic populations including the Bosnians, Croats (excluding north-western Croatia), Serbs, Bulgarians and Macedonians are clearly separated from the tight DNA cluster of the rest of the Slavic populations. According to the authors this phenomenon is explained by "... contribution to the Y chromosomes of peoples who settled in the Balkan region before the Slavic expansion to the genetic heritage of Southern Slavs ..."[78]

Marcin Woźniak and colleagues (2010) searched for specifically Slavic sub-group of R1a1a [M17]. Working with haplotypes, they found a pattern among Western Slavs which turned out to correspond to a newly discovered marker, M458, which defines subclade R1a1a7. This marker correlates remarkably well with the distribution of Slavic-speakers today. The team led by Peter Underhill, which discovered M458, did not consider the possibility that this was a Slavic marker, since they used the "evolutionary effective" mutation rate, which gave a date far too old to be Slavic. Woźniak and colleagues pointed out that the pedigree mutation rate, giving a later date, is more consistent with the archaeological record.[79]

Pomors are distinguished by the presence of Y Haplogroup N among them. Postulated to originate from southeast Asia, it is found at high rates in Uralic peoples. Its presence in Pomors (called "Northern Russians" in the report) attests to the non-Slavic tribes (mixing with Finnic tribes of northern Eurasia).[80] Autosomally, Russians are generally similar to populations in central-eastern Europe but some northern Russians are intermediate to Finno-Ugric groups.[81]

On the other hand, I2a1b1 (P41.2) is typical of the South Slavic populations, being highest in Bosnia-Herzegovina (>50%).[75] Haplogroup I2a2 is also commonly found in north-eastern Italians.[82] There is also a high concentration of I2a2a in the Moldavian region of Romania, Moldova and western Ukraine. According to original studies, Hg I2a2 was believed to have arisen in the west Balkans sometime after the LGM, subsequently spreading from the Balkans through Central Russian Plain. Recently, Ken Nordtvedt has split I2a2 into two clades – N (northern) and S (southern), in relation where they arose compared to Danube river.[83] He proposes that N is slightly older than S. He recalculated the age of I2a2 to be ~ 2550 years and proposed that the current distribution is explained by a Slavic expansion from the area north-east of the Carpathians.

In 2008, biochemist Boris Arkadievich Malyarchuk (Russian: Борис Аркадьевич Малярчук) et al. of the Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan, Russia, used a sample (n=279) of Czech individuals to determine the frequency of "Mongoloid" "mtDNA lineages".[84] Malyarchuk found Czech mtDNA lineages were typical of "Slavic populations" with "1.8%" Mongoloid mtDNA lineage.[84] Malyarchuk added that "Slavic populations" "almost always" contain Mongoloid mtDNA lineage.[84] Malyarchuk said the Mongoloid component of Slavic people was partially added before the split of "Balto-Slavics" in 2,000–3,000 BC with additional Mongoloid mixture occurring among Slavics in the last 4,000 years.[84] Malyarchuk said the "Russian population" was developed by the "assimilation of the indigenous pre-Slavic population of Eastern Europe by true Slavs" with additional "assimilation of Finno-Ugric populations" and "long-lasting" interactions with the populations of "Siberia" and "Central Asia".[84] Malyarchuk said that other Slavs "Mongoloid component" was increased during the waves of migration from "steppe populations (Huns, Avars, Bulgars and Mongols)", especially the decay of the "Avar Khaganate".[84]

DNA samples from 1228 Russians show that the Y chromosomes analyzed, all except 20 (1.6%) fall into seven major haplogroups all characteristic to West Eurasian populations. Taken together, they account for 95% of the total Russian Y chromosomal pool. Only (0.7%) fell into haplogroups that are specific to East and South Asian populations.[85] Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) examined in Poles and Russians revealed the presence of all major European haplogroups, which were characterized by similar patterns of distribution in Poles and Russians. An analysis of the DNA did not reveal any specific combinations of unique mtDNA haplotypes and their subclusters. The DNA clearly shows that both Poles and Russians are not different from the neighbouring European populations.[86]

Relations with non-Slavic peoples[edit]


West Slav tribes in 9th/10th century

Throughout their history, Slavs came into contact with non-Slavic groups. In the postulated homeland region (present-day Ukraine), they had contacts with the Iranic Sarmatians and the Germanic Goths. After their subsequent spread, they began assimilating non-Slavic peoples. For example, in the Balkans, there were Paleo-Balkan peoples, such as Romanized and Hellenized (Jireček Line) Illyrians, Thracians and Dacians, as well as Greeks and Celtic Scordisci. Over time, due to the larger number of Slavs, most descendants of the indigenous populations of the Balkans were Slavicized. The Thracians and Illyrians vanished from the population during this period – although the modern Albanian nation claims descent from the Illyrians. Exceptions are Greece, where the lesser numbered Slavs scattered there came to be Hellenized (aided in time by more Greeks returning to Greece in the 9th century and the role of the church and administration)[87] and Romania where Slavic people settled en route for present-day Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria and East Thrace whereby the Slavic population had come to assimilate. Bulgars were also assimilated by local Slavs but their ruling status and subsequent land cast the nominal legacy of Bulgarian country and people onto all future generations. The Romance speakers within the fortified Dalmatian cities managed to retain their culture and language for a long time,[88] as Dalmatian Romance was spoken until the high Middle Ages. However, they too were eventually assimilated into the body of Slavs.

In the Western Balkans, South Slavs and Germanic Gepids intermarried with Avar invaders, eventually producing a Slavicized population.[citation needed] In Central Europe, the Slavs intermixed with Germanic and Celtic, while the eastern Slavs encountered Uralic and Scandinavian peoples. Scandinavians (Varangians) and Finnic peoples were involved in the early formation of the Rus state but were completely Slavicized after a century. Some Finno-Ugric tribes in the north were also absorbed into the expanding Rus population.[80] At the time of the Magyar migration, the present-day Hungary was inhabited by Slavs, numbering about 200,000,[89] and by Romano-Dacians who were either assimilated or enslaved by the Magyars.[89] In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkic tribes, such as the Kipchaks and the Pechenegs, caused a massive migration of East Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north.[90] In the Middle Ages, groups of Saxon ore miners settled in medieval Bosnia, Serbia and Bulgaria where they were Slavicized.

The Limes Saxoniae forming the border between the Saxons to the west and the Obotrites to the east

Polabian Slavs (Wends) settled in parts of England (Danelaw), apparently as Danish allies.[91] Polabian-Pomeranian Slavs are also known to have even settled on Norse age Iceland. Saqaliba refers to the Slavic mercenaries and slaves in the medieval Arab world in North Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus. Saqaliba served as caliph's guards.[92][93] In the 12th century, there was intensification of Slavic piracy in the Baltics. The Wendish Crusade was started against the Polabian Slavs in 1147, as a part of the Northern Crusades. Niklot, pagan chief of the Slavic Obodrites, 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.[94] The Polabian language survived until the beginning of the 19th century in what is now the German state of Lower Saxony.[95] In Eastern Germany, around 20% of Germans have Slavic paternal ancestry.[96] Similarly, in Germany, around 20% of the foreign surnames are of Slavic origin.[97]

Cossacks, although Slavic-speaking and Orthodox Christians, came from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, including Tatars and other Turks. Many early members of the Terek Cossacks were Ossetians.

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 descend of this population.

Conversely, some Slavs were assimilated into other populations. Although the majority continued south, attracted by the riches of the territory which would become Bulgaria, a few remained in the Carpathian basin and were ultimately assimilated into the Magyar or Romanian population. There is a large number of river names and other placenames of Slavic origin in Romania.[98][better source needed]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ The total number of Slavs is the sum of the numbers from each region below
  2. ^ "Нас 150 миллионов -Русское зарубежье, российские соотечественники, русские за границей, русские за рубежом, соотечественники, русскоязычное население, русские общины, диаспора, эмиграция". 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2013-04-29. 
  3. ^ [1] Archived 23 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Русские". rcultura. Retrieved 2013-04-29. 
  5. ^ "Соотечественники". Retrieved 2013-04-29. 
  7. ^ The Ukrainian World Congress states that the Ukrainian diaspora makes 20 million: 20mln Ukrainians living abroad
  8. ^ "UWC continually and diligently defends the interests of over 20 million Ukrainians". 2010-05-25. Retrieved 2014-04-04. 
  9. ^ The Serbian Diaspora and Youth: Cross-Border Ties and Opportunities for Development, Theodore E. Baird, Roskilde University and Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, University of Kent at Brussels p. 5.
  10. ^ Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia, Ethnic Groups of the World, Jeffrey E. Cole, ABC-CLIO, 2011, ISBN 1598843036, pp. 333–334.
  11. ^ Obyvatelstvo podle národnosti podle krajů
  13. ^ The Report: Bulgaria 2008, Oxford Business Group, 2008, p.8
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  28. ^ 23,000 in Serbia (according to the census 2011), 327,000 in the USA (according to the census 2010), 21,000 single ethnic identity and 44,000 multiple ethnic identity in Canada (according to the census 2006)
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