Jump to navigation Jump to search “Slav” redirects here. Slavs are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group who speak russian dating culture various Slavic languages of the larger Balto-Slavic linguistic group. Slavs are the largest ethno-linguistic group in Europe. Slavs can be further grouped by religion.

Orthodox Christianity is practiced by the majority of Slavs. The second-largest religion among the Slavs after Christianity is Islam. Jordanes refers to the Sclaveni in Latin. Ancient Roman sources refer to the Early Slavic peoples as Veneti, who dwelled 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. Veneti as a “populous nation” whose dwellings begin at the sources of the Vistula and occupy “a great expanse of land”.

Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on Byzantine borders in great numbers. Byzantine records note that Slav numbers were so great, that grass would not regrow where the Slavs had marched through. When Slav migrations ended, their first state organizations appeared, each headed by a prince with a treasury and a defense force. In late 19th century, there were only four Slavic states in the world: the Russian Empire, the Principality of Serbia, the Principality of Montenegro and the Principality of Bulgaria. Pan-Slavism, a movement which came into prominence in the mid-19th century, emphasized the common heritage and unity of all the Slavic peoples. Slavic speech of Thessaloniki, could still serve the purpose of the first common Slavic literary language. The alphabets used for Slavic languages are frequently connected to the dominant religion among the respective ethnic groups.

Bosniaks, who are Muslim, also use the Latin alphabet. Slavs are customarily divided along geographical lines into three major subgroups: West Slavs, East Slavs, and South Slavs, each with a different and a diverse background based on unique history, religion and culture of particular Slavic groups within them. 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. East Slavs have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed and contacted with Finno-Ugrics, Balts, and Caucasians. The pagan Slavic populations were Christianized between the 7th and 12th centuries. 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. Slavic ethnic groups the vast majority of religious people share the same religion. Throughout their history, Slavs came into contact with non-Slavic groups. Iranic Sarmatians and the Germanic Goths.

Ruling status of Bulgars and their control of land cast the nominal legacy of the Bulgarian country and people onto future generations, but Bulgars were gradually also Slavicized into the present day South Slavic ethnic group known as Bulgarians. In the Western Balkans, South Slavs and Germanic Gepids intermarried with invaders, eventually producing a Slavicized population. Saqaliba refers to the Slavic mercenaries and slaves in the medieval Arab world in North Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus. Cossacks, although Slavic-speaking and practicing Orthodox Christianity, came from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, including Tatars and other Turks. There are an estimated 360 million Slavs worldwide. The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders. A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change.

Jordanes, The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, V. Procopius, History of the Wars, VII. Maurice’s Strategikon: handbook of Byzantine military strategy, trans. Byzantium, the empire of New Rome. Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica: The Acculturation of the Slavs.

Kortlandt, The spread of the Indo-Europeans, Journal of Indo-European Studies, vol. The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 1, c. Slavs and Teutons: The Oldest Germanic-Slavic Relations. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress.

Religious preferences of the population of Ukraine”. GUS, Narodowy Spis Powszechny Ludnosci 2011: 4. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. Two Sources of the Russian Patrilineal Heritage in Their Eurasian Context”. Archived from the original on 1 April 2001. Archived from the original on 2008-05-07. Contemporary paternal genetic landscape of Polish and German populations: from early medieval Slavic expansion to post-World War II resettlements”.