Slavs - wikipedia Slavs `` Slav '' redirects here. For other uses, see Slav ( disambiguation ). World map of countries with : Majority Slavic ethnicities Significant ( 10 % + ) minority Slavic populations Slavs are an Indo - European ethno - linguistic group who speak the various Slavic languages of the larger Balto - Slavic linguistic group. They are native to Eurasia, stretching from Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe all the way north and westwards to Northeast Europe ( the Baltics ), Northern Asia ( Siberia ), the Caucasus, and Central Asia ( especially Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan ) as well as historically in Western Europe ( particularly in East Germany ) and Western Asia ( including Anatolia ). From the early 6th century they spread to inhabit the majority of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Also today ; many Slavic diaspora exist throughout North America, particularly in the United States and Canada as a result of immigration. Slavs are the largest ethno - linguistic group in Europe. Present - day Slavic peoples are classified into East Slavs ( chiefly Belarusians, Russians, Rusyns, and Ukrainians ), West Slavs ( chiefly Czechs, Kashubs, Poles, Silesians, Slovaks and Sorbs ), and South Slavs ( chiefly Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes ). Slavs can further be divided along the lines of religion. Orthodox Christianity makes up the bulk of the religion encompassing and practiced by the Slavs. The Orthodox Slavs include the Belarusians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Russians, Serbs, and Ukrainians and are defined by their use of Orthodox customs and the use of Cyrillic script as well as their cultural influence and connection to the Byzantine Empire ( Serbs also use Serbian Latin script on equal terms ). The second most practiced and common religion amongst the Slavs is Roman Catholicism. The Catholic Slavs include Croats, Czechs, Kashubians, Poles, Silesians, Slovaks and Slovenes and they are defined by their Latinate influence and heritage and connection to Western Europe. There are also substantial Protestant and Lutheran minorities ( especially amongst the West Slavs ) such as the historical Bohemian ( Czech ) Hussites. The third largest religion amongst the Slavs is Islam. Muslim Slavs include the Bosniaks, Pomaks, Gorani, Torbesis, and other Muslims of the former Yugoslavia as well as certain East Slavs who settled in the Crimean Peninsula and converted to the Islamic faith via influence from the Crimean Tatars. Modern Slavic nations and ethnic groups 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. Contents 1 Ethnonym 2 Origin 2.1 First mentions 2.2 Migrations 3 Middle Ages 3.1 Early Slavic states 4 Modern history 4.1 Pan-Slavism 5 Languages 6 Ethno - cultural subdivisions 7 Religion 8 Relations with non-Slavic people 9 Population 10 See also 11 References 12 Sources 13 External links Ethnonym Main article : Slavs ( ethnonym ) The oldest mention of the Slavic ethnonym is the 6th century AD Procopius, writing in Byzantine Greek, using various forms such as Sklaboi ( Σκλάβοι ), Sklabēnoi ( Σκλαβηνοί ), Sklauenoi ( Σκλαυηνοί ), Sthlabenoi ( Σθλαβηνοί ), or Sklabinoi ( Σκλαβῖνοι ), while his contemporary Jordanes refers to the Sclaveni in Latin. The oldest documents written in Old Church Slavonic, dating from the 9th century, attest the autonym as Slověne ( Словѣне ). These forms point back to a Slavic autonym which can be reconstructed in Proto - Slavic as * Slověninъ, plural Slověne. The reconstructed 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 German people, namely němьcь, meaning `` silent, mute people '' ( from Slavic * němъ `` mute, mumbling '' ). The word slovo ( `` word '' ) and the related slava ( `` glory, fame '' ) and slukh ( `` hearing '' ) originate from the Proto - Indo - European root * ḱlew - ( `` be spoken of, glory '' ), cognate with Ancient Greek κλέος ( kléos `` fame '' ), whence comes the name Pericles, Latin clueo ( `` be called '' ), and English loud. Origin Main article : Early Slavs See also : History of the Slavic languages First mentions Slavic peoples in 6th century The Slavs under name of the Antes and the Sclaveni make their first appearance in Byzantine records in the early 6th century. Byzantine historiographers under Justinian I ( 527 -- 565 ), such as Procopius of Caesarea, Jordanes and Theophylact Simocatta describe tribes of these names emerging from the area of the Carpathian Mountains, the lower Danube and the Black Sea, invading the Danubian provinces of the Eastern Empire. 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. '' He described them as barbarians, who lived under democracy, and that they believe in one god, `` the maker of lightning '' ( Perun ), to whom they made sacrifice. They lived in scattered housing, and constantly changed settlement. Regarding warfare, they were mainly foot soldiers with small shields and battleaxes, lightly clothed, some entering battle naked with only their genitals covered. Their language is `` barbarous '' ( that is, not Greek - speaking ), and the two tribes do not differ in appearance, being tall and robust, `` while their bodies and hair are neither very fair or blond, nor indeed do they incline entirely to the dark type, but they are all slightly ruddy in color. And they live a hard life, giving no heed to bodily comforts... '' Jordanes described the Sclaveni having swamps and forests for their cities. Another 6th - century source refers to them living among nearly impenetrable forests, rivers, lakes, and marshes. Slavic tribes from the 7th to 9th centuries in Europe 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 ''. The relationship between the Slavs and a tribe called the Veneti east of the River Vistula in the Roman period is uncertain. The name may refer both to Balts and Slavs. Migrations The origin and migration of Slavs in Europe the between 5th and 10th centuries. According to eastern homeland theory, prior to becoming known to the Roman world, Slavic - speaking tribes were part of the many multi-ethnic confederacies of Eurasia -- such as the Sarmatian, Hun and Gothic empires. The Slavs emerged from obscurity when the westward movement of Germans in the 5th and 6th centuries CE ( thought to be in conjunction with the movement of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe : Huns, and later Avars and Bulgars ) started the great migration of the Slavs, who settled the lands abandoned by Germanic tribes fleeing the Huns and their allies : westward into the country between the Oder and the Elbe - Saale line ; southward into Bohemia, 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 may have migrated with the movement of the Vandals to the Iberian Peninsula and even as far as North Africa. Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on Byzantine borders in great numbers. 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. 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. Middle Ages Early Slavic states Great Moravia was the first major Slavic state, 833 - 907 A.D. Reconstruction of a Slavic Grod in Birów, Poland Glagolitic script is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. Created in the 9th century by a Byzantine monk Saint Cyril. 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. In the 7th century, the Frankish merchant Samo, who supported the Slavs fighting their Avar rulers, became the ruler of the first known Slav state in Central Europe, which, however, most probably did not outlive its founder and ruler. This provided the foundation for subsequent Slavic states to arise on the former territory of this realm with Carantania being the oldest of them. Very old also are the Principality of Nitra and the Moravian principality ( see under Great Moravia ). In this period, there existed West Slavic tribes and states such as the Balaton Principality, but the subsequent expansion of the Magyars into the Carpathian Basin, as well as the Germanization of Austria gradually separated the South Slavs from the West and East Slavs. The First Bulgarian Empire was founded in 681, and the Slavic language Old Church Slavonic became the main and official of the empire in 864. Bulgaria was instrumental in the spread of Slavic literacy and Christianity to the rest of the Slavic world. Modern History 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 Austria - Hungary, were calling for national self - determination. 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 Slavic nations. 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 Slavic ethnic groups such as Poles and Ukrainians, and the ideology became associated with Russian imperialism. 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. 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 ( which merged into Yugoslavia ). During World War II, Nazi Germany planned to kill, deport, or enslave the Slavic and Jewish population of occupied Eastern Europe to create Living space for German settlers, and also planned the starvation of 80 million people in the Soviet Union. The partial fulfilment of these plans resulted in the deaths of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. 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. 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 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. The word `` Slavs '' was used in the national anthem of Yugoslavia ( 1943 -- 1992 ) and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( 1992 -- 2003 ), later Serbia and Montenegro ( 2003 -- 2006 ). Former Soviet states, as well as countries that used to be satellite states or territories of the Warsaw Pact, have numerous minority Slavic populations, many of whom are originally from the Russian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR and Byelorussian SSR. As of now, Kazakhstan has the largest Slavic minority population with most being Russians ( Ukrainians, Belarusians and Poles are present as well but in much smaller numbers ). Pan-Slavism 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. The Russian Empire used Pan-Slavism as a political tool ; as did the Soviet Union, which gained political - military influence and control over most Slavic - majority nations between 1939 and 1948 and retained a hegemonic role until the period 1989 -- 1991. South Slavic languages. Slovene Pannonian Slovene Styrian Slovene Carinthian Slovene Carniolan Slovene Rovte Slovene Litoral Slovene Croatian Chakavian Croatian Kajkavian Croatian Shtokavian Croatian Bosnian Bosniak Bosnian Serbian Shtokavian Serbian Šumadija -- Vojvodina dialect Kosovo - Resava dialect Montenegrin Montenegrin Torlakian ( transitional dialect ) Torlakian Macedonian Northern Macedonian Western Macedonian Central Macedonian Southern Macedonian Eastern Macedonian Bulgarian Western Bulgarian Rup Bulgarian Balkan Bulgarian Moesian Bulgarian East Slavic languages. Russian Belarusian Ukrainian Rusyn West Slavic languages. Polish Kashubian Silesian Polabian † Lower Sorbian Upper Sorbian Czech Slovak Languages Main article : 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 ( from the steppe ) became speakers of Balto - Slavic ''. Proto - Slavic is defined as the last stage of the language preceding the geographical split of the historical Slavic languages. That language was uniform, and on the basis of borrowings from foreign languages and Slavic borrowings into other languages, can not be said to have any recognizable dialects -- this suggests that there was, at one time, a relatively small Proto - Slavic homeland. Slavic linguistic unity was to some extent visible as late as Old Church Slavonic manuscripts which, though based on local Slavic speech of Thessaloniki, could still serve the purpose of the first common Slavic literary language. Slavic studies began as an almost exclusively linguistic and philological enterprise. As early as 1833, Slavic languages were recognized as Indo - European. Standardised Slavic languages that have official status in at least one country are : Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, and Ukrainian. The alphabets used for Slavic languages are frequently connected to the dominant religion among the respective ethnic groups. Orthodox Christians use the Cyrillic alphabet while Roman Catholics use the Latin alphabet ; the Bosniaks, who are Muslim, also use the Latin alphabet. Additionally, some Eastern Catholics and Roman 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 the Lacinka alphabet. Ethno - cultural subdivisions Part of a series on Indo - European topics Languages List of Indo - European languages Historical Albanian Armenian Balto - Slavic Baltic Slavic Celtic Germanic Hellenic Greek Indo - Iranian Indo - Aryan Iranian Italic Romance Extinct Anatolian Tocharian Paleo - Balkan Dacian Illyrian Liburnian Messapian Mysian Paeonian Phrygian Thracian Reconstructed Proto - Indo - European language Phonology : Sound laws, Accent, Ablaut Hypothetical Daco - Thracian Graeco - Armenian Graeco - Aryan Graeco - Phrygian Indo - Hittite Italo - Celtic Thraco - Illyrian Grammar Vocabulary Root Verbs Nouns Pronouns Numerals Particles Other Proto - Anatolian Proto - Armenian Proto - Germanic ( Proto - Norse ) Proto - Celtic Proto - Italic Proto - Greek Proto - Balto - Slavic ( Proto - Slavic ) Proto - Indo - Iranian ( Proto - Iranian ) Philology Hittite texts Hieroglyphic Luwian Linear B Rigveda Avesta Homer Behistun Gaulish epigraphy Latin epigraphy Runic epigraphy Ogam Gothic Bible Armenian Bible Slanting Brahmi Old Irish glosses Origins Homeland Proto - Indo - Europeans Society Religion Mainstream Kurgan hypothesis Indo - European migrations Eurasian nomads Alternative and fringe Anatolian hypothesis Armenian hypothesis Indigenous Aryans Baltic homeland Paleolithic Continuity Theory Archaeology Chalcolithic ( Copper Age ) Pontic Steppe Domestication of the horse Kurgan Kurgan culture Steppe cultures Bug - Dniester Sredny Stog Dnieper - Donets Samara Khvalynsk Yamna Mikhaylovka culture Caucasus Maykop East - Asia Afanasevo Eastern Europe Usatovo Cernavodă Cucuteni Northern Europe Corded ware Baden Middle Dnieper Bronze Age Pontic Steppe Chariot Yamna Catacomb Multi-cordoned ware Poltavka Srubna Northern / Eastern Steppe Abashevo culture Andronovo Sintashta Europe Globular Amphora Corded ware Beaker Unetice Trzciniec Nordic Bronze Age Terramare Tumulus Urnfield Lusatian South - Asia BMAC Yaz Gandhara grave Iron Age Steppe Chernoles Europe Thraco - Cimmerian Hallstatt Jastorf Caucasus Colchian India Painted Grey Ware Northern Black Polished Ware Peoples and societies Bronze Age Anatolians Armenians Mycenaean Greeks Indo - Iranians Iron Age Indo - Aryans Indo - Aryans Iranians Iranians Scythians Persians Medes Europe Celts Gauls Celtiberians Insular Celts Hellenic peoples Italic peoples Germanic peoples Paleo - Balkans / Anatolia : Thracians Dacians Illyrians Phrygians Middle Ages East - Asia Tocharians Europe Balts Slavs Albanians Medieval Europe Indo - Aryan Medieval India Iranian Greater Persia Religion and mythology Reconstructed Proto - Indo - European religion Proto - Indo - Iranian religion Historical Hittite Indian Vedic Hinduism Buddhism Jainism Iranian Persian Zoroastrianism Kurdish Yazidism Yarsanism Scythian Ossetian Others Armenian Europe Paleo - Balkans Greek Roman Celtic Irish Scottish Breton Welsh Cornish Germanic Anglo - Saxon Continental Norse Baltic Latvian Lithuanian Slavic Albanian Practices Fire - sacrifice Horse sacrifice Sati Winter solstice / Yule Indo - European studies Scholars Marija Gimbutas J.P. Mallory Institutes Copenhagen Studies in Indo - European Publications Encyclopedia of Indo - European Culture The Horse, the Wheel and Language Journal of Indo - European Studies Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch Indo - European Etymological Dictionary 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. Apart from prehistorical archaeological cultures, the subgroups have had notable cultural contact with non-Slavic Bronze - and Iron Age civilisations. Modern Slavic nations and ethnic groups 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. West Slavs have origin in 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 Germanics, Hungarians, Celts ( particularly the Boii ), Old Prussians, and the Pannonian Avars. The West Slavs came under the influence of the Western Roman Empire ( Latin ) and of the Roman Catholic Church. East Slavs have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed and contacted with Finno - Ugrics, Balts, and Caucasians. Their early Slavic component, Antes, mixed or absorbed Iranians, and later received influence from the Khazars and Vikings. The East Slavs trace their national origins to the tribal unions of Kievan Rus ' and Khaganate, beginning in the 10th century. They came particularly under the influence of the Byzantine Empire and of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churchs. They later became established in the 16th century in the area north surrounding the Sarmatic Plain and in the steppes of modern - day eastern Ukraine. South Slavs from most of the region have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed with the local Proto - Balkanic tribes ( Illyrian, Dacian ( Romanian ), Thracian, 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 and Bulgars. 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 Roman Catholic Church in a similar fashion to that of the West Slavs. Religion The pagan Slavic populations were Christianized between the 7th and 12th 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 : in the Czech Republic 20 % were atheists according to a 2012 poll. Mainly Eastern Orthodoxy : Russians Ukrainians ( incl. Rusyns ) Serbs Bulgarians Belarusians Macedonians Montenegrins Mainly Roman Catholicism : Poles ( incl. Silesians, Kashubians ) Czechs ( incl. Moravians ) Croats ( incl. Šokci ) Slovaks Slovenes Sorbs Bunjevci Banat Bulgarians Mainly Islam : Bosniaks ( identify as Muslims by nationality ) Pomaks Gorani Torbeshi Relations with non-Slavic people The Bulgars were a Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribe that became Slavicized in the 7th century AD. 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, the Slavs 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 as defined ethnic groups from the population during this period -- although the modern Albanian nation claims descent from the Illyrians. Exceptions are Greece, where because Slavs were fewer than Greeks, they 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 ) ; and Romania, where Slavic people settled en route for present - day Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria and East Thrace, where the Slavic population gradually assimilated. Ruling status of Bulgars and subsequent control of land cast the nominal legacy of Bulgarian country and people onto future generations, but Bulgars were gradually also Slavicized into the present day South Slavic ethnic group Bulgarians. The Romance speakers within the fortified Dalmatian cities managed to retain their culture and language for a long time. Dalmatian Romance was spoken until the high Middle Ages. But, they too were eventually assimilated into the body of Slavs. In the Western Balkans, South Slavs and Germanic Gepids intermarried with invaders, eventually producing a Slavicized population. In Central Europe, the West Slavs intermixed with Germanic, Hungarian, and Celtic peoples, while in Eastern Europe the East Slavs had 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. At the time of the Magyar migration, the present - day Hungary was inhabited by Slavs, numbering about 200,000, and by Romano - Dacians who were either assimilated or enslaved by the Magyars. In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkic tribes, such as the Kipchak and the Pecheneg, caused a massive migration of East Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north. In the Middle Ages, groups of Saxon ore miners settled in medieval Bosnia, Serbia and Bulgaria, where they were Slavicized. The Limes Saxoniae formed a defensive border between the Germanic Saxons to the west and the Slavic Obotrites to the east. Polabian Slavs ( Wends ) settled in eastern parts of England ( the Danelaw ), apparently as Danish allies. 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. In the 12th century, Slavic piracy in the Baltics increased. The Wendish Crusade was started against the Polabian Slavs in 1147, as a part of the Northern Crusades. 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. The Polabian language survived until the beginning of the 19th century in what is now the German state of Lower Saxony. In Eastern Germany, around 20 % of Germans have historic Slavic paternal ancestry, as revealed in Y - DNA testing. Similarly, in Germany, around 20 % of the foreign surnames are of Slavic origin. Cossacks, although Slavic - speaking and practicing as 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 towards Southeast Europe, attracted by the riches of the territory which would become Bulgaria, a few remained in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe. There they were ultimately assimilated into the Magyar people. Numerous river and other placenames in Romania are of Slavic origin. Population There are an estimated 360 million Slavs worldwide. Nation Nation - state Numbers Russians RUS 130,000,000 Poles POL 57,393,000 Ukrainians UKR 46,700,000 -- 51,800,000 Serbs SRB 12,100,000 -- 12,500,000 Czechs CZE 12,000,000 Bulgarians BUL 10,000,000 Belarusians BLR 10,000,000 Croats CRO 8,000,000 Slovaks SVK 6,940,000 Bosniaks BIH 2,800,000 -- 4,600,000 Slovenes SVN 2,500,000 Macedonians MKD 2,200,000 Montenegrins MNE 500,000 See also Ethnic groups in Europe Gord ( archaeology ) Lech and Čech List of modern ethnic groups List of Slavic tribes Panethnicity Pan-Slavic colors Slavic names Bulgarisation Russification Serbianisation Polonization References Jump up ^ Geography and ethnic geography of the Balkans to 1500 Jump up ^ `` Slavic Countries ''. WorldAtlas. Jump up ^ Barford 2001, p. 1. Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica ( 18 September 2006 ). `` Slav ( people ) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia ''. 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ISBN 978 - 81 - 317 - 6033 - 8. Jump up ^ Vlasto 1970, p. 237. Jump up ^ `` Religious preferences of the population of Ukraine ''. Sociology poll by Razumkov Centre, SOCIS, Rating and KIIS about the religious situation in Ukraine ( 2015 ) Jump up ^ `` FIELD LISTING : : RELIGIONS ''. CIA. Jump up ^ GUS, Narodowy Spis Powszechny Ludnosci 2011 : 4.4. Przynależność wyznaniowa ( National Survey 2011 : 4.4 Membership in faith communities ) p. 99 / 337 ( PDF file, direct download 3.3 MB ). ISBN 978 - 83 - 7027 - 521 - 1 Retrieved 27 December 2014. Jump up ^ Fine 1991, p. 41. Jump up ^ Fine 1991, p. 35. Jump up ^ Balanovsky, O ; Rootsi, S ; Pshenichnov, A ; Kivisild, T ; Churnosov, M ; Evseeva, I ; Pocheshkhova, E ; Boldyreva, M ; et al. ( 2008 ). `` Two Sources of the Russian Patrilineal Heritage in Their Eurasian Context ''. AJHG. 82 ( 1 ) : 236 -- 250. doi : 10.1016 / j. ajhg. 2007.09. 019. PMC 2253976. PMID 18179905. ^ Jump up to : A Country Study : Hungary. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Retrieved 6 March 2009. Jump up ^ Klyuchevsky, Vasily ( 1987 ). The course of the Russian history. v. 1 : `` Myslʹ. ISBN 5 - 244 - 00072 - 1. Retrieved 9 October 2009. Jump up ^ Shore, Thomas William ( 2008 ). Origin of the Anglo - Saxon Race -- A Study of the Settlement of England and the Tribal Origin of the Old English People. READ BOOKS. pp. 84 -- 102. ISBN 1 - 4086 - 3769 - 3. Jump up ^ Lewis ( 1994 ). `` Lewis 1994, ch 1 ''. Archived from the original on 1 April 2001. Jump up ^ Eigeland, Tor. 1976. `` The golden caliphate ''. Saudi Aramco World, September / October 1976, pp. 12 -- 16. Jump up ^ `` Wend -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia ''. Britannica.com. 13 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2008 - 05 - 07. Retrieved 4 April 2014. Jump up ^ `` Polabian language ''. Britannica.com. Retrieved 4 April 2014. Jump up ^ `` Contemporary paternal genetic landscape of Polish and German populations : from early medieval Slavic expansion to post-World War II resettlements ''. European Journal of Human Genetics. 21 : 415 -- 22. 2013. doi : 10.1038 / ejhg. 2012.190. PMC 3598329. PMID 22968131. Jump up ^ `` Y - chromosomal STR haplotype analysis reveals surname - associated strata in the East - German population ''. European Journal of Human Genetics. 14 : 577 -- 582. 2006. doi : 10.1038 / sj. ejhg. 5201572. Retrieved 25 January 2006. Jump up ^ Alexandru Xenopol, Istoria românilor din Dacia Traiană, 1888, vol. I, p. 540 Jump up ^ `` Нас 150 миллионов - Русское зарубежье, российские соотечественники, русские за границей, русские за рубежом, соотечественники, русскоязычное население, русские общины, диаспора, эмиграция ''. Russkie.org. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2013. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ including 36,522,000 single ethnic identity, 871,000 multiple ethnic identity ( especially 431,000 Polish and Silesian, 216,000 Polish and Kashubian and 224,000 Polish and another identity ) in Poland ( according to the census 2011 ) and estimated 20,000,000 out of Poland Świat Polonii, witryna Stowarzyszenia Wspólnota Polska : `` Polacy za granicą '' ( Polish people abroad as per summary by Świat Polonii, internet portal of the Polish Association Wspólnota Polska ) Jump up ^ Paul R. Magocsi ( 2010 ). A History of Ukraine : The Land and Its Peoples. University of Toronto Press. pp. 10 --. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4426 - 1021 - 7. Jump up ^ Theodore E. Baird ; Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels ( June 2011 ). `` The Serbian Diaspora and Youth : Cross-Border Ties and Opportunities for Development '' ( PDF ). University of Kent at Brussels : 5. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2012 - 10 - 18. Jump up ^ `` Serbs around the World by region '' ( PDF ). Serbian Unity Congress. 2013. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 5 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Tab. 6.2 Obyvatelstvo podle národnosti podle krajů '' ( Table. 6.2 Population by nationality, by region ) ( PDF ). Czech Statistical Office ( in Czech ). 2011. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 31 January 2012. Jump up ^ Kolev, Yordan, Българите извън България 1878 -- 1945, 2005, р. 18 Quote : `` В началото на XXI в. общият брой на етническите българи в България и зад граница се изчислява на около 10 милиона души / In 2005 the number of Bulgarians is 10 million people Jump up ^ The Report : Bulgaria 2008. Oxford Business Group. 2008. p. 8. ISBN 978 - 1 - 902339 - 92 - 4. Retrieved 26 March 2016. Jump up ^ Karatnycky, Adrian ( 2001 ). Freedom in the World : The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 2000 -- 2001. Piscataway, NJ : Transaction Publishers. p. 81. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7658 - 0884 - 4. Retrieved 7 June 2015. Jump up ^ Daphne Winland ( 2004 ), `` Croatian Diaspora '', in Melvin Ember ; Carol R. Ember ; Ian Skoggard, Encyclopedia of Diasporas : Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Volume I : Overviews and Topics ; Volume II : Diaspora Communities, 2 ( illustrated ed. ), Springer Science + Business, p. 76, ISBN 978 - 0 - 306 - 48321 - 9, It is estimated that 4.5 million Croatians live outside Croatia... Jump up ^ `` Hrvatski Svjetski Kongres ''. Archived from the original on 2003 - 06 - 23. Retrieved June 1, 2016., Croatian World Congress, `` 4.5 million Croats and people of Croatian heritage live outside of the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina '' Jump up ^ Palermo, Francesco ( 2011 ). `` National Minorities in Inter-State Relations : Filling the Legal Vacuum ? ''. In Francesco Palermo. National Minorities in Inter-State Relations. Natalie Sabanadze. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 11. ISBN 90 - 04 - 17598 - 9. Jump up ^ including 4,353,000 in Slovakia ( according to the census 2011 ), 147,000 single ethnic identity, 19,000 multiple ethnic identity ( especially 18,000 Czech and Slovak and 1,000 Slovak and another identity ) in Czech Republic ( according to the census 2011 ), 53,000 in Serbia ( according to the census 2011 ), 762,000 in the USA ( according to the census 2010 ), 2,000 single ethnic identity and 1,000 multiple ethnic identity Slovak and Polish in Poland ( according to the census 2011 ), 21,000 single ethnic identity, 43,000 multiple ethnic identity in Canada ( according to the census 2006 ) Jump up ^ Zupančič, Jernej ( August 2004 ). `` Ethnic Structure of Slovenia and Slovenes in Neighbouring Countries '' ( PDF ). Slovenia : a geographical overview. Association of the Geographic Societies of Slovenia. Retrieved 10 April 2008. Jump up ^ Nasevski, Boško ; Angelova, Dora ; Gerovska, Dragica ( 1995 ). Матица на Иселениците на Македонија ( Matrix of Expatriates of Macedonia ) ( in Macedonian ). Skopje : Macedonian Expatriation Almanac ' 95. pp. 52 -- 53. Sources Dvornik, Francis ( 1962 ). The Slavs in European History and Civilization. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8135 - 0799 - 6. Curta, Florin ( 2001 ). The Making of the Slavs : History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500 -- 700. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. Curta, Florin ( 2006 ). Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500 -- 1250. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. Barford, Paul M. ( 2001 ). The Early Slavs : Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8014 - 3977 - 3. Vlasto, A.P. ( 1970 ). The Entry of the Slavs Into Christendom : An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs. CUP Archive. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 07459 - 9. Curta Florin, https://www.academia.edu/229543/The_early_Slavs_in_Bohemia_and_Moravia_a_response_to_my_critics Fine, John Van Antwerp, Jr. ( 1991 ). The Early Medieval Balkans : A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Michigan : The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0 - 472 - 08149 - 7. Lacey, Robert. 2003. Great Tales from English History. Little, Brown and Company. New York. 2004. ISBN 0 - 316 - 10910 - X. Lewis, Bernard. Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Oxford Univ. Press. Nystazopoulou - Pelekidou, Maria. 1992. The `` Macedonian Question '' : A Historical Review. © Association Internationale d'Etudes du Sud - Est Europeen ( AIESEE, International Association of Southeast European Studies ), Comité Grec. Corfu : Ionian University. ( English translation of a 1988 work written in Greek. ) Rębała, Krzysztof, et al... 2007. Y - STR variation among Slavs : evidence for the Slavic homeland in the middle Dnieper basin. Journal of Human Genetics, May 2007, 52 ( 5 ) : 408 -- 414. External links Europe portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to Slavs. Look up Slav in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 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 Texts on Wikisource : `` Slavs ''. Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. `` Slavs ''. The New Student 's Reference Work. 1914. Leopold Lénard ( 1913 ). `` The Slavs ''. In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York : Robert Appleton Company. 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Sea Atlantic Ocean Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Alboran Sea Archipelago Sea Argentine Sea Baffin Bay Balearic Sea Baltic Sea Bay of Biscay Bay of Bothnia Bay of Campeche Bay of Fundy Black Sea Bothnian Sea Caribbean Sea Celtic Sea English Channel Foxe Basin Greenland Sea Gulf of Bothnia Gulf of Finland Gulf of Lion Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Saint Lawrence Gulf of Sidra Gulf of Venezuela Hudson Bay Ionian Sea Irish Sea Irminger Sea James Bay Labrador Sea Levantine Sea Libyan Sea Ligurian Sea Marmara Sea Mediterranean Sea Myrtoan Sea North Sea Norwegian Sea Sargasso Sea Sea of Åland Sea of Azov Sea of Crete Sea of the Hebrides Thracian Sea Tyrrhenian Sea Wadden Sea Indian Ocean Andaman Sea Arabian Sea Bali Sea Bay of Bengal Flores Sea Great Australian Bight Gulf of Aden Gulf of Aqaba Gulf of Khambhat Gulf of Kutch Gulf of Oman Gulf of Suez Java Sea Laccadive Sea Mozambique Channel Persian Gulf Red Sea Timor Sea Pacific Ocean Arafura Sea Banda Sea Bering Sea Bismarck Sea Bohai Sea Bohol Sea Camotes Sea Celebes Sea Ceram Sea Chilean Sea Coral Sea East China Sea Gulf of Alaska Gulf of Anadyr Gulf of California Gulf of Carpentaria Gulf of Fonseca Gulf of Panama Gulf of Thailand Gulf of Tonkin Halmahera Sea Koro Sea Mar de Grau Molucca Sea Moro Gulf Philippine Sea Salish Sea Savu Sea Sea of Japan Sea of Okhotsk Seto Inland Sea Shantar Sea Sibuyan Sea Solomon Sea South China Sea Sulu Sea Tasman Sea Visayan Sea Yellow Sea Southern Ocean Amundsen Sea Bellingshausen Sea Cooperation Sea Cosmonauts Sea Davis Sea D'Urville Sea King Haakon VII Sea Lazarev Sea Mawson Sea Riiser - Larsen Sea Ross Sea Scotia Sea Somov Sea Weddell Sea Landlocked seas Aral Sea Caspian Sea Dead Sea Salton Sea Book Slavic ethnic groups East Slavs Belarusians Litvins Poleshuks Russians Albazinians Don Cossacks Lipovans Pomors Ukrainians Zaporozhians Tavria Zaporozhians Black Sea Zaporozhians Slobozhanians Volynians Podolyans Dniprians Siverians Poleshuks Galicians Boykos Hutsuls Lemkos Rusyns Boykos Hutsuls Lemkos Pannonian Rusyns West Slavs Czechs Moravians Kashubians Poles Masovians Masurians Kociewiacy Krakowiacy Warmiak Silesians Slovaks Sorbs South Slavs Bosniaks Bulgarians Pomaks Macedonians Croats Bunjevci Burgenland Croats Janjevci Krashovani Molise Croats Šokci Macedonians Torbeš Montenegrins Ethnic Muslims Serbs Gorani Slovenes Yugoslavs Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia GND : 4077491 - 0 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slavs&oldid=828167107 '' Categories : Slavs Hidden categories : CS1 Czech - language sources ( cs ) CS1 uses Macedonian - language script ( mk ) CS1 Macedonian - language sources ( mk ) Articles containing Ancient Greek - language text Articles containing Latin - language text Articles containing Church Slavonic - language text Articles with text from the Slavic languages collective Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from April 2015 Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from March 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Question: when did the first slavs get to eastern europe
Answer: Around the 6th century