Slavs
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, mainly inhabiting Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. A large Slavic minority is also scattered across the Baltic states and Central Asia, while a substantial Slavic diaspora is found throughout the Americas, as a result of immigration.

Present-day Slavs are classified into East Slavs (chiefly Belarusians, Russians, Rusyns, and Ukrainians), West Slavs (chiefly Czechs, Kashubians, Poles, Slovaks and Sorbs) and South Slavs (chiefly Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes).Stephen Barbour, Cathie Carmichael, Language and Nationalism in Europe, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 199, 

The vast majority of Slavs are traditionally Christians. However, modern Slavic nations and ethnic groups are considerably diverse both genetically and culturally, and relations between them – even within the individual groups – range from "ethnic solidarity to mutual feelings of hostility".

Ethnonym

The oldest mention of the Slavic ethnonym is from the 6th century AD, when Procopius, writing in Byzantine Greek, used various forms such as Sklaboi (), Sklabēnoi (), Sklauenoi (), Sthlabenoi (), or Sklabinoi (), and his contemporary Jordanes refers to the  in Latin. The oldest documents written in Old Church Slavonic, dating from the 9th century, attest the autonym as Slověne (). Those forms point back to a Slavic autonym, which can be reconstructed in Proto-Slavic as , plural Slověne.

The reconstructed autonym  is usually considered a derivation from slovo ("word"), originally denoting "people who speak (the same language)", meaning "people who understand one another", in contrast to the Slavic word denoting "German people", namely , meaning "silent, mute people" (from Slavic  "mute, mumbling"). The word slovo ("word") and the related slava ("glory, fame") and  ("hearing") originate from the Proto-Indo-European root  ("be spoken of, glory"), cognate with Ancient Greek  ( "fame"), as in the name Pericles, Latin  ("be called"), and English .

In medieval and early modern sources written in Latin, Slavs are most commonly referred to as Sclaveni or the shortened version Sclavi.

History
thumb|The origin and migration of Slavs in Europe between the 5th and 10th centuries AD:  

Origins
First mentions

thumb|Terracotta tile from the 6th–7th century AD found in Vinica, North Macedonia depicting a battle scene between the Bulgars and Slavs, with the Latin inscription BOLGAR and SCLAVIGI.

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,Coon, Carleton S. (1939) The Peoples of Europe. Chapter VI, Sec. 7 New York: Macmillan Publishers.Tacitus. Germania, page 46. between the upper Vistula and Dnieper rivers. The Slavs under name of the Antes and the Sclaveni first appear in Byzantine records in the early 6th century. Byzantine historiographers under emperor Justinian I (527–565), such as Procopius of Caesarea, Jordanes and Theophylact Simocatta describe tribes of these names emerging from the area of the Carpathian Mountains, the lower Danube and the Black Sea, invading the Danubian provinces of the Eastern Empire.

Jordanes, in his work Getica (written in 551 AD),Curta 2001: 38. Dzino 2010: 95. 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 ("I scatter grain"). He described them as barbarians, who lived under democracy, believed in one god, "the maker of lightning" (Perun), to whom they made a sacrifice. They lived in scattered housing and constantly changed settlement. In war, they were mainly foot soldiers with shields, spears, bows, and little armour, which was reserved mainly for chiefs and their inner circle of warriors. Their language is "barbarous" (that is, not Greek), and the two tribes are alike in appearance, being tall and robust, "while their bodies and hair are neither very fair or blond, nor indeed do they incline entirely to the dark type, but they are all slightly ruddy in color. And they live a hard life, giving no heed to bodily comforts..." Jordanes described the Sclaveni having swamps and forests for their cities. Another 6th-century source refers to them living among nearly-impenetrable forests, rivers, lakes, and marshes.

Menander Protector mentions a Daurentius (c. 577–579) who slew an Avar envoy of Khagan Bayan I for asking the Slavs to accept the suzerainty of the Avars; Daurentius declined and is reported as saying: "Others do not conquer our land, we conquer theirs – so it shall always be for us as long as there are wars and weapons".

Migrations

thumb|Slavic tribes from the 7th to 9th centuries AD in Europe
According to eastern homeland theory, prior to becoming known to the Roman world, Slavic-speaking tribes were part of the many multi-ethnic confederacies of Eurasia – such as the Sarmatian, Hun and Gothic empires. The Slavs emerged from obscurity when the westward movement of Germanic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries CE (thought to be in conjunction with the movement of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe: Huns, and later Avars and Bulgars) 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 migrated with the Vandals to the Iberian Peninsula and even North Africa.

Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on Byzantine borders in great numbers. Byzantine records note that Slav numbers were so great, that grass would not regrow where the Slavs had marched through. After a military movement even the Peloponnese and Asia Minor were reported to have Slavic settlements.Tachiaos, Anthony-Emil N. 2001. Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica: The Acculturation of the Slavs. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. This southern movement has traditionally been seen as an invasive expansion. By the end of the 6th century, Slavs had settled the Eastern Alps regions.

Pope Gregory I in 600 CE wrote to Maximus, the bishop of Salona (in Dalmatia), in which he expresses concern about the arrival of the Slavs: "Et quidem de Sclavorum gente, quae vobis valde imminet, et affligor vehementer et conturbor. Affligor in his quae jam in vobis patior; conturbor, quia per Istriae aditum jam ad Italiam intrare coeperunt." ("I am both distressed and disturbed about the Slavs, who are pressing hard on you. I am distressed because I sympathize with you; I am disturbed because they have already begun to arrive in Italy through the entry-point of Istria.")Željko Rapanić; (2013) O početcima i nastajanju Dubrovnika (The origin and formation of Dubrovnik. additional considerations) p. 94; Starohrvatska prosvjeta, Vol. III No. 40, 

Middle Ages
thumb|Great Moravia during Svatopluk I (), according to Štefanovičová (1989)

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. Bulgaria was instrumental in the spread of Slavic literacy and Christianity to the rest of the Slavic world. 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 Kievan Rus', the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Kingdom of Poland, Duchy of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Croatia, Banate of Bosnia and the Serbian Empire.

Modern era
thumb|upright|Seal from the pan-Slavic Congress held in Prague, 1848
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. Austro-Hungary envisioned its own political concept of Austro-Slavism, in opposition of Pan-Slavism that was predominantly led by the Russian Empire.

As of 1878, there were only three majority Slavic states in the world: the Russian Empire, Principality of Serbia and Principality of Montenegro. Bulgaria was effectively independent but was de jure vassal to the Ottoman Empire until official independence was declared in 1908. The Slavic peoples who were, for the most part, denied a voice in the affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 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. 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.

One of Hitler's ambitions at the start of World War II was to exterminate, expel, or enslave most or all East and West Slavs from their native lands, so as to make living space for German settlers. This plan of genocide was to be carried into effect gradually over 25 to 30 years. The first half of the 20th century in Russia and the Soviet Union was marked by a succession of wars, 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 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.Stephen J. Lee (2000). "European dictatorships, 1918–1945". Routledge. p.86. ISBN 0-415-23046-2.

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.Russians left behind in Central Asia, by Robert Greenall, BBC News, 23 November 2005.

Languages

thumb|upright|left|East Slavic languages
thumb|right|upright|South Slavic languages
Slovene
Serbo-CroatianShtokavian (prestige dialect)

Torlakian (transitional dialect)
Macedonian
Bulgarian
thumb|upright|left|West 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, it cannot be said to have any recognizable dialects, which suggests that there was, at one time, a relatively-small Proto-Slavic homeland.

Slavic linguistic unity was to some extent visible as late as Old Church Slavonic (or Old Bulgarian) manuscripts which, though based on local Slavic speech of Thessaloniki, could still serve the purpose of the first common Slavic literary language.J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World (2006), pp. 25–26.

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. Russian is the most spoken Slavic language, and is the most spoken native language in Europe.

The alphabets used for Slavic languages are usually connected to the dominant religion among the respective ethnic groups. Orthodox Christians use the Cyrillic alphabet while Catholics use the Latin alphabet; the Bosniaks, who are Muslim, also use the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet in Serbia. Additionally, some Eastern Catholics and 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 Łacinka and in Ukrainian, called Latynka.

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 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 Catholic Church.

East Slavs have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed and contacted with Finns, Balts and with the remnants of the people of the Goths.Tarasov I.M. On the Mention of the Dnieper Varangians in the Context of the Legend of the Beginning of Kiev. 2023. P. 59–60 Their early Slavic component, Antes, mixed or absorbed Iranians, and later received influence from the Khazars and Vikings. The East Slavs trace their national origins to the tribal unions of Kievan Rus' and Rus' Khaganate, beginning in the 10th century. They came particularly under the influence of the Byzantine Empire and of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

South Slavs from most of the region have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed with the local Proto-Balkanic tribes (Illyrian, Dacian, Thracian, Paeonian, Hellenic tribes), 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. 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.

Genetics
Consistent with the proximity of their languages, analyses of Y chromosomes, mDNA, and autosomal marker CCR5de132 shows the gene pool of Eastern and Western Slavs to be identical and demonstrating significant differences from neighboring Finno-Ugric, Turkic, and North Caucasian peoples. Such genetic homogeneity is somewhat unusual, given such a wide dispersal of Slavic populations, especially Russians. Together they form the basis of the "East European" gene cluster, which also includes non-Slavic Hungarians and Aromanians.

Only Northern Russians among East and West Slavs belong to a different, “Northern European” genetic cluster, along with Balts, Germanic and Baltic Finnic peoples (Northern Russian populations are very similar to Balts).

The 2006 Y-DNA study results "suggest that the Slavic expansion started from the territory of present-day Ukraine, thus supporting the hypothesis placing the earliest known homeland of Slavs in the basin of the middle Dnieper". According to genetic studies until 2020, the distribution, variance and frequency of the Y-DNA haplogroups R1a and I2 and their subclades R-M558, R-M458 and I-CTS10228 among South Slavs correlate with the spread of Slavic languages during the medieval Slavic expansion from Eastern Europe, most probably from the territory of present-day Ukraine and Southeastern Poland.

Religion

thumb|upright|The "Zbruch Idol" preserved at the Kraków Archaeological Museum
The pagan Slavic populations were Christianized between the 7th and 12th centuries. Orthodox Christianity is predominant among East and South Slavs, while Catholicism is predominant among West Slavs and some western South Slavs. The religious borders are largely comparable to the East–West Schism which began in the 11th century. Islam first arrived in the 7th century during the early Muslim conquests, and was gradually adopted by a number of Slavic ethnic groups through the centuries in the Balkans.

Among Slavic populations who profess a religion, the majority of contemporary Christian Slavs are Orthodox, followed by Catholic. The majority of Muslim Slavs follow the Hanafi school of the Sunni branch of Islam. Religious delineations by nationality can be very sharp; usually in the Slavic ethnic groups, the vast majority of religious people share the same religion.

Mainly Eastern Orthodoxy:
 Russians
 Ukrainians
 Serbs
 Bulgarians
 Belarusians
 Macedonians
 Montenegrins

Mainly Catholicism:
 Poles (incl. Silesians, Kashubians, Gorals)
 Croats 
 Slovaks
 Slovenes
 Sorbs
 Rusyns
 Banat Bulgarians

Mainly Islam:
 Bosniaks
 Pomaks
 Gorani
 Torbeši
 Ethnic Muslims

Relations with non-Slavic people

thumb|upright|First Bulgarian Empire, 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 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.Tarasov I.M. On the Mention of the Dnieper Varangians in the Context of the Legend of the Beginning of Kiev. 2023. P. 59–60 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 and Serdi.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. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, , 1992, page 600: „In the place of the vanished Treres and Tilataei we find the Serdi for whom there is no evidence before the first century BC. It has for long being supposed on convincing linguistic and archeological grounds that this tribe was of Celtic origin.“ Because Slavs were so numerous, most indigenous populations of the Balkans were Slavicized. Thracians and Illyrians mixed as ethnic groups in this period. A notable exception is Greece, where Slavs were Hellenized because Greeks were more numerous, especially with more Greeks returning to Greece in the 9th century and the influence of the church and administration, however, Slavicized regions within Macedonia, Thrace and Moesia Inferior also had a larger portion of locals compared to migrating Slavs.Florin Curta's An ironic smile: the Carpathian Mountains and the migration of the Slavs, Studia mediaevalia Europaea et orientalia. Miscellanea in honorem professoris emeriti Victor Spinei oblata, edited by George Bilavschi and Dan Aparaschivei, 47–72. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2018. 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 Albanian nation which claims descent from Illyrians and other Balkan tribes.

The status of the Bulgars as a ruling class and their control of the land nominally left their legacy in the Bulgarian country and people, but Bulgars were gradually also Slavicized into the present-day South Slavic ethnic group known as Bulgarians. The Romance speakers within the fortified Dalmatian cities retained their culture and language for a long time. Dalmatian Romance was spoken until the high Middle Ages, but, they too were eventually assimilated into the body of Slavs.

In the Western Balkans, South Slavs and Germanic Gepids intermarried with invaders, eventually producing a Slavicized population. In Central Europe, the West Slavs intermixed with Germanic, Hungarian, and Celtic peoples, while in Eastern Europe the East Slavs had encountered Finnic 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 Finnic tribes in the north were also absorbed into the expanding Rus population. 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.

thumb|left|upright|Map showing Slavic raids on Scandinavia in the mid-12th century

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.Eigeland, Tor. 1976. "The golden caliphate". Saudi Aramco World, September/October 1976, pp. 12–16. In the 12th century, Slavic piracy in the Baltics increased. The Wendish Crusade was started against the Polabian Slavs in 1147, as a part of the Northern Crusades. The pagan chief of the Slavic Obodrite tribes, Niklot, began his open resistance when Lothar III, Holy Roman Emperor, 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 and practicing Orthodox Christianity, came from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, including Tatars and other peoples. Initially, the Cossacks were a mini-subethnos, but now they are less than 5%, and most of them live in the south of Russia. The Gorals of southern Poland and northern Slovakia are partially descended from Romance-speaking Vlachs, who migrated into the region from the 14th to 17th centuries and were absorbed into the local population. The population of Moravian Wallachia also descended from the Vlachs. Conversely, some Slavs were assimilated into other populations. Although the majority continued towards Southeast Europe, attracted by the riches of the area that became the state of Bulgaria, a few remained in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe and were assimilated into the Magyar people. Numerous rivers and places in Romania have a name with Slavic origins.

Population
thumb|Slavs in the US (1990 census) and Canada (2016 census) by area:
thumb|Percentage of ethnic Russians by federal subjects of Russia according to the 2010 census:

Winkler Prins (2002) estimated the number of Slavs worldwide to be around  260 million at the time.
 Ethnicity Estimates and census data Russians 
  118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 Winkler Prins estimate)
 622,445 Russians (120,165 Russian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Poles 37,393,651 inhabitants of Poland with declared Polish ethnicity (2011 Polish census)Including 36,522,000 single declared ethnic identity, 871,000 multiple declared ethnic identities (Polish and another ethnic identity, especially 431,000 Polish and Silesian, 216,000 Polish and Kashubian and 224,000 Polish and another identity).
 Over 20,000,000 Polish diaspora (2015 estimate by wspolnotapolska.org.pl)Świat Polonii, witryna Stowarzyszenia Wspólnota Polska: "Polacy za granicą"  (Polish people abroad as per summary by Świat Polonii, internet portal of the association Wspólnota Polska)
 1,106,585	Poles (264,415 Polish-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Ukrainians  46.7~51.8 million Ukrainians worldwide (2001 Ukrainian census + various diaspora estimates)
  58,693,854 Ukrainians worldwide (1994 Pawliczko estimate)
  37,419,000 Ukrainians in Ukraine (1994 Pawliczko estimate)
  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)
  1.2 million Ukrainian refugees recorded in Poland (August 2022 UNHCR figures) Serbs 
 5,988,150 Serbs in Serbia (2011 Serbian census) (page 14)
  2.3 million Serbian diaspora (2008 World Bank estimate)
  3.2–3.8 million Serbian diaspora (2006 MARRI estimate)
  3.9–4.2 million Serbian diaspora broadly defined (2008 Serbian Ministry for Diaspora estimate)
 1,365,093 Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991, according to Statistic yearbook of SRBiH 1992)
 180,213 Serbs in Montenegro (2011 Montenegrin census)
 35,939 Serbs in North Macedonia (2002 North Macedonia census)
 96,535 Serbs (52,730 Serbian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Czechs  6.1 million Czechs in Czechia (2021–22 CIA World Factbook estimate)An estimated 57.3% ethnic Czechs (2021) on an estimated 10,705,384 total population (2022) makes about 6.1 million. However, 31.6% was unspecified, so this may be far off the real figure. 
 6,732,104 Czechs in Czechia (2011 Czech census)
 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) Belarusians  8.37 million Belarusians in Belarus (2009 Belarusian census)
 46,787 Belarusians in Poland (2011 Polish census)
 20,710 "Byelorussian"	(5,125 Byelorussian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Bulgarians  10 million Bulgarians worldwide (Kolev early 2000s estimate)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./At the beginning of the 21st century, the total number of ethnic Bulgarians in Bulgaria and abroad was estimated at about 10 million people."
  6.5 million Bulgarians in Bulgaria (Jeffreys et al. 2008 estimate)
  10 million Bulgarian speakers worldwide (Jeffreys et al. 2008 estimate)
  9 million Bulgarians worldwide, of which nearly 7 million in Bulgaria (Cole 2011 estimate)
  9 million Bulgarians worldwide, of which  7.3 million in Bulgaria (Danver 2015 estimate)
 18,543 Bulgarians in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 34,560 Bulgarians	(19,965 Bulgarian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Croats 
  4.5 million Croats in Croatia and  4 million Croats abroad (1993 estimate by Palermo & Sabanadze 2011)
 759,906 Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991, according to Statistic yearbook of SRBiH 1992)
  4.5 million Croats outside Croatia (Winland 2004 estimate)
  4.5 million Croats and people of Croatian heritage outside Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (HWC 2003 estimate), Croatian World Congress, "4.5 million Croats and people of Croatian heritage live outside of the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina"
 57,900 Croats in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 6,021 Croats in Montenegro (2011 Montenegrin census)
 133,965 Croats (55,595 Croatian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Slovaks 
 4,353,775 Slovaks in Slovakia (2011 Slovak census)
 4,567,547 Slovaks in Slovakia (2021 Slovak census)
 149,140 Slovaks in Czechia (2011 Czech census)
 52,750 Slovaks in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
  762,000 people with Slovak ancestry in the United States (2010 American Community Survey)
 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) Bosniaks (previouslycalled "Bosnian Muslims") 
 1,898,963 Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991, according to Statistic yearbook of SRBiH 1992)
  1.9 million Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2013–2022 CIA World Factbook estimate)This number is derived from the 2022 total population estimate of 3,816,459, multiplied by 0.501 based on the 2013 50.1% Bosniak share estimate. It is not certain that the Bosniak share was still 50.1% in 2022. The Factbook notes: "Republika Srpska authorities dispute the methodology and refuse to recognize the results." 
 145,278 Bosniaks in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 53,786 Bosniaks in Montenegro (2011 Montenegrin census)
 17,018 Bosniaks in North Macedonia (2002 North Macedonia census)
 26,740 "Bosnians" (15,610	Bosnian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Slovenes  1,632,000 Slovenes in Slovenia (2002 Slovenian census)
  2.5 million Slovenes worldwide (2004 Zupančič estimate)
  1.8 million Slovenes in Slovenia (2004 Zupančič estimate)
  0.7 million Slovene diaspora (2004 Zupančič estimate)
 4,033 Slovenes in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 40,470 Slovenes (13,690 Slovenian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Macedonians 1,297,981 Macedonians in North Macedonia (2002 North Macedonia census) (page 62)
  580,000 Macedonian emigrants (1964 estimate)
 22,755 Macedonians in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 43,110 Macedonians (18,405 Macedonian-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Silesians 435,750 Silesians in Poland (2011 Polish census)
 12,231 Silesians in Czechia (2011 Czech census)
  2 million Silesians in Poland (Grabowska 2002 estimate) Moravians 522,474 Moravians in Czechia (2011 Czech census)
 1,098 Moravians in Slovakia (2021 Slovak census) Yugoslavs 210,395 Yugoslavs in the United States (2021 American Community Survey)
 38,480 "Yugoslavian, not otherwise specified" (8,570 Yugoslav-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census)
 23,303 Yugoslavs in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 1,154 Yugoslavs in Montenegro (2011 Montenegrin census) Rusyns  (incl. Lemkos)  1.2 million Rusyns worldwide (1995 Magocsi estimate)
 23,746 Rusyns in Slovakia (2021 Slovak census)
 14,246 in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 10,531 Lemkos in Poland (2011 Polish census) Slavs in Greece  200,000 speakers of "Macedonian" in Greece (Friedman 1985)
  150,000—350,000 "Macedonians in Greek Macedonia" (various estimates around 1995)
  20,000—50,000 "Slavic-speakers in northern Greece" (1990 USDoS estimates)
  5,000—10,000 of them self-identified as "Macedonians" (1990 USDoS estimates)
  10,000—50,000 Slavs in Greece (2002 USDoS estimates) Czechoslovaks  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) Montenegrins 280,873 Montenegrins in Montenegro (2011 Montenegrin census)
  500,000 Montenegrins outside Montenegro (2014 Montenegrin Foreign Ministry estimate)
 38,527 Montenegrins in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 4,165 Montenegrins (915 Montenegrin-only) in Canada (2016 Canadian census) Kashubians  331,000 Kashubs and  184,000 "half-Kashubs" (couldn't speak Kashubian) in the Gdańsk region (Latoszek 1980s) 
 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) Slavs (in the UnitedStates and Canada)  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)  Muslims (ethnic group) 22,301 Muslims in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)
 20,977 Muslims in Montenegro (2011 Montenegrin census)
 12,121 Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2013 BiH census) Sorbs  60,000 Sorbs in Germany (20,000 of which still spoke Sorb) (2007 Reuters estimate) Gorani  60,000 Gorani worldwide (2009 estimate by political party Građanska inicijativa Goranaca)
 7,767 Gorani in Serbia (2011 Serbian census) Bunjevci 16,706 Bunjevci in Serbia (2011 Serbian census)

Historiography

See also

 Ethnic groups in Europe
 Gord (archaeology)
 Lech, Čech, and Rus
 List of modern ethnic groups
 List of Slavic tribes
 Outline of Slavic history and culture
 Panethnicity
 Pan-Slavic colors
 Slavic names
 Asia Minor Slavs
 Bulgarisation
 Russification
 Serbianisation
 Polonization

 Notes 

 References 
 Citations 

 Sources 
 Primary sources
 
 

 Secondary sources

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Curta Florin, The early Slavs in Bohemia and Moravia: a response to my critics
 
 
 
 
 Lacey, Robert. 2003. Great Tales from English History. Little, Brown and Company. New York. 2004. .
 Lewis, Bernard. Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Oxford Univ. Press.
 
 Nystazopoulou-Pelekidou, Maria. 1992. The "Macedonian Question": A Historical Review. © Association Internationale d'Etudes du Sud-Est Europeen (AIESEE, International Association of Southeast European Studies), Comité Grec. Corfu: Ionian University. (English translation of a 1988 work written in Greek.)
 
 
 Rębała, Krzysztof, et al.. 2007. Y-STR variation among Slavs: evidence for the Slavic homeland in the middle Dnieper basin. Journal of Human Genetics, May 2007, 52(5): 408–414.
 
 

Further reading

External links

Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeny in Eastern and Western Slavs, B. Malyarchuk, T. Grzybowski, M. Derenko, M. Perkova, T. Vanecek, J. Lazur, P. Gomolcaknd I. Tsybovsky, Oxford Journals

 
Category:Indo-European peoples
Category:Modern Indo-European peoples