Slavs Race.
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group.[1] 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,[2][3] while a substantial
Slavic diaspora is found throughout the Americas, as a result of immigration.[4]
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).[5][6][7][8][9][10]
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".[11]
Ethnonym
Main article: Slavs (ethnonym)
The oldest mention of the Slavic ethnonym is from the 6th century AD, when Procopius, writing
in Byzantine Greek, used various forms such
as Sklaboi (Σκλάβοι), Sklabēnoi (Σκλαβηνοί), Sklauenoi (Σκλαυηνοί), Sthlabenoi (Σθλαβηνοί),
or Sklabinoi (Σκλαβῖνοι),[12] and his contemporary Jordanes refers to the Sclaveni in Latin.[13] The oldest
documents written in Old Church Slavonic, dating from the 9th century, attest the autonym
as Slověne (Словѣне). Those forms point back to a Slavic autonym, which can be reconstructed in Proto-
Slavic as *Slověninъ, plural Slověne .[ citation needed ]
The reconstructed autonym Slověninъ 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 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"), as in the name Pericles, Latin clueō ("be called"), and
English loud .[ citation needed ]
In medieval and early modern sources written in Latin, Slavs are most commonly referred to
as Sclaveni or the shortened version Sclavi .[14]
History[edit]
The origin and migration of Slavs in Europe between the 5th and
10th centuries AD: