Pontic Greeks
Ethnic group / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pontic Greeks (Pontic: Ρωμαίοι, Ρωμιοί;[3][4][5][6][7] Turkish: Pontus Rumları or Karadeniz Rumları; Greek: Πόντιοι, romanized: Póndii or Ελληνοπόντιοι, romanized: Ellinopóndii; Georgian: პონტოელი ბერძნები, romanized: P'ont'oeli Berdznebi), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek[8][9] group indigenous to the region of Pontus, in northeastern Anatolia (in Turkey). Many later migrated in various waves between the Ottoman conquest of the Empire of Trebizond in 1461 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829. Common migratory destinations included other parts of Eastern Anatolia, the former Russian province of Kars Oblast in the Transcaucasus, and the country of Georgia.
Έλληνες του Πόντου (Ρωμιοί) Karadeniz Rumları | |
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Total population | |
c. 2,000,000[1] – 2,500,000[2] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Cyprus, Palestine, Jordan, Germany, United States, Uzbekistan, Australia, Canada, Syria, Romania, Bulgaria, Egypt | |
Languages | |
Predominantly Modern and Pontic Greek. Also the languages of their respective countries of residence (Those include Armenian, Georgian, Russian, Turkish and Urum language) | |
Religion | |
Greek Orthodox Christianity, Russian Orthodox Christianity, Sunni Islam (mostly in Turkey), other Christian denominations | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Cappadocians, Caucasian Greeks, Urums |
Those from southern Russia, Ukraine, and Crimea are often referred to as "Northern Pontic [Greeks]", in contrast to those from "South Pontus", which strictly speaking is Pontus proper. Those from Georgia, northeastern Anatolia, and the former Russian Caucasus are in contemporary Greek academic circles often referred to as "Eastern Pontic [Greeks]" or Caucasian Greeks. The Turkic-speaking Urums are included in this latter groups as well.
Pontic Greeks traditionally speak Pontic Greek, which speakers call Romeika. This is a distinct form of the standard Greek language; its unique linguistic evolution was due to the remoteness of Pontus from the rest of the Greek-speaking world.
The Pontic Greeks had a continuous presence in the region of Pontus (modern-day northeastern Turkey), Georgia, and Eastern Anatolia from at least 700 BC until the Greek genocide and the population exchange with Turkey in 1923.[10] Aside from their predominantly Greek origin, they also likely owe their ancestry to multiple different sources.[11][12] Today, most Pontic Greeks live in Greece, especially in and around Thessaloniki in Macedonia.