Pontic Greeks
One of the Pontic flags.
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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Greece, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Armenia, Cyprus, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Germany, United States, Uzbekistan, Australia, Canada, Syria, Romania, Bulgaria, Egypt | |
| Languages | |
| Predominantly Modern and Pontian Greek. Also the languages of their respective countries of residence (Those include Russian, Turkish, Georgian and Urum language) | |
| Religion | |
| Greek Orthodox Christianity, Russian Orthodox Christianity, Sunni Muslim (Mostly in Turkey) |
The Pontic Greeks, also known as Pontian Greeks (Greek: Πόντιοι, Ελληνοπόντιοι, Póntioi, Ellinopóntioi; Turkish: Pontus Rumları, Karadeniz Rumları, Georgian: პონტოელი ბერძნები), are an ethnically Greek group who traditionally lived in the region of Pontus, on the shores of the Black Sea and in the Pontic Mountains of northeastern Anatolia. Many later migrated to other parts of Eastern Anatolia, to the former Russian province of Kars Oblast in the Transcaucasus, and to Georgia in various waves between the Ottoman conquest of the Empire of Trebizond in 1461 and the second Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829. 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 as Caucasian Greeks, but also include the Greco-Turkic speaking Urums.
Pontic Greeks have Greek ancestry and speak the Pontic Greek dialect, a distinct form of the standard Greek language which, due to the remoteness of Pontus, has undergone linguistic evolution distinct from that of the rest of the Greek 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 1922.
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Wikipedia