South Slavs

  Countries where a South Slavic language is official language on the entire territory.

The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps. Numbering close to 40 million, the South Slavs include the following ethnic groups: Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Slovenes, Bosniaks, Montenegrins and some miniature ethnic groups. They are the main population of the European countries: Bulgaria, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and one of two constituent nations of Kosovo. Their territories are separated from the rest of the Slavic world by the non-Slavic states of Austria, Hungary and Romania, leading to a significantly different historical progression for the South Slav nations.

History

Further information: Slavic peoples and Early Slavs

Early accounts

Little is known about the Slavs before the 5th century. Their history prior to this can only be tentatively hypothesized via archeological and linguistic studies. Much of what we know about their history after the 6th century is from the works of Byzantine historians.

In his work De Bellis, Procopius portrays the Slavs as unusually tall and strong, with a tan complexion and reddish-blonde hair, living a rugged and primitive life. They lived in huts, often distant from one another and often changed their place of abode. They were not ruled by a single leader, but for a long time lived in a "democracy" (i.e. anarchy). John of Ephesus, in his Ecclesiastical History portrays the Slavs as extremely violent people. They probably believed in many Gods, but Procopius suggests they believed in one, perhaps supreme god. He has often been identified as Perun, the creator of lightning. The Slavs went into battle on foot, charging straight at their enemy, armed with spears and small shields, but they did not wear armour.

This information is supplanted by Pseudo-Marice's work Strategikon, describing the Slavs as a numerous but disorganised and leaderless people, resistant to hardship and not allowing themselves to be enslaved or conquered. They made their homes in forests, by rivers and wetlands. Jordanes states that the Slavs "have their homelands on the Danube, not far from the northern bank." Subsequent information about early Slavic states and the Slavs' interaction with the Greeks comes from De Administrando Imperio by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, the compilations of Miracles of St. Demetrius, History by Theophylact Simocatta and the Royal Frankish Annals.

Migrations and "homeland"

Further information: Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps

Scholars tend to place the Slavic Urheimat in the Pripet marshes of Ukraine. From the 5th century, they supposedly spread outward in all directions. The Balkans was one of the regions which lay in the path of the expanding Slavs.

Regarding the Slavs mentioned by 6th century Byzantine chroniclers, Florin Curta states that their 'homeland' was north of the Danube and not in the Belorussian-Ukrainian borderlands. He clarifies that their itinerant form of agriculture (they lacked the knowledge of crop rotation) "may have encouraged mobility on a micro regional scale". Material culture from the Danube suggests that there was an evolution of Slavic society between the early 7th century and the 8th century. As the Byzantines re-asserted the Danubian defences in the mid 6th century, the Slavs' yield of pillaged goods dropped. As a reaction to this economic isolation, and external threats (e.g. from Avars and Byzantines), political and military mobilisation occurred. Archeological sites from the late 7th century show that the earlier settlements which were merely a non-specific collection of hamlets began to evolve into larger communities with differentiated areas (e.g. designated areas for public feasts as well as an 'industrial' area for craftsmanship). As community elites rose to prominence, they came to "embody a collective interest and responsibility" for the group. "If that group identity can be called ethnicity, and if that ethnicity can be called Slavic, then it certainly formed in the shadow of Justinian's forts, not in the Pripet marshes."

The Byzantines broadly grouped the numerous Slav tribes into two groups: the Sklavenoi and Antes. Apparently, the Sklavenoi group were based along the middle Danube, whereas the Antes were at the lower Danube, in Scythia Minor. Some, such as Bulgarian scholar Zlatarsky, suggest that the first group settled the western Balkans, whilst offshoots of the Antes settled the eastern regions (roughly speaking). From the Danube, they commenced raiding the Byzantine Empire from the 520s, on an annual basis. They spread about destruction, taking loot and herds of cattle, seizing prisoners and taking fortresses. Often, the Byzantine Empire was stretched defending its rich Asian provinces from Arabs, Persians and Turks. This meant that even numerically small, disorganised early Slavic raids were capable of causing much disruption, but could not capture the larger, fortified cities on the Aegean coast.

In 577 some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum, pillaging cities and settling down. By the 580s, as the Slav communities on the Danube became larger and more organised, and as the Avars exerted their influence, raids became larger and resulted in permanent settlement. In 586 AD, as many as 100,000 Slav warriors raided Thessaloniki. By 581, many Slavic tribes had settled the land around Thessaloniki, though never taking the city itself, creating a Macedonian Sclavinia. As John of Ephesus tells us in 581: "the accursed people of the Slavs set out and plundered all of Greece, the regions surrounding Thessalonica, and Thrace, taking many towns and castles, laying waste, burning, pillaging, and seizing the whole country." However, John exaggerated the intensity of the Slavic incursions since he was influenced by his confinement in Constantinople from 571 up until 579. Moreover, he perceived the Slavs as God's instrument for punishing the persecutors of the Monophysites. By 586, they managed to raid the western Peloponnese, Attica, Epirus, leaving only the east part of Peloponnese, which was mountainous and inaccessible. The final attempt to restore the northern border was from 591-605, when the end of conflicts with Persia allowed Emperor Maurice to transfer units to the north. However he was deposed after a military revolt in 602, and the Danubian frontier collapsed one and a half decades later (Main article: Maurice's Balkan campaigns).

The Iron Gate on the Serbo-Romanian border.

The Avars arrived in Europe in 558. Although their identity would not last, the Avars greatly impacted the events of the Balkans. They settled the Carpathian plain, west of the main Slavic settlements. They crushed the Gepid Kingdom and pushed the Lombards into Italy, essentially opening up the western Balkans. They asserted their authority over many Slavs, who were divided into numerous petty tribes. Many Slavs were relocated to the Avar base in the Carpathian basin and were galvanized into an effective infantry force. Other Slavic tribes continued to raid independently, sometime coordinating attacks as allies of the Avars. Others still split into Imperial lands as they fled from the Avars. Despite being paid stipends, the Avars continued to raid the entire Balkans. The Avars and their Slavic allies tended to focus on the western Balkans, whilst independent Slavic tribes predominated in the east. Following the unsuccessful siege of Constantinople in 626, the Avars' reputation diminished, and the confederacy was troubled by civil wars between the Avars and their Bulgar and Slav clients. Their rule contracted to the region of the Carpathian basin. Archeological evidence show that there was intermixing of Slavic, Avar and even Gepid cultures, suggesting that the later Avars were an amalgamation of different peoples. This contributed to the rise of a Slavic noble class. The Khanate collapsed after ongoing defeats at the hands of Franks, Bulgars and Slavs (c. 810), and the Avars ceased to exist. What remained of the Avars was furthermore absorbed by the Slavs and Bulgars.

Serbs and Croats are two tribes mentioned amongst the many Slavic tribes already in the Balkans. We know little about their origins. According to De Administrando Imperio, Emperor Heraclius invited them as foederati to defeat the Avars. They migrated from their homeland in southern Poland between 615 and 640 AD. However, apart from this (often disputed) document, we have no evidence of their migration specifically. Some suggest that they arrived to the Balkans with the rest of the Slavic migrations, only to rise to prominence as some sort of a leading clan amongst neighbouring Slavic tribes.

By 700 AD, Slavs inhabited most of the Balkans, from Austria to the Peloponnese, and from the Adriatic to the Black seas, with the exception of the coastal areas of the Greek peninsula. However, archaeological traces of Slavic penetration into the Balkans is scant, especially in the period prior to the 8th century. This has led scholars to cast doubt on the accuracy of the historical sources, which all describe often large scale settlements by the Slavs throughout the Balkans, including southern Greece.

Interaction with the Balkan population

Prior to the advent of Roman rule, a number of native or autochthonous populations had lived in the Balkans since ancient times. There were the Greeks south of the Jireček line. To the north, there were Illyrians in the western portion (Illyricum), Thracians in Thrace (modern Bulgaria and eastern Macedonia), and Dacians in Moesia (northern Bulgaria and northeastern Serbia) and Dacia (modern Romania). They were mainly tribalistic and generally lacked awareness of any greater ethno-political affiliations. Over the classical ages, they were at times invaded, conquered and influenced by Celts, Greeks and Romans. Roman influence, however, was limited to the cities, which were concentrated along the Dalmatian coast, in Greece, and a few scattered cities inside the Balkan interior particularly along the river Danube (Sirmium, Belgrade, Niš). Roman citizens from throughout the empire settled in these cities and in the adjacent countryside. The vast hinterland was still populated by indigenous peoples who likely retained their own tribalistic character.

File:Slavic tribes in the Balkans.png

Slavic tribes in the Balkans

Following the fall of Rome and numerous barbarian raids, the population in the Balkans dropped, as did commerce and general standards of living. Many people were killed, or taken prisoner by invaders. This demographic decline was particularly attributed to a drop in the number of indigenous peasants living in the rural countryside. They were the most vulnerable to raids and were also hardest hit by the financial crises that plagued the falling empire. However, the Balkans were not desolate. Only certain areas tended to be affected by the raids (lands around major land routes). People sought refuge inside fortified cities, whilst others fled to remote mountains and forests, joining their non-Romanized kin and adopting a transhumant pastoral lifestyle. The larger cities were able to persevere, even flourish, through the hard times. Archaeological evidence suggests that the culture in the cities changed whereby Roman-styled forums and large public buildings were abandoned and cities were modified (i.e. built on top of hills or cliff-tops and fortified by walls). The centerpiece of such cities was the church. This transformation from a Roman culture to a Byzantine one was paralleled by a rise of a new ruling class: the old land-owning aristocracy gave way to rule by military elites and the clergy.

In addition to the autochthons, there were remnants of previous invaders such as "Huns" and various Germanic peoples when the Slavs arrived. Sarmatian tribes (such as the Iazyges) are recorded to have still lived in the Banat region of the Danube.

As the Slavs spread south into the Balkans, they interacted with the numerous peoples and cultures. Since their lifestyle revolved around agriculture, they preferentially settled rural lands along the major highway networks which they moved along. Whilst they could not take the larger fortified towns, they looted the countryside and captured many prisoners. In his Strategikon, Pseudo-Maurice noted that it was commonplace for Slavs to accept newly acquired prisoners into their ranks. Despite Byzantine accounts of "pillaging" and "looting", it is possible that many indigenous peoples voluntarily assimilated with the Slavs. The Slavs lacked an organised, centrally ruled organisation which actually hastened the process of willful Slavicisation. The strongest evidence for such a co-existence is from archaeological remains along the Danube and Dacia known as the Ipoteşti-Cândeşti culture. Here, the villages dating back to the 6th century represent a continuity with the earlier Slavic Pen'kovka culture; modified by admixture with Daco-Getic, Daco-Roman and/or Byzantine elements within the same village. Such interactions awarded the pre-Slavic populace protection within the ranks of a dominant, new tribe. In return, they contributed to the genetic and cultural development the South Slavs. This phenomenon ultimately led to an exchange of various loan-words. For example, the Slavic name for "Greeks", Grci, is derived from the Latin Graecus presumably encountered through the local Romanised populace. Conversely, the Vlachs borrowed many Slavic words, especially pertaining to agricultural terms. Whether any of the original Thracian or Illyrian culture and language remained by the time Slavs arrived is a matter of debate. It is a difficult issue to analyse because of the overriding Greek and Roman influence in the region.

Over time, more and more of the Latin-speaking natives (generally referred to as Vlachs) were assimilated (such that, in the western Balkans, Vlach came be a socio-occupational term rather than ethnic term. The Romance speakers within the fortified Dalmatian cities managed to retain their culture and language for a longer time, Dalmatian was spoken until the high Middle Ages. However, they too were eventually assimilated into the body of Slavs. In contrast, the Romano-Dacians in Wallachia managed to maintain their Latin-based language, despite much Slavic influence. After centuries of peaceful co-existence, the groups fused to form the Romanians.

Relationship with Byzantium

Byzantine literary accounts (i.e. John of Ephesus, etc.) mention the Slavs raiding areas of Greece during the 580s. According to later sources such as The Miracles of Saint Demetrius, the Drougoubitai, Sagoudatai, Belegezitai, Baiounetai, and Berzetai laid siege to Thessaloniki in 614-616. However, this particular event was in actuality of local significance. In 626, a combined Avar, Bulgar and Slav army besieged Constantinople. The siege was broken, which had repercussions upon the power and prestige of the Avar khanate. Slavic sieges on Thessaloniki continued and in 677, a coalition of Rynchitai, Sagoudatai, Drougoubitai and Stroumanoi attacked. This time, the Belgezites did not participate and in fact supplied the besieged citizens of Thessaloniki with grain.

While en route to the Holy Land in 732, Willibald "reached the city of Monemvasia, in the land of Slavinia". This particular passage from the Vita Willibaldi is interpreted as an indication of a Slavic presence in the hinterland of the Peloponnese. In reference to the plague of 744-747, Constantine VII wrote during the 10th century that "the entire country [of the Peloponnese] was Slavonized". According to The Life of Methodius, the inhabitants of Thessaloniki are said to "speak pure Slavonic".

Max Vasmer, a prominent linguist and Indo-Europeanist, complements late medieval historical accounts by listing 429 Slavic toponyms from the Peloponnese. To what extent the presence of these loanwords reflects compact Slavic settlement is a matter of some debate.

Though medieval chroniclers attest to Slavic hordes occupying Byzantine territories, archaeological evidence of actual Slavic presence and its dating is today debated. Florin Curta points out that evidence of substantial Slavic presence does not appear before the 7th century and remains qualitatively different from the "Slavic culture" found north of the Danube. Some authors point to the rapid adoption of local Balkanic cultures by early Slav-speaking groups in specific areas such as Dalmatia. There, investigations of burial graves and cemetery types indicate an uninterrupted continuity of traditions from late antiquity, reflecting a contiguous demographic spread that chronologically matches with the arrival of Slavic-speaking groups.

Relations, if existent, between the Slavs and Greeks were probably peaceful apart from the (supposed) initial settlement and intermittent uprisings. Being agriculturalists, the Slavs probably traded with the Greeks inside towns. Furthermore, some Greek villages continued to exist in the interior, probably governing themselves, possibly paying tribute to the Slavs. Some villages were probably mixed, and undoubtedly some degree of bi-directional assimilation already began to occur before re-Hellenization was completed by the Βυζαντινε emperors.

When the Byzantines were not fighting in their eastern territories, they were able to slowly regain imperial control. This was achieved through its theme system, referring to an administrative province on which an army corps was centered, under the control of a strategos ("general"). It aimed to assimilate the Slavs into the Byzantine socio-economic sphere. The first Balkan theme created was that in Thrace, in 680 AD. By 695, a second theme, "Hellas", was established. Its location was probably in eastern central Greece. Subduing the Slavs in these themes was simply a matter of accommodating the needs of the Slavic elites and providing them with incentives for their inclusion into the imperial administration.

However, Slavs elsewhere were far more difficult to subdue. It was not until 100 years later that a third theme would be established. In 782-784, the eunuch general Staurakios campaigned from Thessaloniki, south to Thessaly and into the Peloponnese. He captured many Slavs, moving them elsewhere especially Anatolia (these Slavs were dubbed Slavesians). Although he may have made some defeated Slav tribes pay homage, it is unlikely he subdued all of them. The theme of Macedonia was created sometime between 790 and 802. This theme was centered on Adrianople (i.e. east of the actual geographic entity). In 805, the theme of the Peloponnese was created. However, some local Slavic tribes, the Melingoi and Ezeritai, continued to revolt apparently angered by loss of lands and the threat of losing their independence. They were to remain relatively autonomous until Ottoman times. From the 9th century, new themes continued to arise, although many were small and were carved out of original, larger themes. New themes in the 9th century included those of Thessalonica and Dyrrhachium. From these themes, Byzantine laws and culture flowed into the interior.

Saints Methodius and Cyril, are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe the Old Church Slavonic language.

Apart from military expeditions against Slavs, the re-Hellenization process involved (often forcible) transfer of peoples. Many Slavs were moved to other parts of the empire, such as Anatolia and made to serve in the military. In return, Greek-speakers were brought to the Balkans, to increase the number of defenders at the Emperor's disposal and dilute the concentration of Slavs. Even non-Greeks were transferred to the Balkans, such as Armenians. As more of the peripheral territories of the Byzantine Empire were lost, their Greek-speakers made their own way back to Greece, e.g. from Sicily and Asia Minor.

Eventually, the Byzantines recovered the imperial border north all the way to today's region of Macedonia (which would serve as the northern border of the Byzantine world until 1018), although independent Slavic villages remained. As the Slavs supposedly occupied the entire Balkan interior, Constantinople was effectively cut off from the Dalmatian cities under its (nominal) control. Thus Dalmatia came to have closer ties with the Italian Peninsula, because of ability to maintain contact by sea (however, this too, was troubled by Slavic pirates). Additionally, Constantinople was cut off from Rome. This contributed to the growing cultural and political separation between the two centres of European Christendom.

Control of the Slavic tribes was nominal, as they retained their own culture and language. However, the Slavic tribes of Macedonia never formed their own empire or state, and the area often switched between Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian and temporarily even Norman control. The Byzantines were unable to completely Hellenize Macedonia because their progress north was blocked by the Bulgarian Empire, and later by the Serbian Kingdom, which were both Slavic states. However, Byzantine culture nonetheless flowed further north, seen to this day as Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Serbia are part of the Orthodox world. Even in Dalmatia, where Byzantine influence was supplanted by Venice and Rome, the influence of Byzantine culture persists.

Formations of early Slavic states

Carantania

Possible territory of Samo's kingdom

By the end of 7th century, the Slavs occupied most parts of the Balkans. When they had been defeated by the Langobards at Lauriana, in 720, their attempts to penetrate westward into what is now Italian Friuli ended. Led by Frankish merchant Samo, Slavs in 623 rebelled against Avars who were weakened by defeat at Constantinople, making Samo the ruler of the first historically known Slavic polity - Samo's Tribal Union. After Samo's death the smaller principality Carantania with Slavs and other inhabitants lost its independence and became part of the semifeudal Frankish Empire due to the pressing danger posed by Avar tribes from the east.

Bosnia

File:Bogumili-tvrtka1.jpg

Tvrtko I of Bosnia ruled in 1353–1366 and again in 1367–1377 as ban and in 1377–1391 as the first King of Bosnia

Map showing the expansion of the Bosnian Kingdom

The Charter of Kulin Ban is the oldest document of its kind among the South Slavic languages and is currently in a Saint Petersburg museum.

Modern knowledge of the political situation in the west Balkans during the Early Middle Ages is unclear. Upon their arrival, the Slavs brought with them a tribal social structure which probably fell apart and gave way to Feudalism only with Frankish penetration into the region in the late 9th century. It was also around this time that the Illyrians were Christianized. Bosnia and Herzegovina, because of its geographic position and terrain, was probably one of the last areas to go through this process, which presumably originated from the urban centers along the Dalmatian coast.

The High Middle Ages political circumstance led to the area of Bosnia being contested between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire. Following another shift of power between the two in the early 12th century, Bosnia found itself outside the control of both and emerged as an independent state under the rule of local bans.[16]

The first Bosnian monarch was Ban Borić. The second was Ban Kulin whose rule marked the start of a controversy with the Bosnian Church, an indigenous Bogomilism sect considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church, which he allowed access in the country. In response to Hungarian attempts to use church politics regarding the issue as a way to reclaim sovereignty over Bosnia, Kulin held a council of local church leaders to renounce the heresy and embraced Catholicism in 1203. Despite this, Hungarian ambitions remained unchanged long after Kulin's death in 1204, waning only after an unsuccessful invasion in 1254.

Bosnian history from then until the early 14th century was marked by the power struggle between the Šubić and Kotromanić families. This conflict came to an end in 1322, when Stephen II Kotromanić became Ban. By the time of his death in 1353, he was successful in annexing territories to the north and west, as well as Zahumlje and parts of Dalmatia. He was succeeded by his nephew Tvrtko who, following a prolonged struggle with nobility and inter-family strife, gained full control of the country in 1367. Tvrtko I of Bosnia crowned himself on 26 October 1377 as Stephen Tvrtko I the King of Rascia, Bosnia, Dalmatia, Croatia, the Seaside.

Based on archaeological evidence, he was crowned in the in Mile near Visoko in the church which was built in the time of Stephen II Kotromanić's reign, where he was also buried alongside his uncle Stjepan II. Following his death in 1391 however, Bosnia fell into a long period of decline. The Ottoman Empire had already started its conquest of Europe and posed a major threat to the Balkans throughout the first half of the 15th century. Finally, after decades of political and social instability, the Kingdom of Bosnia ceased to exist in 1463.

Bulgaria

Following the collapse of Old Great Bulgaria, Asparukh's Bulgars arrived in Scythia Minor in 680 and allied with the local Slavic population to form Bulgaria. The Slavs accepted as their rulers the Bulgar Khans but retained significant autonomy. Both peoples had to protect the country from the Byzantines to the south and the Avar Khanate to the north-west. The Byzantines were aware of this new threat but were completely defeated in the Battle of Ongal and in 681 officially recognized Bulgaria as a sovereign country. By the mid 9th century Bulgaria expanded into much of the Slavic-populated areas of the Balkan peninsula in Thrace, Moesia, Macedonia and Dacia. Khan Omurtag (814-831) made an administrative reform which aimed the centralization of the country and deprived the Slavs of their autonomy. As a result some Slavic tribes to the north-west rebelled but they were quickly subjugated.

Following the Christianization of Bulgaria and the creation of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets and the formation of a literary Bulgarian language, the Bulgars and Slavs finally merged into the Bulgarian people. In 927 the Byzantines also had to recognize the Imperial title of the Bulgarian rulers (in Bulgarian цар - Tsar) and the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Bulgaria became the cultural center of the Slavic Orthodox world.

Balkans, latter half of 9th century.

Croatia

In the western Balkans, the tribal configurations of the 7th century eventually formed a basis for early statelets, no doubt influenced by Feudalism from the west. The Slavs in northern Pannonia (north of the Drava) were included in the Balaton Principality, given by the Franks to an exiled Prince from Nitra, whereas those south of the Drava were part of 'Savia', a territory we know little about. The Franks and Bulgars fought for control over it initially, later becoming an area of conflict between Hungary and Croatia.

The Croats were Frankish vassals until they successfully rebelled during the 850s, forming the Principality of the Croats in northern Dalmatia.

Serbia

"...Sorabi, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur..."
transl. "Serbs, who inhabit a large part of Dalmatia"

-Royal Frankish Annals, 819-822

According to Byzantine tradition, Serbs settled lands of present-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the rule of Emperor Heraclius (610-641). The Serbs became foederati to the Byzantines and held the frontiers as vassalage (initially Sclaviniae, later Župas), subsequently receiving greater autonomy with Višeslav I (fl. 768-814) and full independence with Vlastimir (836-850). Serbia was a Byzantine ally throughout most of the Middle Ages and secured its independence with great diplomacy with Byzantium.

Archaeological evidence, however, suggests that Serbs were part of the 6th-century wave of Slavs.

South Slavic peoples

South Slavs are divided along linguistic lines into two groups — eastern and western.

List of the South Slavic peoples and ethnic groups, including population figures:

Eastern group: (up to 12,500,000 all together)

• Bulgarians = 10,000,000
• Macedonians = 2,500,000

Western group: (up to 26,000,000 all together)

• Serbs = 10,500,000
• Croats = 8,500,000
• Bosniaks = 3,000,000
• Slovenes = 2,500,000
• Montenegrins = 700,000
• Yugoslavs, Bunjevci, Muslims by nationality and other minor ethnic groups

Countries

There are seven countries in which South Slavs are the main population:

• Bulgaria (85% Bulgarians)

• Serbia (83% Serbs, 2% Bosniaks, 1% Yugoslavs 1% Croats, 1% Montengrins)

• Croatia (90% Croats, 5% Serbs)

• Bosnia and Herzegovina (48% Bosniaks, 37% Serbs, 14% Croats)

• North Macedonia (65% ethnic Macedonians, 2% Serbs, 1% Bosniaks)

• Slovenia (83% Slovenes, 2% Serbs, 2% Croats, 1% Bosniaks)

• Montenegro (45% Montenegrins, 29% Serbs, 13% Bosniaks and Muslims by nationality, 1% Croats)

In addition, there are local South Slavic minorities in non-Slavic neighbouring countries such as:

• Italy: (Slovenes, Croats)
• Austria: (Croats, Slovenes)
• Hungary: (Croats, Serbs, Slovenes)
• Romania: (Croats, Bulgarians, Serbs),
• Turkey: (Bulgarians)
• Greece: (Slavic-speakers of Greek Macedonia, Pomaks)
• Albania: (Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs, Montenegrins)

Cities

Cities with South Slavic majority (+100,000 residents)
City	Demographics	Source
Sofia	1,270,284	(Census Bureau of Bulgaria; 2011)
Belgrade	1,213,000	(Belgrade's Statistical Bureau; 2009)
Zagreb	686,568	(Census Bureau of Croatia; 2011)
Skopje	668,518	(Census Bureau of the Republic of Macedonia; 2006)
Plovdiv	338,153	(Census Bureau of Bulgaria; 2011)
Varna	334,870	(Census Bureau of Bulgaria; 2011)
Sarajevo	310,605	(Census Bureau of Bosnia and Herzegovina; 2010)
Ljubljana	272,220	(Census Bureau of Slovenia; 2011)
Burgas	200,271	(Census Bureau of Bulgaria; 2011)
Banja Luka	195,000	(Census Bureau of Bosnia and Herzegovina; 2008)
Novi Sad	191,405	(Census Bureau of Serbia; 2002)
Niš	173,724	(Census Bureau of Serbia; 2002)
Split	165,883	(Census Bureau of Croatia; 2011)
Maribor	157,947	(Census Bureau of Slovenia; 2010)
Podgorica	151,312	(Census Bureau of Montenegro; 2011)
Ruse	149,642	(Census Bureau of Bulgaria; 2011)
Kragujevac	146,373	(Census Bureau of Serbia; 2002)
Stara Zagora	138,272	(Census Bureau of Bulgaria; 2011)
Rijeka	127,498	(Census Bureau of Croatia; 2011)
Pleven	106,954	(Census Bureau of Bulgaria; 2011)

Regional groups and other subdivisions

Please note that some of the subdivisions remain debatable, particularly for smaller groups and national minorities in former Yugoslavia.

Besides ethnic groups, South Slavs often identify themselves with the geographical region in which they live. Some of the major regional South Slavic groups include: Zagorci, Istrani, Dalmatinci, Slavonci, Bosanci, Hercegovci, Posavljaci, Krajišnici, Semberci, Srbijanci, Šumadinci, Mačvani, Moravci, Vojvođani, Sremci, Bačvani, Banaćani, Sandžaklije, Kosovci, Brđani, Bokelji, Zećani, Torlatsi, Shopi, Pelagonci, Tikvešjani, Trakiytsi, Dobrudzhantsi, Balkandzhii, Aegean Macedonians, Mijaks, Mariovans, Miziytsi, Pirintsi, Rodoptsi, Bessarabians, Carinthians, Styrians, Carniolans, Prekmurians, Venetians, Palćene, Burgenlanders, Janjevci, Molisans, Krashovans, Šokci, Resians, and many others.

Religion

The religious and cultural diversity of the region the South Slavs inhabit has had a considerable influence on their religion. Originally a polytheistic pagan people, the South Slavs have also preserved many of their ancient rituals and traditional folklore, often intermixing and combining it with the religion they later converted to.

Today, the majority of South Slavs are Orthodox Christians- the most Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs and Montenegrins, whilst most Slovenes and Croats are Roman Catholics. Bosniaks, other minor ethnic groups (Gorani, Muslims by nationality) and sub-groups (Torbesh and Pomaks) are Muslims.

South Slavic ethnic groups by religion:

• Mainly Orthodox Christians
  • Bulgarians
  • Serbs
  • Macedonians
  • Montenegrins

• Mainly Roman Catholics
  • Croats
  • Slovenes

• Mainly Muslims
  • Bosniaks

Language

Main article: South Slavic languages

South Slavic standard languages are:

• Bosnian
• Bulgarian
• Croatian
• Macedonian
• Montenegrin
• Serbian
• Slovene

In addition, there are also other South Slavic languages which do not constitute official status in any republic, but have recognised standard formats and are widely used by their speakers. The most common of these is Bunjevac. In addition, the Šokac language was formerly listed in the census conducted during the Austro-Hungarian administration. Today, Montenegrin is also in the accelerated process of being codified in Montenegro. It is slowly being revised, embracing local speech, following the lines taken for Bosnian following the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The division of standard languages is orthogonal to the division based on genetic-dialectological criteria. Naming local dialects is made difficult by the fact that Slovenes from Austria and Italy are linked with their most remote South Slavic peoples - the Pomaks and Bulgarians of European Turkey - by a historical dialect continuum. In the 9th century all Slavic dialects formed one dialect continuum, which was subsequently broken after the arrival of Magyars in the area of middle Danube; the subsequent spread of the Germanic, Greek and Romance speakers separated the South Slavic group from West and East Slavic groups leaving it roughly its present-day areal distribution.

Furthermore, as a result of migrations caused by the invasion of Ottoman Turks, dialect continuum was broken in numerous places especially in the so-called "Central South Slavic" area, where some Slavic dialects like Čakavian and Kajkavian were suppressed at the expense of Štokavian, and some "transitional" dialects like Torlakian, originally belonging to West South Slavic group, but having experienced numerous shared innovations with Bularo-Macedonian dialects belonging to East South Slavic.

Major Slavic dialectal groupings are

• Kajkavian - named after the interrogative "kaj", the local word for "what", this dialect is spoken in Croatia and is closely related to the Slovene language (also a "kaj" language).
• Čakavian - named after the interrogative ča, the local word for "what", also an exclusively Croatian dialect
• Štokavian - the largest and most complex dialect chain, named after "što" - the local word for "what" - itself varies with increased distance. Its subdialect, Neoštokavian, is used as the base for standard Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin and Bunjevac, though in a bit different form (in yat reflex, cf. below)
• Torlakian - a non-standard dialect chain separating Western South Slavic and Eastern South Slavic language groups with radical differences, spoken in southern Serbia (including Kosovo), northern Macedonia and north-western Bulgaria, and by all Slavic ethnic groups local to the region, its features include a mixture of the western and eastern linguistic trends. It is also spoken by the Krashovan community in Romania, reflecting their previous geographical settlement.
• Macedonian - spoken across most of Macedonia. The standard Macedonian is based on the West-central subdialect. Several regional dialects exist.
• Shop dialect - an western Bulgarian dialect group bordering with Torlakian areas to its northwest, with Macedonian to its southwest and East Bulgarian to its east.
• East Bulgarian - the standard language of Bulgaria based on the central regions. Several regional dialects exist.
• Slavic (Greece) - spoken by the Slavic population of Greece, most notably by the Pomaks of Thrace. Often disputed as to whether belonging to Macedonian or Bulgarian, this non-standard language has its dialects sparse but varied according to geographical distribution; with the dialects of Thrace (Trakiya) being closer to Bulgarian, and the dialects of Florina (Lerin) and Edessa (Voden) being closer to Macedonian.

The dialects are often further subclassified on arbitrary isoglosses, such as the reflex of Common Slavic yat phoneme which had various reflexes in various Slavic dialects. Yat reflex is noted as a major distinction between Serbian and Croatian - while the former has two distinct variants, based on so-called Ekavian /e/ and Ijekavian /ie̯/ reflexes, the standard Croatian is based exclusively on the Ijekavian reflex /ie̯/.

Genetics

Modern South Slavic peoples' genetic roots actually stem from a wide variety of genetic backgrounds, attesting the complexity of the ethno-genetic processes in Eastern Europe. In 2007 genetic study researched several Slavic populations with the aim of localizing the Proto-Slavic homeland. A significant finding of this study is that two genetically distinct groups of Slavic populations exist. The first group encompassed most Slavic populations except most Southern Slavs. According to the authors, most Slavs share a high frequency of R1a1a. Its origin is purported to trace to the middle Dnieper basin of Ukraine and spread via migrating males during the Late Glacial Maximum 15 kya. The second group comprises most southern Slavic populations: Bulgarians, Croats in Dalmatia and Herzegovina, Bosniaks, Macedonians and Serbs, who have a significantly lower frequency of R1a (~15%). According to the authors, this phenomenon is explained by "...contribution to the Y chromosomes of peoples who settled in the Balkan region before the Slavic expansion to the genetic heritage of Southern Slavs..." On the other hand the Subclade I2a1b1 of Haplogroup I2 (Y-DNA) is typical for western South Slavs, especially Dalmatian Croats and Herzegovinians (45-50%), with high frequency in all South Slavs (>20%). According to Ken Nordtvedt I2a2a, called by him Dinaric, arose 2500 years ago in Eastern Europe. Around 300 CE it has split into two varieties - N (northern) - older and S (southern) - younger. In 2010 Nordtvedt suppoused that I2a2a-Dinaric is just too young to not have been a result of a sudden expansion on the Balkans. He has presumed it was the Slavic expansion from the area north-east of the Carpathians since 500 CE. The Y haplogroup E1b1b1a and especially the E-V13 clade is common on the Balkans and some parts of Italy. High frequencies of it (>20%) have been found amongst Bulgarians, Montenegrins, Macedonians, and Serbs. Phylogenetic analysis strongly suggests that these lineages have spread through Europe, from the Balkans in a "rapid demographic expansion". E-V13 is in any case generally described in population genetics as one of the components, which shows the contribution made by the populations who dispersed the Neolithic technology from the Middle East trough Europe. Also the mitochondrial gene pools of the Slavonic ethnic groups proved to preserve features suggesting a common ancestor for these and South European populations (especially those of the Balkan Peninsula). Finally, the testing results suggest a common ancestry of all Balkan populations, with a lack of correlation between genetic differentiation and language or ethnicity, stressing that no major migration barriers have existed in the making of the complex Balkan human puzzle. The genetic homogeneity among Balkan populations suggests either a most recent common ancestor of all southeastern European populations or strong gene flow between them, which eliminated any initial differences. Taking into account that the region has had a relatively high population density since the Neolithic period and that this region represents a crossroads of routes connecting the cultural centers of Middle East with different European areas.

See also

• Slavic peoples
• East Slavs
• West Slavs
• List of Medieval Slavic tribes

References

Notes

Further reading

1. Danijel Dzino. Becoming Slav, Becoming Croat. 2010.
2. Trajan Stojanović. Balkanska civilizacija. Beograd, 1995.
3. Nikola Jeremić. Srpska Zemlja Bojka. Zemun, 1993.
4. Aleksandar M. Petrović. Kratka arheografija Srba. Novi Sad, 1994.
5. Sava S. Vujić and Bogdan M. Basarić. Severni Srbi (ne)zaboravljeni narod. Beograd, 1998.
6. Jovan Dragašević. Makedonski Sloveni. Novi Sad, 1995.
7. Kosta V. Kostić. Prilog etnoistoriji Torlaka, 2. izdanje, Novi Sad, 1995.
8. Alexander F. Tsvirkun The history of western and southern Slavs. Kharkov., 2008

Gallery

http://www.udruga-kljucana.hr/slike/povijest/1_herceg_stjepan_kosaca.jpg

• 
  Tsar Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia.
• Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, the Prince-Bishop of Montenegro.
  Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, the Prince-Bishop of Montenegro.
• 
  tsar Jovan Nenad, the ruler of Vojvodina.
• 
  Pomak village in Xanthi, Western Thrace.
• Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
  Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
• 
  Bulgarians in national dress dancing choro.
• 
  Young boy in national folk dress from Gabra, Bulgaria.
• 
  Ohrid, Macedonian/European Jerusalem