Slavic peoples

The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples currently living in Europe. They are defined by speaking Slavic languages and reside chiefly in Central and Eastern Europe, but are also found in Asia. The idea that the Slavic people have more in common than their origin, the origin of their languages and some cultural aspects is derived from romantic nationalism, the panslavism movement and the notion of race as a biological basis of nations.

Religion and alphabet

In religion, the Slavs traditionally divided into two main groups:

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• those associated with the Orthodox Churches - most Russians, most Ukrainians, most Belarusians, some Carpatho-Ruthenians (Rusyns), most Serbs, most Bulgarians and most Macedonians
• those associated with the Catholic Church (both Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic) - Poles, some Sorbs, some Czechs, most Slovaks, Croats, Slovenians, some Ukrainians, a few Serbs, a few Bulgarians, a few Macedonians and some Belarusians.

Some Sorbs profess Protestantism, as do certain Slovaks, and a few Czechs and Slovenians. Most Bosniaks, Pomaks, Gorani, and Torbesh are Muslims.

Related Topics:
Sorbs - Protestantism - Slovaks - Czechs - Slovenians - Bosniaks - Pomaks - Gorani - Torbesh - Muslims

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The Orthodox/Catholic religious divisions become further exacerbated by the use of the Cyrillic alphabet by the Orthodox and Uniates (Greek Catholics) and of the Roman alphabet by Roman Catholics. However, Serbian language can be written in both Cyrillic and Roman alphabets. There is also a Latin script to write in Belarusian, called Lacinka alphabet. Bosnian language was written in Arabic alphabet until the 20th century.

Related Topics:
Cyrillic alphabet - Roman alphabet - Serbian language - Belarusian - Lacinka alphabet - Bosnian language - Arabic alphabet - 20th century

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