Slavs

Slavs are the largest Indo-European ethno-linguistic group in Europe. They inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. Slavs speak Indo-European Slavic languages and share, to varying degrees, some cultural traits and historical backgrounds. From the early 6th century they spread to inhabit most of Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe, whilst Slavic mercenaries fighting for the Byzantines and Arabs settled Asia Minor and even as far as Syria. The East Slavs colonised Siberia and Central Asia. Presently over half of Europe's territory is inhabited by Slavic-speaking communities, but every Slavic ethnicity has emigrated to other continents.

Present-day Slavic people are classified into West Slavic (chiefly Poles, Czechs and Slovaks), East Slavic (chiefly Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians), and South Slavic (chiefly Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosniaks, Macedonians, Slovenes, and Montenegrins), though sometimes the West Slavs and East Slavs are combined into a single group known as North Slavs. For a more comprehensive list, see the ethnocultural subdivisions. Modern Slavic nations and ethnic groups are considerably diverse both genetically and culturally, and relations between them – even within the individual ethnic groups themselves – are varied, ranging from a sense of connection to mutual feelings of hostility.