Where did South Slavs come from?

The Southern Slavs: An Introduction Divided between the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires for centuries, the South Slavic people originate from the region of the Balkan Peninsula known in the twentieth century as Yugoslavia, or Jugoslavija (jug = “south”; slaveni = “Slavs”).

Who were the Slavs and where did they come from?

Slav, member of the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe, residing chiefly in eastern and southeastern Europe but extending also across northern Asia to the Pacific Ocean.

Why are South Slavic languages becoming different?

South Slavic languages are becoming increasingly more different due to differences in culture. For example, Bosnian Muslims have introduces Arabic to their language used in their religion. Croats have replaced words of Serbian origin with purely Croation words.

How did Slavic languages evolve?

Slavic languages descend from Proto-Slavic, their immediate parent language, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European, the ancestor language of all Indo-European languages, via a Proto-Balto-Slavic stage.

How did Slavs end up in the Balkans?

The Slavic migrations to the Balkans have taken place since the mid-6th century and first decades of the 7th century in Early Middle Ages after a series of wars between the Sasanian Empire and the Avar Khaganate against the Eastern Roman Empire.

Where did the southern Slavs settle?

By 700 AD, Slavs had settled in most of Central and Southeast Europe, from Austria even down to the Peloponnese of Greece, and from the Adriatic to the Black Sea, with the exception of the coastal areas and certain mountainous regions of the Greek peninsula.

How were the Slavs converted?

During the 800s, two Greek monks (named Cyril and Methodius) converted many western Slavs to Christianity. At that time, church services were held in Greek or Latin, which few people could understand. But Cyril and Methodius held services in the language of the Slavs, called Old Church Slavonic.

How many countries are Slavic?

In total, there are more than 360 million Slavs around the world….Slavic Countries 2021.