 vodka, communism, and track suits. These ideas come to mind first for many in the west, especially in America, when talking about the Slavic people. But there is so much more that goes into the cultural ties of these 13 countries that have majority Slavic populations, including deep historical, linguistic, and religious ties. Today I will look at the population, language, and religion in each of the Slavic majority countries. With 13 different countries and 350 million Slavic people globally, there is bound to be a bit of diversity across such a large land area. So let's begin. Starting with the east Slavic countries, there are three. Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The biggest to them obviously, and the biggest country on earth for that matter, is Russia. There are 140 million Russians globally, making them the largest Slavic nation, encompassing 40% of the total Slavic population and 70% of the 200 million east Slavs. Russians form about 80% of the Russian Federation's population, with Ukrainians and Tatars forming significant minorities, along with many other ethnic groups, which I've explained in another video. Russians are mainly Orthodox Christian, and the Russian language is an international language spread across the former Soviet Union. Ukraine is the second largest Slavic country by population, with around 42 million, and Ukrainians are the third largest Slavic ethnicity globally, with 40 million. Russians are a large minority in the country, along with Romanians, and Eastern Orthodoxy is the most common religion in the country. The Ukrainian language, despite being east Slavic, has a more similar lexicon to Polish than any other Slavic language, besides maybe Belarusian. Speaking of Belarus, it is the smallest of the east Slavic countries, with 9.5 million people, and there are about 10 million Belarusians globally. The people are Eastern Orthodox like their east Slavic brothers, but the Belarusian language is in danger of falling out of use due to the popularity of the Russian language there. The Rusyn people are another east Slavic ethnic group, though they have no sovereign state of their own. They number around 1 million. Moving on to the West Slavic nations, and we have Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Poland is the biggest West Slavic country, and polls number around 60 million worldwide due to large numbers living in the English speaking world, making them the second largest Slavic ethnicity. They are well known for being a Catholic majority country, with the religion's presence being very strong in the country. The Polish language is spoken by 50 million worldwide, ranking it among the most spoken languages in Europe. To the south and west is the Czech Republic, which has just under 11 million people, mostly Czech, and the Czech ethnicity number is around 13 million globally. Most Czechs in the country are non-religious or atheist, unique among Slavic countries, with Catholics being the largest minority. The Czech language is very similar to the neighboring Slovak language. Speaking of Slovakia, this mountainous country has 5.5 million people, and a global ethnic population numbering around 7 million. Most of the population of Slovakia is Catholic, and I should also mention that the West Slavic nations are the richest group of Slavic countries in terms of GDP per capita, and are also the most democratic. There are a few smaller West Slavic ethnic groups, including Sorbs, who live in Germany, and Kashubians, who live in Northern Poland. And now we arrive at the South Slavic countries. Though there are arguably only three South Slavic languages, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian, there are numerous ethnic groups down south. Slovenia is the northern most of this group, and has about 2 million people, with their global ethnic population being similar. Slovenia is one of two South Slavic countries to have Catholicism as the majority religion. The Slovenian language is usually considered distinct from other languages spoken in the former Yugoslavia, which is a bit unique, as you'll soon learn. Croatia, being the other Catholic majority country in the South Slavic group, and its titular ethnic group also being majority Catholic, number around 4 million within their home country, and up to 9 million globally, especially due to Croats being a large minority in Bosnia. The Croatian language is often considered a dialect of Serbo-Croatian, along with the next three countries languages. Bosnia is the most diverse Slavic nation, both in ethnicity and religion. The country has around 3 million people, and Bosniaks, who are a Muslim ethnic group, have a global population of 3 million, with a little over half of them living within Bosnia. The other half of Bosnia is populated by Croats, as I mentioned, but also to a greater extent Bosnian Serbs, who follow Orthodox Christianity. Bosnian is smack dab in the middle of the Serbo-Croatian language realm, and they don't even get recognized in the language name. Sad. Moving on to the second largest South Slavic country we arrive at, Serbia, which has a population of 6.5 million. The global Serbian population is around 10 million, mainly due to their large minorities in Bosnia, Montenegro, and the Anglosphere. Serbians are overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian, with their nation being recognizable as the central state in the former Yugoslavia. The other Serbo-Croatian country discussed is Montenegro. The country only has a mere 620,000 people, and an ethnic population of just 400,000, making them the smallest Slavic ethnicity to have their own country. They are also Orthodox Christian, but the state has created its own church to distance itself from the Serbian Orthodox Church, which has caused recent tensions in the country. It's also worth mentioning that Montenegro is the youngest Slavic country, with it forming in just 2006. North Macedonia is a country of around 2 million people, with the global diaspora of similar size, though on the home front Macedonians only make two-thirds of their country's population, with Albanians being a significant minority. Most ethnic Macedonians follow orthodoxism, but Islam has a large presence in North Macedonia due to Albanians living there, and a few Slavic Muslim groups there as well. The Macedonian language is mutually intelligible with Bulgarian, and the languages are often considered the same. And that brings us to Bulgaria, the final Slavic nation to discuss. The total population there is 7 million, but the global diaspora is around 10 million. Orthodoxy, again, is the majority religion, with Islam having a large presence in Turkish minorities there. The Bulgarian language is spoken by most people in the country, and as I just stated, is nearly identical to Macedonia. There are a few smaller South Slavic ethnic groups to mention though, the Pomochs, Gorani, and Torbeshi, who live in Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Macedonia respectively. They, along with Bosniaks, are the only Muslim majority Slavic ethnic groups. With all of this said, I really enjoy learning about the Slavic people and their languages and culture. I'm currently learning Russian, which is a fascinating language, but that's only the beginning. I would also like to be able to speak other Slavic languages, so tell me which one I should learn next in the comments. 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