16 Facts About Pontic Greeks

The Pontic Greeks had a continuous presence in the region of Pontus, Georgia, and Eastern Anatolia from at least 700 BC until the Greek genocide and population exchange with Turkey in 1923.

Pontic Greeks are one of the peoples of the Caucasus; they are ethnic Greeks indigenous to Asia Minor.

Pontic Greeks lived in Pontus since "the time of the Argonauts, Herodotus and Xenophon and the Ten Thousand".

The Pontic Greeks are believed to be descendants of Greeks who in the 8th century BC had moved from the Ionian cities located in the islands and shores of the Aegean Sea, to the area of the Black Sea called Pontus.

Benny Morris and Dror Ze'evi give three theories on why most Pontic Greeks distanced themselves from nationalism and separatism: poorly developed political consciousness, tradition of submissiveness to Islamic hegemony, or fears of massacres and economic harm.

Related searches

Pontic Greeks'storian and psychologist Stavros Iason Gavriilidis states that this was a result of the trauma they faced from the Greek genocide.

The warlike characteristics of Pontic Greeks were once said to have been derived from the Amazons of Pontus.

In time, as the numbers of Pontic Greeks settling in the region grew significantly, more colonies were established along the whole Black Sea coastline of what is Turkey, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, and Romania.

Large communities of Christian Pontic Greeks remained throughout the Pontus area until the 1920s, and in parts of Georgia and Armenia until the 1990s, preserving their own customs and dialect of Greek.

Turkish guide-books on sale in the Taksim Meydane offer this account of the 1923 Katastrofe: 'After the proclamation of the Republic, the Pontic Greeks who lived in the region returned to their own country […].

Ancient Pontic Greeks reached and settled the Black Sea by the 700s BCE; Sinope was perhaps the earliest colony.

Ancient Pontic Greeks inhabited Giresun, then called Kerasous, from the 5th century BCE.

Pontic Greeks constructed a number of non-religious buildings during Byzantine times.

Rich cultural activity of Pontian Pontic Greeks is witnessed by the number of educational institutions, churches, and monasteries in the region.

An important part of Pontic Greeks music is the Acritic songs, heroic or epic poetry set to music that emerged in the Byzantine Empire, probably in the 9th century.

Pontic Greeks have contributed to sporting successes internationally, not limited to but mostly representing Greece, with several team members a part of sports triumphs in major international basketball and football tournaments .