Laz people
The Laz people, or Lazi (Laz: ლაზი Lazi; Georgian: ლაზი, lazi; or ჭანი, ch'ani; Turkish: Laz), are a Kartvelian ethnic group native to the South Caucasus, who mainly live in Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia. They traditionally speak the Laz language (which is a member of the Kartvelian language family) but have experienced a rapid language shift to Turkish.
Statue of a Laz man and woman in Arhavi (Ark'abi), Turkey | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Turkey | 103,900 (Ethnologue, 2019) |
| Georgia | 1,000 (2007) |
| Germany | 1,000 (2007) |
| Russia | 160 (2010) |
| Languages | |
| Laz, Georgian, Turkish | |
| Religion | |
| In Turkey: majority Sunni Islam In Georgia: majority Georgian Orthodox | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Georgians (especially Mingrelians), Pontic Greeks | |
| Laz people |
|---|
Of the 103,900 ethnic Laz in Turkey, only around 20,000 speak Laz and the language is classified as threatened (6b) in Turkey and shifting (7) in Georgia on the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale.
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