Laz people

Laz, Lazi
(ლაზი, ლაზეფე)

Statue of a Laz man and woman in Arhavi (Ark'abi), Turkey
Total population
140,000
Regions with significant populations
Turkey	103,900 (Ethnologue, 2019)[1]
Georgia	1,000 (2007)[1]
Germany	1,000 (2007)[1]
Languages
Laz, Georgian, Turkish
Religion
In Turkey: majority Sunni Islam[2] In Georgia: majority Georgian Orthodox[3]
Related ethnic groups
Georgians (especially Mingrelians), Pontic Greeks

Laz people
Place of distribution Lazistan Georgia Turkey Germany
Religion Sunni Islam Christianity Eparchy of Batumi and Lazeti The Seven Brothers of Lazia Laz Martyrs Churches: Jibistasi, Noghedi, Pironity
Culture Laz language Laz grammar Barchkhali Dance Cuisine Agani Murutsxi (Newspaper)
History Colchian culture ancient Colchian tribes Colchis Satrapy of Persia Greek colonisation Pontus Roman rule Kingdom of Lazica Christianization Byzantine rule Trebizond Empire Kingdom of Imereti Ottoman rule Hellenization Laz rebellion (1832–1834)
Related peoples Mingrelians Svans other groups of Georgians Pontic Greeks (possibly)
v t e

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.

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.^[1]