Cappadocian Greeks
Έλληνες Καππαδόκες Kapadokyalı Rumlar | |
|---|---|
Cappadocian Greeks in traditional clothing, Greece | |
| Total population | |
| ~50,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Greece (especially northern Greece) | |
| Greece | 44,432 (More than 50,000 including descendants) – around 50,000 (1920s estimate) |
| Languages | |
| Greek language, Cappadocian Greek, Karamanli Turkish | |
| Religion | |
| Greek Orthodoxy | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pontic Greeks, Karamanlides | |
The Cappadocian Greeks (Greek: Έλληνες Καππαδόκες; Turkish: Kapadokyalı Rumlar), or simply Cappadocians, are an ethnic Greek community native to the geographical region of Cappadocia in central-eastern Anatolia; roughly the Nevşehir and Kayseri provinces and their surroundings in modern-day Turkey. There had been a continuous Greek presence in Cappadocia since antiquity, and by at least the 5th century AD the Greek language had become the lingua franca of the region.
In the 11th century Seljuq Turks arriving from Central Asia conquered the region, beginning its gradual shift in language and religion. In 1923, following the mass killing of Christian Ottomans across Anatolia, the surviving Cappadocian communities were forced to leave their native homeland and resettle in Greece by the terms of the Greek–Turkish population exchange. Today their descendants can be found throughout Greece and the Greek diaspora worldwide.