Sarakatsani
Sarakatsani children in Kotel, Bulgaria | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Unknown | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Greece | 80,000 (1950s est.) |
| Bulgaria | 2,071 (2021) – 15,000 (1992 est.) |
| Languages | |
| Greek | |
| Religion | |
| Greek Orthodoxy | |
The Sarakatsani (Greek: Σαρακατσάνοι), also called Karakachani (Bulgarian: каракачани), are an ethnic Greek population subgroup who were traditionally transhumant shepherds, native to Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbouring Bulgaria, southern Albania, and North Macedonia. Historically centred on the Pindus mountains and other mountain ranges in continental Greece, most Sarakatsani have abandoned the transhumant way of life and have been urbanised.