East Slavs facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
East Slavs
Усходнія славяне Uskhodniya slavianie (be.)
Восточные славяне Vostochnyye slavianie (ru.)
Восточны славяне Vostochny slavianie (rue.)
Східні слов'яни Skhidni slovyany (uk.)

Countries with predominantly East Slavic population
Total population
200+ million
Regions with significant populations
Majority: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine Minority: Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Serbia, Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia), Moldova, other former Soviet states.
Languages
East Slavic languages: Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, Ukrainian
Related ethnic groups
Other Slavs

Maximum extent of European territory inhabited by the East Slavic tribes - the ancestors of Kievan Rus', the first East Slavic state - in the 8th and 9th century.

The East Slavs are a group of Slavic people. They speak languages like Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian.

Long ago, they were the main people living in an early powerful state called Kievan Rus'. By the 1600s, these groups grew into the people we know today as Belarusians, Russians, Rusyns, and Ukrainians.

The Story of the East Slavs

We don't know much about the early East Slavs before the year 859 AD. This is when the first events were written down in an important old book called the Primary Chronicle.

The East Slavs from these very early times did not have a written language. So, they didn't write down their own history. What we do know comes from a few places:

• Archaeology: This is the study of old things people left behind, like tools or buildings.
• Travelers' stories: People from other lands visited and wrote about the Rus' land.
• Language studies: Experts compare old Slavic languages to learn about their past.

Very few original writings from the Rus' people before the 10th century have survived. The Primary Chronicle is the oldest major book with information about Rus' history. It was written much later, between the late 1000s and early 1100s.

This chronicle lists twelve Slavic groups who lived in the area that became Kievan Rus' by the 900s. This land was between the Western Bug River, the Dnieper River, and the Black Sea. These tribes included:

• The Polans
• The Drevlyans
• The Dregovichs
• The Radimichs
• The Vyatichs
• The Krivichs
• The Slovens
• The Dulebes (who later became known as the Volhynians and Buzhans)
• The White Croats
• The Severians
• The Ulichs
• And the Tivertsi

Images for kids

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  A young girl of Slavic appearance in a Ukrainian folk costume, by Nikolay Rachkov

• 

  Ethnic Russians in former Soviet Union states according to the most recent census

• 

  Three generations of a Russian family, around 1910

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  Belarusians in traditional dress

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  Ukrainians in traditional dress

• 

  Russians in traditional dress from the Vologda region

• 

  A Bread and salt greeting ceremony in Vladivostok, Russia

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  A bread and salt greeting ceremony in Kyiv, Ukraine

See also

In Spanish: Eslavos orientales para niños