Laz people

The Laz (Lazi (ლაზი) or Lazepe (ლაზეფე) in Laz, Lazlar in Turkish, Lazi (ლაზი) or Č’ani (ჭანი) in Georgian) are an ethnic group who live primarily on the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia. They speak a language, related to Mingrelian and to Georgian (South Caucasian languages). In Georgia, they are frequently designated as a "territorial-cultural group" of the Georgian people. Some Laz living in Turkey do not accept the umbrella term "Kartvelian" and consider themselves as a part of a greater (Lazo-Mingrelian) Zan ethnos of Colchis that excludes Georgians (Iberians). However, most scholars who link Laz people linguistically, traditionally, and historically to Mingrelians consider the latter as an ethnographic group of Georgian people.
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