Many later migrated to other parts of Eastern Anatolia , to the former Russian province of Kars Oblast in the Transcaucasus , and to Georgia in various waves between the Ottoman conquest of the Empire of Trebizond in and the Russo-Turkish War of Those from southern Russia , Ukraine , and Crimea are often referred to as "Northern Pontic [Greeks]", in contrast to those from "South Pontus", which strictly speaking is Pontus proper.
Those from Georgia, northeastern Anatolia, and the former Russian Caucasus are in contemporary Greek academic circles often referred to as "Eastern Pontic [Greeks]" or as Caucasian Greeks , but also include the Turkic-speaking Urums. Pontic Greeks have Greek ancestry and speak the Pontic Greek dialect, a distinct form of the standard Greek language which, due to the remoteness of Pontus, has undergone linguistic evolution distinct from that of the rest of the Greek world.
Nowadays, due to extensive intermarriage also with non-Pontic Greeks , the exact number of Greeks from the Pontus, or people with Greek ancestry still living there, is unknown. The largest communities of Pontian Greeks or people of Pontian Greek descent around the world are: [6]. The Amazons , female warriors in Greek Mythology lived in Pontus and minority lived in Taurica , also known as Crimea which is also the minor unique settlement of Pontic Greeks.
The warlike characteristics of Pontic Greeks had once said to have been derived of Amazons of Pontus. The settlers of Sinop were merchants from the Ionian Greek city state of Miletus.
In time, as the numbers of Greeks settling in the region grew significantly, more colonies were established along the whole Black Sea coastline of what is now Turkey , Bulgaria , Georgia , Russia , Ukraine , and Romania.
