Taraskovyan Slavs
The Slavs (Greek: Σκλαβηνοί, Latin: Sclaveni, Russian: Славяне, Serbovian: Славени, Polavian: Słowianie/Сљов’ан’е,Moesian: Славяни, Moravian: Slované/Слованэ) form the majority of the Taraskovyan population. Out of all, the Ros are by far the largest not only amongst the Slavs, but amongst all Taraskovyans. This does not, however, mean that the other four major Taraskovyan Slavic peoples - Serbovians, Polavians, Moesians and Moravians - have been absorbed by the Ros. All five peoples have their own cultural lives and cooperate through the Taraskovyan Pan-Slav Congress.
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Ros
For more information: Ros
The Ros are the largest of all Taraskovyan peoples and, together with Taraskath, shape the daily politics of the Grand Duchy and its numerous Dominions. The most prominent Ros Taraskovyans (or those Taraskovyans who identify themselves as Ros) include Vethara, Archduchess of Taraskovya, Duke Anatoly Orlov and others.
Serbovians
Serbovians (Serbovian: Србови) are a Slavic people inhabiting Taraskovya. They are closely related to the Serbian and Croatian peoples. It is hard to say to which the Serbovians are related the most: while both them and the Serbs belong to Eastern Orthodoxy, the Serbovians speak pretty much the same variant of Štokavian as the Croats.
The quasi-totality of Serbovians belong to the Taraskovyan Orthodox Church.
Serbovian Language
All Serbovians speak Russian, as it is spoken in Taraskovya. However, they also maintain their own separate Slavic language. The Serbovian(србовски језик) language is a standard version of the Štokavian dialect, of which the Serbian and Croatian languages are separate standards. Interestingly enough, the Serbovian language is closer to the Ijekavian variant spoken in Croatia than to the Ekavian variant spoken in Serbia. The two variants are mutually intelligible.
The Serbovian uses a slightly modified Cyrillic script. The teaching of Serbovian is done mostly at private schools and at specialised institutions which offer lessons after school-hours for the families that want their children to speak the language. Mass media in Serbovian is widespread, ranging from newspapers to television channels.
Moesians
Polavians
Povalians (Polavian: Polowianie – Полов’ан’е) are Taraskovyan Slavs most closely related to ethnic Poles. They form the fourth largest Slavic group, after the Ros, the Serbovians and the Moesians. Unlike their overseas brethren, however, the majority of Polavians are not Roman Catholics, but Eastern Catholics instead and belong to the Byzantine Taraskovyan Catholic Church. They are, however, in full communion with the Holy See of Rome.
The Polavian language is an off-shoot of Polish and is mostly written in Latin script, even if a Cyrillic script also exists. There is a broad choice of Polavian mass media, with the Latin script being the most popular with written media.
Moravians
Pan-Slav Congress
The Pan-Slav Congress is a non-profit non-government organisation operating within Taraskovya that traces its history centuries back. The Congress regroups prominent cultural, political, economic and other Slavic personalities and works to promote the interests of the Taraskovyan Slavs. The Congress is not a political party and, in fact, many prominent members of various Taraskovyan parties, from the Conservatives to the Christian Patriots, are also members of the Congress.
The Congress has no official powers, but is largely seen as a very important lobby group in Taraskovyan politics. It is sometimes at odds with Taraskath nationalists which see in it a threat to the historic role and importance of the Taraskath people, now minoritary within Taraskovya.
