Lemkos and Lemkovyna №1 | Лемкы і Лемковина

Лемкы і Лемковина [eng] Lemkos and Lemkivshchyna №1 [pol] Łemkowie i Łemkowszczyzna №1 [ukr] Лемки та Лемківщина №1 [sk] Lemkovia a Lemkivshchyna №1 Lemkos (Rusyn: Лeмкы, Polish: Łemkowie; Ukrainian: Лемки; Slovak: Lemkovia) — are an ethnographic group of Carpatho-Rusyns, living in or originating from the Lemko Region. The name «Lemkos» is derived from the word «lem», which they often use in conversation, which means «only» and this term appeared only at the beginning of the 19th century; the Lemkos themselves (as well as other ethnographic groups of Carpatho-Rusyns) historically called themselves Rusyns or Rusnaks. By the interwar period the popularity of "Lemko" as an endonym had grown, and appeared in periodicals such as "Lemko" and "Naš Lemko". Polish authorities also played a hand in popular adoption of the term «Lemkos» as a distinctive ethnographic group and of their corresponding ethnonym. In the aftermath of WWII, Lemko finally supplanted «Rusyn» and «Rusnak» as the term of choice for the Carpatho-Rusyns on the north face of the Carpathians in Poland. HISTORY: Several hypotheses account for the origin of the Lemkos, however, like all Carpatho-Rusyns, they most probably have a diverse ethnogenetic origin. The Lemkos (and other Carpatho-Rusyns) are considered to be descendants of the medieval White Croats, affected by the migration of Rusyn-influenced Slovaks, and the Vlach/Romanian migrations in the 14th and 15th centuries. It is estimated that about 130,000 to...