The Laz are one of the peoples of Turkey, having their cultural roots in the Southern Caucasus. They settled in the townships of Pazar, Ardesen, Findikli, Arhavi and Hopa on the Eastern Blacksea of Turkey. Besides shores of Turkey. Besides there is a large group of Laz people in the Marmara region, who migrated there in the19th century. The number of Laz population in Turkey is estimated 1.500.000. Batum, a town which today lies within the Georgian borders, has a Laz population of about 5.000, in addition to this, a large majority of the Georgian and Abkhazian population consist of Mingrels, which one might define as Christian Laz.
WHAT LANGUAGE DO THE LAZ SPEAK?
The Laz speak in Laz language , which is one of the Southern Caucasian language group, which consist beside Laz/Mingrel of the Georgian and Svan languages. Today the Laz language is writtenwith an alphabet of 35 letters (1984), based on Latin letters. It is also possible to write the Laz language with the Georgian alphabet.
TEONA
"te": isik "ona": bahce,yer.dag,vb. gibi anlamlara geliyor.. Lazcada isimler ayri kullanildigi zaman anlamlari farkli oluyor.. Fakat TEONA bitisik yazildiginda: Isik Gören yer, Günes gören bahce,vb. anlami cikiyor.. Fakat biz TEONA'nin özdeslesmis ve genel anlamini kullaniyoruz .. Yani Teona : "ISIK BAHCESI,GÜNES BAHCESI veya ISIK ÜLKESI" anlamlarina geliyor..!