Sarakatsanis

Derived from the Greek Σαρακατσάνοι (Sarakatsanoi) referred to an ethnic Greek population subgroup who were traditionally transhumant shepherds, native to Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbouring Bulgaria, southern Albania, and North Macedonia. Historically centred on the Pindus mountains and other mountain ranges in continental Greece, most Sarakatsani have abandoned the transhumant way of life and have been urbanised. The most widely accepted theory for the origin of the name Sarakatsani is that it comes from the Turkish word karakaçan (from kara meaning "black" and kaçan meaning "fugitive"), used by the Ottomans, in reference to those people who dressed in black and fled to the mountains during the Ottoman rule. According to another theory, the name derives from the village of Sakaretsi, the supposed homeland of the Sarakatsani.