Lazistan

Lazistan (ლაზონა – lazona in Laz, ლაზეთი – lazeti or ჭანეთი – chaneti in Georgian or Turkish: لازستان, Lazistān) was the Ottoman administrative name for the sanjak (under Trebizond Vilayet) comprising the Laz or Lazuri-speaking population on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. However, its boundaries did not coincide with the Laz-speaking area. It covered the land of contemporary Rize Province and the littoral of contemporary Artvin Province. The Georgians call Lazistan Chaneti, and the people Chan, plural Chan-ni. The Swanetian form of Chaneti (from which the Turkish Lazistan seems to derive) is Lazan (i.e. La—territorial prefix+Zan<—>Chan). The root form Chan<—>Son is widespread throughout the Caucasus, particularly as applied to tribal and place-names in the western part. The Laz by their language are closely related to the Mingrelians (who are themselves called Chan-ar by the neighbouring people of Swaneti).