Ottoman Greeks (Greek: Οθωμανοί Έλληνες, Turkish: Osmanlı Rumları) were ethnic Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire (1453–1921), the Republic of Turkey's predecessor. Ottoman Greeks, who were Greek Orthodox Christians, belonged to the Rum Millet (Millet-i Rum). They were concentrated in what is today modern Greece, western Asia Minor (especially in and around Smyrni), central Anatolia (especially Cappadocia), northeastern Anatolia (especially in Erzurum vilayet, in and around Trebizond and in the Pontic Mountains (roughly corresponding to the medieval Greek kingdom of Pontus, which was situated along the southeastern shores of the Black Sea and the highlands of the interior). There were also sizeable Greek communities elsewhere in the Ottoman Balkans, Ottoman Armenia, and the Ottoman Cau