Laz DNA
Genetic origins and closest populations · Turkey · Caucasus
The Laz live along the eastern Black Sea coast of Turkey, in the provinces of Rize and Artvin, with smaller communities in Georgia. Their language belongs to the Kartvelian family and is closest to Mingrelian, and their name recalls Lazica, the late antique kingdom of western Georgia. In our model, the Laz average is 44.8% Caucasus hunter-gatherer, 35.3% Anatolian Neolithic farmer, 10.4% Levantine Neolithic and 9.5% Iranian Neolithic: far less Caucasus-related ancestry than the Mingrelians (60.8%) and more early farmer ancestry, closer to their Anatolian neighbours. After a Laz sample from Georgia (distance 0.0030), the nearest averages are Georgians from Samtskhe (0.0147), the Hemshin, Meskhetian Turks from Ardahan and Turks from Rize, a regional cluster along the Turkish and Georgian borderlands, while Mingrelians do not appear among the ten closest. The closest ancient group is a Late Antique to early medieval population from Klde in Georgia (0.0158).
- Largest ancient components in our model: Caucasus hunter-gatherers 44.8%, Anatolian Neolithic farmers 35.3%, Levantine Neolithic farmers 10.4%
- Closest non-Laz population in our data: Georgian (Samtckhe), distance 0.0147
- Closest ancient group in our data: Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Klde (Chosroid), distance 0.0158
Laz is one of the 335 modern populations in our population genetics atlas. The numbers on this page describe the average Global25 (G25) genome of the Laz individuals sampled in Turkey. Like every population average, it smooths over a lot of variation between individuals.
Ancient make-up of the Laz average
Modelled as a mix of deep ancestral reference populations, the Laz average comes out as 44.8% Caucasus hunter-gatherers, 35.3% Anatolian Neolithic farmers and 10.4% Levantine Neolithic farmers. The Caucasus hunter-gatherers component reflects the hunter-gatherers of the Caucasus, a deep ancestry shared by the Caucasus, Anatolia and the Iranian plateau. The Anatolian Neolithic farmers share (35.3%) reflects the Neolithic farmers of Anatolia, who carried agriculture into Europe from about 6500 BC.
The fit is acceptable (fit distance 0.029): treat the proportions as a good approximation rather than exact values. The model draws on West Eurasian ancient genomes, with modern West African and East Asian stand-ins.
Anadolu – Anatolian Crossroads Report
Closest modern populations to Laz
Genetically, the Laz average sits nearest to Georgian (Laz) at 0.003, Georgian (Samtckhe) at 0.015 and Armenian (Hemsheni) at 0.016. On our scale, a distance of 0.003 counts as very close. Even the tenth closest, Black Sea Turkish, is only 0.022 away: Laz belongs to a dense cluster of related populations, so small differences inside that cluster should not be over-interpreted.
| # | Population | Distance | Closeness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgian (Laz) | 0.0030 | Very close |
| 2 | Georgian (Samtckhe) | 0.0147 | Very close |
| 3 | Armenian (Hemsheni) | 0.0159 | Very close |
| 4 | Turkish (Meskhetian Ardahan) | 0.0164 | Very close |
| 5 | Ahiska | 0.0178 | Very close |
| 6 | Turkish (Meskhetian Georgia) | 0.0179 | Very close |
| 7 | Turkish (Rize) | 0.0179 | Very close |
| 8 | Georgian (Adjarian) | 0.0208 | Very close |
| 9 | Greek (Trabzon) | 0.0210 | Very close |
| 10 | Black Sea Turkish | 0.0215 | Very close |
Distances are Euclidean distances between averaged G25 coordinates. On our scale, below 0.025 is very close, below 0.050 close, below 0.080 moderate, and beyond that distant.
Closest ancient populations to Laz
Among ancient genomes, the closest match to the modern Laz average is Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Klde (Chosroid) (Early Medieval, c. 500-1000 AD), at 0.016, followed by Georgia Late Antiquity Khimshiaant (Arsacid-Chosroid) and Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Fiqris Gora (Chosroid). That is a very close match, which suggests strong genetic continuity between those ancient people (or close relatives of theirs) and the modern population. A close ancient match is not proof of direct descent: it means those individuals carried a similar overall mix of ancestry.
| # | Ancient sample or group | Period | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Klde (Chosroid) | Early Medieval, c. 500-1000 AD | 0.0158 |
| 2 | Georgia Late Antiquity Khimshiaant (Arsacid-Chosroid) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0232 |
| 3 | Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Fiqris Gora (Chosroid) | Early Medieval, c. 500-1000 AD | 0.0249 |
| 4 | Armenia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Beniamin | Late Antiquity to Early Medieval, c. 250-1000 AD | 0.0250 |
| 5 | Georgia Roman Empire-Late Antiquity Khtsisi (Pharnavazid-Chosroid) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0251 |
| 6 | Georgia Early Medieval Zhinvali | Early Medieval, c. 500-1000 AD | 0.0254 |
| 7 | Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Samtavro (Chosroid) | Early Medieval, c. 500-1000 AD | 0.0262 |
| 8 | Georgia Roman Empire-Late Antiquity Zhinvali (Pharnavazid-Chosroid) | Late Antiquity, c. 250-600 AD | 0.0263 |
| 9 | Georgia Early Medieval Khuntsi | Early Medieval, c. 500-1000 AD | 0.0273 |
| 10 | Armenia IA Lchashen-Metsamor/Urartian-Median/Achaemenid Keti | Achaemenid era, c. 550-330 BC | 0.0275 |
Ancient DNA from Turkey
Our ancient DNA database holds 709 individuals excavated in present-day Turkey, dated from about 13,461 BC to 1573 AD. The most frequent Y-DNA haplogroups among them are J2a (68), G2a (60) and T1a (23), and the most frequent mtDNA haplogroups are K1 (93), N1 (43) and T2 (43). These are people who lived on the same land in the past, not necessarily ancestors of today's Laz population.
Most frequent Y-DNA haplogroups
Ancient DNA studies on Turkey
- Out-of-Anatolia: Cultural and genetic interactions during the Neolithic expansion in the Aegean (2025)
- Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük (2025)
- Identification of Haplogroups and Molecular Markers in Skeletal Samples Excavated from the Ancient City of Resuloglu (Ugurludag, Çorum) (2025)
- Inequality at the Dawn of the Bronze Age: The Case of Basur Höyük, a ‘Royal’ Cemetery at the Margins of the Mesopotamian World (2025)
- The cranium from the Octagon in Ephesos (2025)
- The genetic structure of the Turkish population reveals high levels of variation and admixture (2021)
Browse them in our ancient DNA database: 709 from Turkey.
Compare yourself with Laz
Paste your G25 coordinates (scaled, one line, with or without a name in front) and we compute your genetic distance to the Laz average and to its closest neighbours, right in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
| # | Population | Your distance | Closeness |
|---|
This list only covers Laz and its neighbours. To find out which of our reports actually fits your DNA, run the free Report Finder: it runs the same fit test that every report uses before an order.
No G25 coordinates yet? Get a free simulated G25 from your raw DNA file, or order G25 coordinates.
About these numbers
Keep in mind that a population average is a statistical summary of a limited number of sampled individuals. Real people inside any group vary, some carry more of one ancestry and some less, and no genetic profile decides who is or is not Laz. Use these numbers as a map of deep ancestry, not as a label.
Method: averaged G25 coordinates, Euclidean distances to other modern and ancient averages, and a non-negative least-squares model against deep ancestral reference populations (data generated 2026-10-01). Read the full method.
Go deeper than the average
This page describes the Laz average. Your own DNA has its own story: Anadolu – Anatolian Crossroads Report (15€) models your genome against the ancient sources and modern communities of the region, era by era, in a personal PDF report.
A report built for the peoples of Anatolia: six era models from Neolithic Barcın and the Hittite Bronze Age through Byzantine Anatolia, with the signature Medieval Turkic Arrival % (the Seljuk-era Central Asian layer, the closest measurable...
More populations from Caucasus
Frequently asked questions
What is the ancient genetic make-up of Laz?
Modelled with deep ancestral reference populations, the Laz average is about 44.8% Caucasus hunter-gatherers, 35.3% Anatolian Neolithic farmers and 10.4% Levantine Neolithic farmers. These proportions are model estimates for a group average, not exact values for any one person.
Which populations are genetically closest to Laz?
In the G25 data, the closest modern populations to the Laz average are Georgian (Laz), Georgian (Samtckhe) and Armenian (Hemsheni). The closest ancient matches are Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Klde (Chosroid), Georgia Late Antiquity Khimshiaant (Arsacid-Chosroid) and Georgia Late Antiquity-Early Medieval Fiqris Gora (Chosroid).
Can a DNA test tell me if I am Laz?
No DNA test can confirm an ethnicity or a nationality. What DNA can show is how similar your genome is to the sampled Laz average and to its neighbours. If you have G25 coordinates, paste them in the comparison box on this page to check that for free.
Which ExploreYourDNA report suits Laz ancestry?
For the Laz average, the regional report to choose is Anadolu – Anatolian Crossroads Report, which our fit test rates as an excellent match. Your own DNA may differ from the average, so the free Report Finder checks every report against your file before you buy.
Where does the data on this page come from?
From the averaged Global25 (G25) coordinates of the sampled individuals: genetic distances to other modern and ancient population averages, and a non-negative least-squares model against deep ancestral reference populations. The full method is described at https://www.exploreyourdna.com/populations#method.