The Greek Orthodox communities of the Ottoman East can be roughly grouped into three geographical zones, each with different demographic, economic and social features.

On the western coast of Asia Minor, in a natural environment that favours communication and trade, a large number of Greek communities gathered. These populations mostly lived in urban centres and were engaged in trade and shipping or in liberal professions. As concerns the agricultural sector, the Greeks of this area were for the most part engaged in commercial cultivation. The Greeks made themselves felt by building national, religious institutions such as schools, including high schools, cultural clubs and foundations.

The geographical position of the Pontus favoured close ties with Russia. The communities here were organized through the institution of notables, and their major occupations were related to agriculture and wood-cutting.
Lastly, the natural isolation of Cappadocia affected the life of the Greek Orthodox, who confronted serious problems in preserving the Greek language. Most of them were Turkish-speaking, but remained Christian Orthodox. They were engaged in arable and animal farming. In the late nineteenth century the use of the Greek language was disseminated in Cappadocia and changes from Turkish names to Greek names was often observed.

The policy of the Young Turks and the climate that had resulted from the wars of the 1910s, created a feeling of exclusion and terror for the non-Muslim subjects of the Ottoman state. After the Balkan Wars but especially during the course of the First World War, Greeks suffered important persecutions and deportations. The Greek state undertook to represent the political and national concerns of the Greek Orthodox community. After the end of the War the western areas of Asia Minor were claimed for Greece; here Greeks formed the largest population density. The Catastrophe of 1922 and the Exodus signaled the end of the presence of the Greek Orthodox communities in Asia Minor.