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Uzbeks
Total population - 22-28 million
Regions with significant populations -
Uzbekistan (21,480,000), Afghanistan (2,700,000), Tajikistan (1,120,000), Kyrgyzstan (711,000), Turkmenistan (450,000), Kazakhstan (371,000), Russia (126,000), China (14,800), Ukraine (13,000),
Language - Uzbek, northern and southern dialects
Religion Islam
Related ethnic groups - other Turkic peoples (Uyghurs, Mongols, Tuvans, Karluks), Tajiks
The Uzbeks (Self designation sg. Ozbek, pl. Ozbeklar) are a Turkic people of Central Asia and comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan and are also located in other adjacent countries in the region. Uzbeks can be found primarily in Uzbekistan, along with large populations in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Xinjiang province of China. Smaller diaspora populations of Uzbeks from Central Asia are also found in Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, North America and Western Europe.
Name
The origin of the name Uzbek remains disputed. One view holds that it is eponymously named after Uzbeg Khan, although the nomadic Uzbeks were never entirely subject to him. An etymological argument states that the name means independent or the lord itself, from O`z (self) and Bek (a noble title of leadership).
Genetic origins
The modern Uzbek population represents varying degrees of diversity derived from the high traffic invasion routes through Central Asia. Once populated by Iranian tribes and other Indo-European peoples, Central Asia experienced numerous invasions emanating out of Mongolia that would drastically impact the region.
The Uzbek population shows substantial East Asian ancestry, with significant Caucasoid admixture. The Uzbeks display a somewhat closer genetic relationship with Turkic-Mongols than with Iranic populations to the south and west.
Another study out of Uzbekistan corroborates this genetic evidence as to the origins of the modern Uzbeks and other regional Turkic peoples.
The Turkic peoples as a whole share common languages and many common cultural traits, but do not have common origins. The Uzbeks are descended to a large degree from Turkic-Mongol invaders whose invasions span literally millennia from the first millennium CE with the early migrations of the Gokturks to later invasions by the Uzbeks themselves during the early and mid period of the 2nd millennium. Throughout the centuries, these migrating Altaic peoples began to outnumber the native Iranian peoples of Central Asia and appear to have assimilated the vast majority through intermarriage, while mainly the Tajiks survived albeit with some Turkic intermingling as well. Thus, in the case of Uzbekistan and most other Central Asian states, it was not only a process of language replacement, such as what took place in Turkey and Azerbaijan, but also a mass migration and population replacement that helped to shape the modern Turkic peoples of Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states.
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