Uzbek

Uzbeks (O'zbek, Pl. O'zbeklar) are a Central Asian group of Turkic linguistic and cultural origins found primarily in Uzbekistan, as well as large populations also living in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Xinjiang province of China. The Uzbeks belong to the Mongoloid ethnic group and are a fusion of natives indigenous to the Uzbek area with Mongols and Persian peoples.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Uzbeks are Muslims (mainly Sunni Islam) in a form that became somewhat weakened during the Soviet Union; however, Uzbek independence saw a revival in Islamic interest after 1991. Conversion to Islam of people living in the area of modern Uzbekistan came as early as the 8th Century AD as Arab troops invaded the area, displacing Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Nestorian Christianity. Victory of the Arabs over the Chinese in 751 at the Battle of Talas (north east of modern Tashkent - now called Dzhambul in Kazakhstan) ensured the future dominance of Islam in Turkic Central Asia.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Uzbek language is a Turkic language, related to Uyghur, Kazakh, Turkmen and more distantly, to Turkish.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turkic: Turkic may refer to:...

Uzbekistan: The Republic of Uzbekistan is adoubly landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

Afghanistan: Afghanistan (Pashtu/Dari-Persian: ?????????, Af??nist?n) is a country in Asia. It is in Central Asia and fringes upon South Asia and is sometimes allocated to one of these regions and it is often considered part of the Middle East due to its location on the Iranian plateau. It is bordered by Iran in...