Central Asia

The languages of the majority of the inhabitants of the former Soviet Central Asian Republics come from the Turkic language group. Turkmen, closely related to Turkish (they are both members of the Oghuz group of Turkic), is mainly spoken in Turkmenistan. Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tatar are related languages of the Kypchak group of Turkic languages, and are spoken throughout Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Uzbek and Uyghur are spoken in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Xinjiang. Russian, as well as being spoken by the ethnic Russians of Central Asia, is a lingua franca throughout the former Soviet Central Asian Republics. Mandarin Chinese has an equally dominant presence in Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Xinjiang.

The Turkic languages belong to the much larger Altaic language family, which includes Mongolian. Mongolian is spoken throughout the region of Mongolia and into Qinghai and Xinjiang.

Iranian languages were once spoken throughout Central Asia, but the once prominent Sogdian, Bactrian and Scythian languages are now extinct. However, the Persian language is still spoken in the region, locally known as Dari or Tajik.

Central Asia: Definitions
Central Asia: Geography
Central Asia: Climate
Central Asia: History
Central Asia: Geostrategy
Central Asia: Culture
Central Asia: Religions
Central Asia: Arts
Central Asia: Demographics
Central Asia: Languages
Central Asia: External links
Central Asia: Travel
Central Asia: Tours
Central Asia: Tourism

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