Uigur

Member of a Turkic people living in northwestern China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan; they form about 80% of the population of the Chinese province of Xinjiang Uygur. There are about 5 million speakers of Uigur, a language belonging to the Turkic branch of the Altaic family; it is the official language of the province.

The Uigur are known to have lived in the region since the 3rd century AD, and ruled Mongolia in the 8th century. The Uigur Empire was destroyed by the Kirgiz in 840, after which it split into two kingdoms, one in Kansu and the other in Bishbalik and Karakhoja. The Uigur converted to Islam in the 14th century, although shamanism is still practised. They came under Chinese rule in the 17th century, at which time a small number fled to Kazakhstan. Farmers and stock breeders, they practise irrigation in valley oases to produce cereals and cotton. Their culture is close to that of the Uzbeks.