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Kazakhs
Total population
approx. 16,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Kazakhstan 9,550,000  Uzbekistan 2,500,000 [1]  China 2,200,000 [2] Russia 1,310,000 [3]  Mongolia 100,000  Turkmenistan 120,000  Afghanistan 45,000  Kyrgyzstan 45,000  Turkey 30,000  Germany 17,000  Tajikistan 15,000  Iran 15,000  Ukraine 15,000  France 15,000  United States 10,000  Belarus 5,000  Canada 5,000  Azerbaijan 3,000  Georgia 3,000  Moldova 3,000  Pakistan 3,000  United Kingdom 2,000  Lithuania 2,000  Armenia 1,000  Estonia 1,000  Sweden 1,000
Language(s)
Kazakh, Russian (and/or languages in country of residence)
Religion(s)
Sunni Islam, Russian Orthodox,(Small minority)

The Kazakhs (also spelled Kazaks, Qazaqs; Kazakh: Қазақтар [qɑzɑqtɑr]; Russian: Казахи; the English name is transliterated from Russian) are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia (largely Kazakhstan, but also found in parts of Uzbekistan, China, Russia, and Mongolia).

There are many theories on the origin of the word "Kazak". "Qazaq" was included in a 13th century Turkic-Arabian dictionary, where its meaning was given as "independent" or "free".^{[citation needed]}. Both Kazaks and later Cossacks adopted Turkic social term "qazaq" as their name. The Kazakhs began using this name during either the 15th or 16th century.^[1]

In the 19th century, one etymological theory presented was that the name came from the Kazakh legend of the white goose (Qaz means goose, Aq means white).^[2] In this creation myth, a white goose flying over the great steppes was impregnated by the rays of the Sun, giving birth to the first Kazak.^[3] This version was rejected by linguists, because in Turkic languages, an adjective is put before a noun, therefore, "white goose" would be Aqqaz, not Qazaq.^{[citation needed]}

Another of the theories on the origin of the word "Kazakh" (originally "Qazaq") is that it comes from the ancient Turkic word "qazğaq", first mentioned on the 8th century Turkic monument of Uyuk-Turan. According to the notable Turkic linguist Vasily Radlov and the orientalist Veniamin Yudin, the noun "qazğaq" derives from the same root as the verb "qazğan" ("to obtain", "to gain"). Therefore, "qazğaq" defines a type of person that seeks profit and gain.^[4]

Kazakh stamps featuring a traditional bride's dress, groom's clothing and the interior of a kiyiz uy, a traditional Kazakh yurt.

Main article: Culture of Kazakhstan

Kazakhs are descendants of Turkic tribes (Kipchaks or Cumans), Mongol groups (Kereis, Naimans, etc.) and Indo-Iranian tribes (Wusun, Sarmatians, Scythians, etc.) which populated the territory between Siberia and the Black Sea and remained in Central Asia when the Turkic and Mongolic groups started to invade and conquer the area between the fifth and thirteenth centuries AD [4].

According to "Amazon Warrior Women," a PBS "Secrets of the Dead" episode, there is evidence that some of the Kazakh population are descendants of the culture which spawned the Amazon Warrior myth within Ancient Greek literature.

Due to their complex history, Kazakhs display phenotypical diversity. Kazakhs exhibit predominantly Mongoloid features. Fair to light-brown skin tends to be the norm. Among physical traits are aquiline noses, epicanthic folds and high cheekbones. Hair colour among Kazakhs varies from prevalent jet black to red and sandy brown. Hazel, green and blue eyes are not uncommon.

Many are also skilled in the performance of Kazakh traditional songs. One of the most commonly used traditional musical instruments of the Kazakhs is the dombra, a plucked lute with two strings. It is often used to accompany solo or group singing. Another popular instrument is Kobyz, a bow instrument played on the knees. Along with other instruments, these two instruments play a key role in the traditional Kazakh orchestra. A famous composer is Kurmangaz, who lived in the 19th century. A famous singer of the Soviet epoch is Roza Rimbayeva, she was a star of the trans-Soviet-Union scale. Among the modern performers is singer Toqtar. A famous Kazakh rock band is Ulker, performing in the genre of ethno-rock, which synthesises rock music with the traditional Kazakh music.

Main article: Kazakh language

The Kazakh language is a member of the Turkic language family, as are Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tatar, Uyghur, Turkish, Azeri, Turkmen, and many other living and historical languages spoken in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Xinjiang, and Siberia.

Kazakh belongs to the Kipchak (Northwestern) group of the Turkic language family. Kazakh is characterized, in distinction to other Turkic languages, by the presence of /s/ in place of reconstructed proto-Turkic */ʃ/ and /ʃ/ in place of */tʃ/; furthermore, Kazakh has /dʒ/ (alveodental affricate) where other Turkic languages have /j/ (glide).

Kazakh man in Kazakhstan

Kazakh, like most of the Turkic language family lacks phonemic vowel length, and as such there is no distinction between long and short vowels.

Kazakh was written with the Arabic script during the 19th century, when a number of poets, educated in Islamic schools, incited revolt against Russia. Russia's response was to set up secular schools and devise a way of writing Kazakh with the Cyrillic alphabet, which was not widely accepted. By 1917, the Arabic script was reintroduced, even in schools and local government.

In 1927, a Kazakh nationalist movement sprang up but was soon suppressed. At the same time the Arabic script was banned and the Latin alphabet was imposed for writing Kazakh. The Latin alphabet was in turn replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet in 1940.

Kazakh is one of the principal languages spoken in Kazakhstan, along with Russian. It is also spoken in the Ili region of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China, where the Arabic script is used, and in parts of Mongolia.

Approximate areas occupied by the three Kazakh jüz in the early 20th century.

Junior juz

Middle juz

Great juz

Due to their nomadic pastoral lifestyle, Kazakhs kept an epic tradition of oral history. They had to develop phenomenal memories in order to keep an account of their history. The nation, which amalgamated nomadic tribes of various Kazakh origins, managed to preserve the distant memory of the original founding clans. It was important for a Kazakh to know his or her genealogical tree for no less than seven generations back (known as şejire, from the Arabic word shajara - "tree").

The Kazakh marriage system was exogamous, with marriage between individuals with a common ancestor within seven generations considered taboo. In intertribal marriage, paternal descent is decisive.

In modern Kazakhstan, tribalism is officially prohibited, practically almost negligible, and definitely fading away in business and government life. Still it is common for Kazakhs to ask which tribe they belong to when they meet each other. Nowadays, it is more of a tradition than necessity. There is no hostility between tribes. Kazakhs, regardless of their tribal origin, consider themselves one nation.

The majority of Kazakhs belongs to one of the three juzes (juz, roughly translatable as "horde"): the "Great juz" (Ulı juz), "Middle juz" (Orta juz), and "Junior juz" (Kişi juz). Every juz consists of tribes (taypa) and clans (ruw). Also Kazakhs, but outside of the juz system are: tore (direct descendants of Genghis Khan), qoja/Khoja (descendants of Arabian missionaries and warriors), and tolengit (descendants of Oirat captives).

Minaret of Central Almaty Mosque

Islam was brought to the Kazakhs during the 8th century when the Arabs arrived into Central Asia. Islam initially took hold in the southern portions of Turkestan and thereafter gradually spread northward.^[5] Islam also took root due to the zealous missionary work of Samanid rulers, notably in areas surrounding Taraz^[6] where a significant number of Kazakhs accepted Islam. Additionally, in the late 1300s, the Golden Horde propagated Islam amongst the Kazakhs and other Central Asian tribes. During the 1700s, Russian influence toward the region rapidly increased throughout Central Asia. Led by Catherine, the Russians initially demonstrated a willingness in allowing Islam to flourish as Muslim clerics were invited into the region to preach to the Kazakhs whom the Russians viewed as "savages" and "ignorant" of morals and ethics.^[7][8] However, Russian policy gradually changed toward weakening Islam by introducing pre-Islamic elements of collective consciousness.^[9] Such attempts included methods of eulogizing pre-Islamic historical figures and imposing a sense of inferiority by sending Kazakhs to highly elite Russian military institutions.^[10]. In response, Kazakh religious leaders attempted to bring religious fervor by espousing pan-Turkism, though many were persecuted as a result.^[11] During the Soviet era, Muslim institutions survived only in areas where Kazakhs significantly outnumbered non-Muslims due to everyday Muslim practices.^[12] In an attempt to conform Kazakhs into Communist ideologies, gender relations and other aspects of the Kazakh culture were key targets of social change.^[13]

In more recent times however, Kazakhs have gradually employed determined effort in revitalizing Islamic religious institutions after the fall of the Soviet Union. While not strongly fundamentalist, Kazakhs continue to identify with their Islamic faith,^[14] and even more devotedly in the countryside. Those who claim descent from the original Muslim warriors and missionaries of the 8th century, command substantial respect in their communities.^[15] Kazakh political figures have also stressed the need to sponsor Islamic awareness. For example, the Kazakh Foreign Affairs Minister, Marat Tazhin, recently emphasized that Kazakhstan attaches importance to the use of "positive potential Islam, learning of its history, culture and heritage."^[16]

See also: Kazakh exodus from Xinjiang

Kazakhs, called Hāsàkè Zú in Chinese (哈萨克族; literally "Kazakh people" or "Kazakh nationality") are among 56 minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. In China there are two Kazakh autonomous prefectures, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai, three Kazakh autonomous counties, Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County in Gansu, Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County and Mori Kazakh Autonomous County in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Many Kazakhs in China are not fluent in Standard Mandarin, China's official language, instead speaking the Kazakh language.

Since the early 21st century, Mamuer Rayeskan, a young Kazakh musician from Qitai, Xinjiang now living in Beijing, has achieved some renown for his reworking of Kazakh folk songs with his group IZ, with which he sings and plays acoustic guitar, dombra, and Jew's harp.

In Russia, the Kazakh population lives in the regions bordering Kazakhstan. The 2002 Russian census recorded 655,000 Kazakhs living in the Astrakhan, Volgograd, Samara, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk and Altai Krai regions. Since they, their ancestors, and other Turkic peoples populated these areas long before Russian colonisation, Russian Kazakhs are irredenta. During the 1920s, however, significant numbers of Kazakh families were left outside the designated Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic; after the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, they acquired Russian citizenship.

Many Kazakhs live in Bayan-Ölgiy Province. The Kazakh folk music is widely admired and loved in Mongolia.

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Significant Kazakh population in Karakalpakstan and Tashkent oblast.

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• List of Kazakh historical figures
• Demographics of Kazakhstan

• Ethnographic map of Kazakhstan
• Kazakhs in France - AKFT
• World Association of the Kazakhs
• http://sana.gov.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=342
• Massagan.com (The largest web site in kazakh language)
• Suhbat (Atameken Toby)
• Secrets of the Dead: Amazon Warrior Women (PBS)
• Turk monument of Uyuk-Turan mentioning the word "qazğaq"
• Massagan.com - The Largest Kazakh Web Portal