Uzbek

Uzbek is a member of the Turkic branch of the Altaic language family. It is descended from Chagatai Turkic, an extinct Turkic language which once served as a lingua franca in Central Asia. The word Chagatai relates to the Chagatai Khanate, the western part of the Mongol empire, left to Genghis Khan's second son Chagatai Khan.

Chagatai Turkic was written with the Arabic alphabet and was influenced by Arabic and Persian. In the 14th century, the Chagatai Khanate was conquered by Timur, a native of Samarkand. Timur's successors were later ousted from the Chagatai Khanate by the Uzbeks. The Kazakhs, originated as dissident Uzbeks during the same period. Both groups became part of the Soviet Union in 1917. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan became independent countries.

Northern Uzbek
In 1989, Northern Uzbek became the official language of the Republic of Uzbekistan where it is spoken as a first language by 16.5 million people. Today, it is used in the media, education, entertainment, in business, and in government. More than half of the newspapers in Uzbekistan are published in Uzbek. Education in Uzbek is available from elementary to post-secondary level. It is also spoken in the other Central Asian countries, in addition to small expatriate communities in North America, Australia, and Europe (Ethnologue).

Southern Uzbek
Southern Uzbek is a related language spoken by about 1.5 million people in Afghanistan. It has a low literacy rate. It is also spoken in Pakistan and Turkey (Ethnologue).

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