Demographics
See also: List of Turkic groupsThe distribution of people of Turkic cultural background ranges from Siberia, across Central Asia, to Eastern Europe. As of 2011 the largest groups of Turkic people live throughout Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan, in addition to Turkey and Iran. Additionally, Turkic people are found within Crimea, East Turkistan region of western China, northern Iraq, Israel, Russia, Afghanistan, and the Balkans: Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, and former Yugoslavia. A small number of Turkic people also live in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Small numbers inhabit eastern Poland and the south-eastern part of Finland. There are also considerable populations of Turkic people (originating mostly from Turkey) in Germany, United States, and Australia, largely because of migrations during the 20th century.
Sometimes ethnographers group Turkic people into six branches: the Oghuz Turks, Kipchak, Karluk, Siberian, Chuvash, and Sakha/Yakut branches. The Oghuz have been termed Western Turks, while the remaining five, in such a classificatory scheme, are called Eastern Turks.
All the Turkic peoples native to Central Asia are of mixed Caucasoid and Mongoloid origin. The genetic distances between the different populations of Uzbeks scattered across Uzbekistan is no greater than the distance between many of them and the Karakalpaks. This suggests that Karakalpaks and Uzbeks have very similar origins. The Karakalpaks have a somewhat greater bias towards the eastern markers than the Uzbeks.
The Turkic people display a great variety of ethnic types. They possess physical features ranging from Caucasoid to Northern Mongoloid. Mongoloid and Caucasoid facial structure is common among many Turkic groups, such as Chuvash people, Tatars, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and Bashkirs. Historically, the racial classification of the Turkic peoples was sometimes given as "Turanid".
The following incomplete list of Turkic people shows the respective groups' core areas of settlement and their estimated sizes (in millions):
| People | Region | Population | Modern language |
|---|---|---|---|
Turkish people
|
Turkey, Germany, Bulgaria, Georgia, Syria | 60 70 M | Turkish |
Azerbaijanis
|
Azerbaijan Republic, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Russia, Georgia | 42 30 M | Azerbaijani |
| Uzbeks | Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan | 32 28,3 M | Uzbek |
| Kazakhs | Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Uzbekistan | 15 13.8 M | Kazakh |
| Uyghurs | China (Xinjiang), Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey | 15 9 M | Uyghur |
| Turkmens | Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan, | 03 8 M | Turkmen |
| Tatars | Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Poland, Lithuania, Finland | 07 7 M | Tatar |
| Kyrgyzs | Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, China, Tajikistan | 026 4,5 M | Kyrgyz |
| Bashkirs | Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan | 009 2 M | Bashkir |
| Crimean Tatars | Ukraine (Crimea), Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Romania | 009 0.5 to 2 M | Crimean Tatar |
| Qashqai | Iran | 009 1.7 M | Qashqai |
| Chuvashes | Russia | 010 1.7 M | Chuvash |
| Karakalpaks | Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan | 007 0.6 M | Karakalpak |
| Yakuts | Russia | 007 0.5 M | Sakha |
| Kumyks | Russia | 007 0.4 M | Kumyk |
| Karachays and Balkars | Russia, Turkey | 007 0.4 M | Karachay-Balkar |
| Tuvans | Russia | 009 0.3 M | Tuvan |
| Gagauzs | Moldova | 009 0.2 M | Gagauz |
| Turkic Karaites and Krymchaks | Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Turkey | 007 0.2 M | Karaim and Krymchak |
Read more about this topic: Turkic Peoples