Uzbeks

The Uzbeks (Oʻzbek, pl. Oʻzbeklar) are a major Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Smaller diaspora populations of Uzbeks from Central Asia, mainly from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, are also found in Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, North America, and Western Europe. Additionally, about 70,000 ethnic-Uzbek refugees from Afghanistan were estimated by the UN in 2005 to be residing in Pakistan.