An ethnic melting pot
For a long time, ethnic groups lived side by side, but never really mixed. The only mixed marriages were between Russians, Ukrainians or Tatars and some local ethnic groups, but very rarely between Kirghiz, Kazakhs and Tajiks or Uzbeks. This absence of mixing explains the preservation of each way of life, culture and tradition, or distinctive clothing, even if seven decades of Soviet rule and the turn towards modernity after independence smoothed out some of these differences.
Even today, you only have to walk through a bazaar, or wait for a train on a station platform, to notice the diversity of physical characteristics, and you can't help but wonder to which community or which page of history each belongs. Turkic-speaking peoples are in the majority, but there is a strong Persian-speaking Tajik minority, living mainly in Tajikistan and the Zeravchan valley in Uzbekistan. Tajiks can be found in the Nourata mountains, south of Lake Aydar Kul, and are in the majority in Bukhara and Samarkand, historically Persian cities that Stalin's territorial division pushed to the Uzbek side of the border.
Majority Uzbeks
Uzbeks are the largest ethnic community in Central Asia, accounting for almost 40% of the population of the five Central Asian republics. In Uzbekistan, they make up three quarters of the population, but account for 2% in Kazakhstan, 10% in Turkmenistan, almost 15% in Kyrgyzstan and no less than 25% in Tajikistan. In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, they are mainly concentrated in the Ferghana Valley, a historically Uzbek stronghold that was divided between the three republics by Stalin when the borders were drawn.
The second community is that of the Russians who remained after independence. They make up 5% of the population, on a par with Tajiks (less than 5%). Rounding out the picture are Kazakhs (around 4%), Karakalpaks (2%), Tatars (2%), Koreans (1%) and Ukrainians (1%). The remaining 5% is made up of dozens of groups or sub-groups: Chechens, Byelorussians, Germans, Armenians... who immigrated or were forcibly displaced during the Soviet occupation.
Although all these populations were granted Uzbek nationality at independence, the sense of ethnic belonging still prevails.
Who are the Uzbeks?
The Uzbeks are a Turkic-speaking, Muslim, Sunni ethnic group who have lived in what is now Uzbekistan, in the Tajik and Kyrgyz parts of the Ferghana Valley and in northern Afghanistan, around Mazar-i-Sharif, since the early 16th century.
But just as Turks don't originate in Istanbul, Uzbeks don't have their cradle in Uzbekistan. Their origins go back to Ozbeg khan, one of the leaders of the Golden Horde. Descending from Kazakhstan in the early 16th century, they drove the Timurids out of present-day Uzbekistan. Their leader, Chaybani khan, founded his new kingdom there, establishing himself north of the Amu Darya and creating the system of Uzbek khanates that lasted until the Soviet conquest.
Tajiks, Russians, Jews...
The Tajiks are a Persian, Iranian-speaking, Sunni Muslim ethnic group, originally settled in Sogdiana, and today in present-day Tajikistan, the southern part of Kyrgyzstan and northeastern Afghanistan. They make up the majority of the population in the Samarkand and Bukhara regions. The Tajiks were the first sedentary peoples of Central Asia.
The Russians and Ukrainians are all descendants of settlers who arrived in the 19th century, or emigrated following the Second World War. After the 1966 Tashkent earthquake, many Russians helped rebuild the city and chose to live here. Nevertheless, a large part of the community has returned to Russia since independence. The small German minority is descended from Volga Germans who emigrated to Central Asia during the colonial era. Most of them returned to their homeland after Uzbekistan's independence and the reunification of the two Germanies.
Finally, let's not forget the large Jewish community known as "Bukhara". Their origins remain obscure and, according to some historians, date back to the Achaemenid Empire (6th-3rd BC). Often equated (wrongly, it seems) with Sephardic Jews from the East, they are said to have been relocated by Tamerlane in the 14th century. The community numbered 100,000 in 1990. Many of them chose to emigrate to Israel or the United States in the months following independence, but only 3,000 remain in the country (including 350 in Bukhara in 2023). There are a dozen synagogues (including 2 in Bukhara, compared with 30 previously).
What language should I speak?
Uzbek belongs to the Turkic group of languages, the majority in the region. Of the five Central Asian republics, only the Tajiks are Iranian-speaking. The Uzbek of the Ferghana Valley is considered the purest, and the inhabitants of Khorezm, at the other end of the country, do not always understand their compatriots from the east. A large part of the population (especially the elderly) speaks Russian, more or less well, but always enough to make themselves understood. Children don't speak it, except those sent to Russian or Russian-Uzbek schools. It's when they enter the job market that the language takes on greater importance in everyday life. Learning is greatly facilitated by the omnipresence of Russian media: television broadcasts all Russian channels (entertainment, news, lifestyle, sports...).
As for other foreign languages, more and more schoolchildren and students are learning English. In the major tourist centers, you'll have no trouble finding English-speaking contacts. French is also on the rise, and many tourist agencies are able to provide the services of excellent French-speaking guides.
