Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.[37][38]

Quick facts: Total population, Regions with significant po... ▼

Turkic peoples

The distribution of the Turkic languages
Total population
Over 170 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Turkey	60,000,000–65,000,000[2][3]
Uzbekistan	31,900,000[4][additional citation(s) needed]
Iran	15,000,000–20,000,000[5][6] (18% of population[7])
Russia	12,751,502[citation needed]
Kazakhstan	12,300,000[8][additional citation(s) needed]
China	11,647,000[9][additional citation(s) needed]
Azerbaijan	10,000,000[10][additional citation(s) needed]
European Union	5,876,318[citation needed] (Bulgaria 508,375[11])
Afghanistan	4,600,000–5,300,000 (2017)[12][13]
Turkmenistan	4,233,600[14][15][16][note 1]
Kyrgyzstan	4,500,000[19][additional citation(s) needed]
Iraq	3,000,000[20][21]
Tajikistan	1,200,000[22][additional citation(s) needed]
United States	1,000,000+[23]
Syria	800,000–1,000,000+[24]
Ukraine	398,600[25]
Northern Cyprus	313,626[26]
Australia	59,488[27] (Turkish)
Mongolia	135,618[28][29]
Lebanon	200,000[30][31][32][33]
Moldova	126,010[34]
North Macedonia	81,900[35][36]
Languages
Turkic languages
Religion
Various religions

According to historians and linguists, the Proto-Turkic language originated in Central-East Asia,[39] potentially in Mongolia or Tuva.[40][41] Initially, Proto-Turkic speakers were potentially both hunter-gatherers and farmers, but later became nomadic pastoralists.[42] Early and medieval Turkic groups exhibited a wide range of both East Asian and West-Eurasian physical appearances and genetic origins, in part through long-term contact with neighboring peoples such as Iranian, Mongolic, Tocharian, Uralic and Yeniseian peoples, and others.[43][44][45]

Many vastly differing ethnic groups have throughout history become part of the Turkic peoples through language shift, acculturation, conquest, intermixing, adoption, and religious conversion.[1] Nevertheless, Turkic peoples share, to varying degrees, non-linguistic characteristics like cultural traits, ancestry from a common gene pool, and historical experiences.[1] Some of the most notable modern Turkic ethnic groups include the Altai people, Azerbaijanis, Chuvash people, Gagauz people, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz people, Turkmens, Turkish people, Tuvans, Uyghurs, Uzbeks, and Yakuts.