| Population |
2,448,220 in the former USSR (1993 UBS), 98% of the 2,539,000 Kirghiz speak it as mother tongue. Population total all countries 2,631,420. |
| Region |
Throughout the country. Also spoken in Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey (Asia), Uzbekistan. |
| Alternate names |
KARA-KIRGIZ, KIRGIZ |
| Dialects |
NORTHERN KIRGIZ, SOUTHERN KIRGIZ. |
| Classification |
Altaic, Turkic, Western, Aralo-Caspian. |
| Comments |
29% speak Russian as second language. The Ichkilik are a Kirghiz-speaking people of non-Kirghiz origin. Books, theater. The names 'Eastern Kirghiz' and 'Western Kirghiz' have been erroneously applied to Kazakh. Increasing education. Increasing feelings of Islamic brotherhood. Cyrillic script. Schools in Kirghiz. Newspapers, radio programs, films, TV. Mountain slope. Sunni Muslim, some Lamaism. NT 1991. |
| Afghanistan |
| Language name |
KIRGHIZ |
| Population |
500 in Afghanistan (445 in the Great Pamir, plus a few in Badakhshan). |
| Alternate names |
KIRGHIZI, KIRGIZ |
| Comments |
Literacy rate in first language: Below 1%. Afghan Kirghiz do not read Cyrillic. Sunni Muslim. NT 1991. See main entry under Kyrgyzstan. |
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| China |
| Language name |
KIRGHIZ |
| Population |
141,549 in China (1990 census), including 50,000 in North Kirghiz, 50,000 in South Kirghiz. |
| Alternate names |
KIRGIZ, KARA, KE'ERKEZ |
| Comments |
Two dialects, divided by Kyzyl Su River. An official nationality in China. SOV. Literacy rate in second language: 59%. Uses a modified Arabic script in China. Agriculturalists. Sunni Muslim, some shamanist traditions. NT 1991. See main entry under Kyrgyzstan. |
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| Turkey (Asia) |
| Language name |
KIRGHIZ |
| Population |
1,137 in Turkey (1982). |
| Comments |
Refugees from Afghanistan; now Turkish citizens. Speakers in Turkey read Roman, but not Cyrillic, script. Sunni Muslim. NT 1991. See main entry under Kyrgyzstan. |
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