ozbek

Ozbek, often written O’zbek in Uzbek, is the autonym used for the Uzbek people and their language. The term is closely associated with Uzbekistan, a Central Asian country, and denotes both an ethnic group and a linguistic community that is predominant there.

The Uzbek language, called O’zbek tili in Uzbek, is a member of the Turkic language family, specifically the Karluk branch. It is the official language of Uzbekistan and is spoken by the majority of its population. Uzbek is also used by communities in neighboring countries and by a large global diaspora. The language is written in Latin script in Uzbekistan today, a change that followed the Soviet era when Cyrillic script was standard; historically, Arabic script was also used. Uzbek features vowel harmony and agglutinative morphology, with extensive use of suffixes and substantial loanwords from Persian, Arabic, Russian, and other languages.

Ethnographically, Uzbeks form the largest ethnic group in Uzbekistan and have a long historical presence in the region of Transoxiana. The ethnogenesis of the Uzbek people is tied to medieval Turkic and Mongol-era groupings, with influential dynasties and khanates centered in regions such as Bukhara and Khiva. In the modern era, the Uzbek people contributed to the cultural and political development of Central Asia, and the modern state of Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Uzbek culture encompasses literature, music, architecture, and cuisine, with notable traditions in poetry, craftsmanship, and dishes such as plov, mantu, and non bread.