GAGAUZ (Moldova)

Family
Western-(Oghuz)-Turkic languages

Country
Moldova

Language code
GAG

Continent
Europe

Alternate language names
GAGAUZI

Dialect names
BULGAR GAGAUZI, MARITIME GAGAUZI

Genetic affiliation
Altaic, Turkic, Southern, Turkish

Geographical region
Cultural center is Kishinev. Some also in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Romania

Population
173,000 in Moldova (1979 census), 89% speak it as mother tongue; 12,000 in Bulgaria (1982 estimate); 185,000 total or more

Printings of whole books of Bible
1927-1935

Status
Work in progress

Remarks
Has literary status. Cyrillic script introduced in 1957. Close to Turkish, but uses Russian Orthodox Christian religious vocabulary in contrast to the Islamic vocabulary of Turkish

Total speakers
185,000 or more

Religion
Christian

Also in
Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Kazakhstan