KARAKALPAK (Uzbekistan)

Family
Central-(Kipchak)-Turkish

Country
Uzbekistan

Language code
KAC

Continent
Asia

Alternate language names
KARAKLOBUK, TCHORNY, KLOBOUKI

Dialect names
NORTHEASTERN KARAKALPAK, SOUTHEAS- TERN KARAKALPAK

Genetic affiliation
Altaic, Turkic, Western, Aralo-Caspian

Geographical region
Karakalpak ASSR, Uzbekistan, along the lower Amu Darya and around the southern part of the Aral Sea

Population
293,000 mother tongue speakers (96%) out of an ethnic population of 303,000 in Uzbekistan (1979 census); 2,000 in Afghanistan; 295,000 total

Bilingual in
Uzbek, Russian

Remarks
It has literary status; some literature. Cyrillic script. Speakers use Uzbek or Russian as second language

Subsistence type
Fishermen in Aral Sea, agricul- turalists, craftsmen

Religion
Sunni Muslim

Total speakers
295,000

Also in
Afghanistan