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Kyrgyz
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Kyrgyz kalpak Xinjiang, China: Kyrgyz mosque in the Pamirs
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Kyrgyz kalpak
Kyrgyz kalpak Kyrgyz man wearing a traditional Kyrgyz kalpak hat.

Kyrgyz

people
Also known as: Kirghiz, Kirgiz
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Kyrgyz, Turkic-speaking people of Central Asia, most of whom live in Kyrgyzstan. Small numbers reside in Afghanistan, in western China, and in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkey. The Kyrgyz language belongs to the Northwestern, or Kipchak, group of the Turkic languages, a subfamily of Altaic languages. The people are largely Sunni Muslim in religion. Like other Central Asian peoples, the Kyrgyz were traditionally nomadic and pastoral. During the second half of the 19th century, Kirgiziya...

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