Tajik_(china)

Tajiks in China
Total population
41,028The Tajik Ethnic Group. China.org.cn (June 21, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
Regions with significant populations
Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County
Language(s)
Sarikoli, Wakhi
Religion(s)
Ismaili Shi\'ah Islam, Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Pamiri, Wakhi, Tajik

Tajiks in China (Chinese: 塔吉克族, Pinyin: Tǎjíkèzú) are one of the 56 nationalities officially recognized by the People\'s Republic of China.

This group, with a population of 41,028 (2000), is located mainly in China\'s western Xinjiang region with 60% living in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County; some researchers view them as a collection of over a dozen small East Iranian ethnic groups that are related to, but distinct from, the Tajiks of Tajikistan.^{[citation needed]} The Ethnologue claims that they are actually Shugni and Wakhi.Ethnologue report for language code:tgk Aurel Stein, and other writers from his time referred to them simply as Sarikoli. A Journey of Geographical and Archarological Exploration in Chinese Turkestan A Stein - 1904 - [sn] ... 15,800 feet above the sea), into Chinese territory on the Taghdumbash Pamir, using the yaks of the Sarikoli herdsmen...The Heart of a Continent - Younghusband - ...an encampment belonging to a Sarikoli, who very kindly asked me to have some refreshment... (pg 242) Some have referred to them simply as "Mountain Tajiks"Through the Unknown Pamirs; the Second Danish Pamir Expedition 1898-99 By Ole Olufsen Robert Shaw considered them Sarikoli\'s and Wakhi\'s, referring to them collectively as Ghalchah.

In China, the languages of the Tajiks have no official written form. The great majority of Chinese Tajik speakers speak the Sarikoli language and use Uyghur, Kyrgyz or Chinese to communicate with people of other nationalities in the area. A small proportion of Chinese Tajik speakers speak Wakhi.

See also

• Iranian peoples
• Iranian languages

External links

• The Tajik ethnic minority (China) (government website, in English)

References

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