Bashkirs

Bashkirs

Башҡорттар (Bashkir)
Bashkirs of Baymak in traditional dress
Total population
1.6 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Russia  1,571,879[2] •  Bashkortostan 1,268,806
Kazakhstan	19,996 (2023)[3]
Uzbekistan	3,707 (2000)[4]
Ukraine	3,200[5]
Belarus	607 (2009)
Turkmenistan	3,820 (1995)[6]
Moldova	600[7]
Latvia	205 (2023)[8][9]
Lithuania	84 (2011)
Estonia	112[10]
Kyrgyzstan	1,111[11]
Georgia	379[12]
Azerbaijan	533[13]
Armenia	145[14]
Tajikistan	143 (2010)[15]
Languages
Bashkir, Russian, Tatar[16]
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Volga Tatars, Kazakhs,[17] Nogais,[18][19] Crimean Tatars,[20] Hungarians[21]

The Bashkirs (UK: /bæʃˈkɪərz/ bash-KEERZ, US: /bɑːʃˈkɪərz/ bahsh-KEERZ) or Bashkorts (Bashkir: Башҡорттар, romanized: Başqorttar, IPA: [bɑʂ.qʊɾt.ˈtaɾ]; Russian: Башкиры, pronounced [bɐʂˈkʲirɨ]) are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Russia. They are concentrated in Bashkortostan, a republic of the Russian Federation and in the broader historical region of Badzhgard, which spans both sides of the Ural Mountains, where Eastern Europe meets North Asia. Smaller communities of Bashkirs also live in the Republic of Tatarstan, the oblasts of Perm Krai, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk and Kurgan and other regions in Russia; sizeable minorities exist in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Most Bashkirs speak the Bashkir language, which is similar to Tatar and Kazakh languages. The Bashkir language belongs to the Kipchak branch of Turkic languages; they share historical and cultural affinities with the broader Turkic peoples. Bashkirs are mainly Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi madhhab, or school of jurisprudence, and follow the Jadid doctrine. Previously nomadic and fiercely independent, the Bashkirs gradually came under Russian rule beginning in the 16th century; they have since played a major role through the history of Russia, culminating in their autonomous status within the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia.