Kara-Kalpak

Kara-Kalpak is a Turkic language spoken in the Kara-Kalpakstan Autonomous Republic, an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan. It is the only remaining Turkic language in Central Asia that is not written in the Cyrillic alphabet, instead using a version of the Latin alphabet. The Kara-Kalpak people have a long history, dating back to the days of the Silk Road. For centuries, they have been a nomadic people, moving from place to place in search of pasture for their animals. This way of life changed in the early 20th century when the Soviet Union began to settle the Kara-Kalpak people, and they were forced to give up their nomadic lifestyle. The Kara-Kalpak language is related to other Turkic languages, such as Uzbek and Kazakh. However, it is not mutually intelligible with these languages, and Kara-Kalpak speakers need to learn Uzbek or Kazakh in order to communicate with speakers of those languages. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kara-Kalpak people have been working to revive their language and culture. Many Kara-Kalpak children are now learning the language in school, and there are a number of radio and television programs in Kara-Kalpak.