Uzbeks

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Uzbeks Turkic-speaking people, originally of Persian culture, who form 71% of the population of the Republic of Uzbekistan. They took their name from Uzbeg Khan (d. 1340), a chief of the Golden Horde. By the end of the 16th century, the Uzbeks had extended their rule to parts of Persia, Afghanistan and Chinese Turkistan. Their empire was never united and in the 19th century its various states were absorbed by Russia.

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