Dungans

*Population estimates for 1994

Dungans are the Central Asian people living in Kyrgyzstan (not far from the cities of Przhevalsk and Osh) and Kazakhstan (east of the city of Djambul). Culturally and linguistically, they are close to the Chinese Dungans. The language of the Central Asian Dungans was formed on the basis of the Shansi and Gansu dialects of North China’s spoken languages with numerous borrowings from Arabic, Persian, Turkic, and Russian. The Dungans are mostly bilingual. Besides their own language they speak either Kyrgyz, Kazakh, or Russian.

The Central Asian Dungans have originated from the Dungans of the following Chinese provinces: Shansi, Gansu, and Sintszyan. They fled from those places after the Dungan Revolt of 1862-1877.

In their everyday life, the Dungans are primarily engaged in agriculture, growing rice, vegetables, and opium (for medicine). Some Dungans work in industry.

Dungan believers follow Islamic ideas.