Tajiks in Uzbekistan

{{Short description|Ethnic Tajiks living in Uzbekistan}}{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Tajiks in Uzbekistan

| native_name = Тоҷикони Ӯзбекистон

| native_name_lang = tgk

| image = Таджики в Узбекистане.png

| image_caption = A map of Tajiks in Uzbekistan per region, according to the official 2021 censusThese numbers come from the 2021 official Uzbekistan census, the numbers this census produced are contested

Dark Blue: over 100,000

Mid Blue: 30,000-100,000

Light Blue: less than 30,000

| population = *Official: 4.8% (1,657,336)These numbers come from the 2021 official Uzbekistan census, the numbers this census produced are contested

Unofficial estimation: 25-30%

| languages = Tajiki, Bukharian and Uzbek

| religions = Islam and Judaism

| related_groups = Other Iranian peoples

}}

Tajiks in Uzbekistan are ethnic Tajiks residing in the Republic of Uzbekistan. According to the Uzbek government, Tajiks constituted 4.8% of Uzbekistan's population in 2021. Other estimates put the number of Tajiks in Uzbekistan at a much higher 25-30%.Richard Foltz, "The Tajiks of Uzbekistan", Central Asian Survey, 15(2), 213-216 (1996). While the precise number of Tajiks in Uzbekistan is debated, it is agreed upon that they are the second largest ethnic group in Uzbekistan after Uzbeks.

History

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Population

While official Uzbek statistics estimate the Tajik population to be 4.8%,{{Cite web |date=2008-06-20 |title=Population |url=http://www.umid.uz/Main/Uzbekistan/Population/population.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620072910/http://www.umid.uz/Main/Uzbekistan/Population/population.html |archive-date=2008-06-20 |access-date=2024-07-03}}{{Citation |title=Uzbekistan |date=2024-06-20 |work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/uzbekistan/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}} Tajiks may actually constitute 25% to 30% of the total population. Samarkand, the third-largest city in Uzbekistan,{{Cite web |title=Samarqand viloyati statistika boshqarmasi |url=https://samstat.uz/uz/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=samstat.uz}} and the ancient city of Bukhara both have Tajik majority populations.{{Cite web |date=2019-03-22 |title=Узбекистан: Таджикский язык подавляется :: Озодагон |url=http://catoday.org/tjru/11180-uzbekistan-tadzhikskiy-yazyk-podavlyaetsya |access-date=2024-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322114708/http://catoday.org/tjru/11180-uzbekistan-tadzhikskiy-yazyk-podavlyaetsya |archive-date=2019-03-22 }}

Due to assimilation pressures starting in 1924 with the establishment of the Uzbek SSR, many ethnic Tajiks identified themselves as Uzbeks in population censuses and preferred to be registered as Uzbek in their passports to avoid relocation to the less developed agricultural and mountainous regions of the Tajik SSR.Rahim Masov, The History of the Clumsy Delimitation, Irfon Publ. House, Dushanbe, 1991 {{in lang|ru}}. English translation: [https://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Masov/frame.html The History of a National Catastrophe], transl. Iraj Bashiri, 1996.

The increase in the percentage of Tajiks from 3.9% in 1979 to 4.7% in 1989 in the first table can be partly attributed to a change in census instructions. The 1989 census allowed respondents to report their nationality based on ethnic self-identification rather than passport information for the first time.{{Cite web |date=2008-10-06 |title=Ethnic Atlas of Uzbekistan |url=http://ula.uzsci.net/publishing/ru/etnic.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006133509/http://ula.uzsci.net/publishing/ru/etnic.htm |archive-date=2008-10-06 |access-date=2024-07-03}}

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| valign="top" style="width:50%;" |

{| class="wikitable"

|+The official number of Tajiks in Uzbekistan since 1926These Numbers come from official Soviet and Uzbek censuses, the numbers these censuses produced are contested

!Year

!Number

!Percent

!Source

1926

|350,670

|7.4%

|{{Cite web |date=2015-02-08 |title=All-Union Population Census of 1926. |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_26.php |access-date=2024-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208033435/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_26.php |archive-date=2015-02-08 }}

1939

|317,560

|5.1%

|{{Cite web |date=2011-07-22 |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_39.php |access-date=2024-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722045014/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_39.php |archive-date=2011-07-22 }}

1959

|311,375

|3.8%

|{{Cite web |date=2010-03-16 |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_59.php |access-date=2024-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316172652/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_59.php |archive-date=2010-03-16 }}

1970

|457,356

|3.8%

|{{Cite web |date=2009-12-03 |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_70.php |access-date=2024-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203151519/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_70.php |archive-date=2009-12-03 }}

1979

|594,627

|3.9%

|{{Cite web |date=2010-03-24 |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_79.php |access-date=2024-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324145212/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_79.php |archive-date=2010-03-24 }}

1989

|933,560

|4.7%

|{{Cite web |date=2010-03-16 |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316172713/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php |archive-date=2010-03-16 |access-date=2024-07-03}}

2017

|1,544,700

|4.8%

|{{Cite web |date=2023-02-02 |title=Telegram: Contact @statistika_rasmiy |url=https://t.me/statistika_rasmiy/1250 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202223105/https://t.me/statistika_rasmiy/1250 |archive-date=2023-02-02 |access-date=2024-07-03}}

2021

|1,657,336

|4.8%

|{{Cite web |date=2023-02-02 |title=Permanent population by national and / or ethnic group, urban / rural place of residence |url=https://data.egov.uz/eng/data/6117a05996188a0f14ac917b?page=1 |access-date=2024-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202184355/https://data.egov.uz/eng/data/6117a05996188a0f14ac917b?page=1 |archive-date=2023-02-02 }}

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class="wikitable sortable"

|+The official 2021 number of Tajiks in Uzbekistan per region/republicThese numbers come from the 2021 official Uzbekistan census, the numbers this census produced are contested

!Region of Uzbekistan

!Number

|334,120

|280,447

|255,699

|223,516

|164,519