It is spoken in the Republic of Karakalpakstan by close to half a million people and has an official status there.

[citation needed] Before the 1920s, the written language of Uzbeks was called Turki (known to Western scholars as Chagatai) and used the Nastaʿlīq script.

In 1993 Uzbekistan shifted back to the Latin script (Uzbek alphabet), which was modified in 1996 and has been taught in schools since 2000.

Russian is an important language for interethnic communication, especially in the cities, including much day-to-day technical, scientific, governmental and business use.

The Persian language is widespread throughout Uzbekistan, being spoken by anywhere between 10-20% of the population, especially in the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand which remain predominantly Persian-speaking.

[11] It is also found in large pockets in Kasansay, Chust, Rishtan and Sokh and Chodak in Ferghana Valley, as well as in Burchmulla, Ahangaran, Baghistan in the middle Syr Darya district, and finally in, Shahrisabz, Qarshi, Kitab and the river valleys of Kafiringan and Chaganian.