East Turkestan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(April 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

East Turkestan

Chinese name

Traditional Chinese:

東突厥斯坦

Simplified Chinese:

东突厥斯坦

Transliterations
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin:	Dōng Tūjuésītăn

alternative Chinese name

Traditional Chinese:

東土耳其斯坦

Simplified Chinese:

东土耳其斯坦

Transliterations
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin:	Dōng Tǔěrqísītǎn

Uyghur name

Uyghur:

شەرقىي تۈركىستان
Sherqiy Türkistan ‎

East Turkestan (also transliterated: East Turkistan; Uyghur: Sherqiy Türkistan), also known as Uyghurstan, is the part of greater Turkistan in Xinjiang, China and far eastern Central Asia. The area is largely inhabited by Turkic peoples.^[1] Famed merchant and explorer Marco Polo crossed Turkistan in the year 1272.

The languages of East Turkistan

Greater Turkistan is subdivided into West (former Soviet Union countries) and East Turkestan (administered as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China). The Tian Shan (Tengri Tagh) and Pamir mountain ranges form the rough division between the two Turkistans. East Turkistan (modern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) contains some of the great cities of Turkic culture, notably Kashgar, Hotan, Turfan, Yarkand, Ili (Ghulja), Kumul, Aqsu, Kucha and Altay.