Banner: Ylak - an ancient Bashkir game on horseback
ffrinat - stock.adobe.com
Population of Speakers: 1.4 million
Area: The Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian Federation and neighboring area
Language Family: Turkic >> Common Turkic >> Kipchak >> North Kipchak >>
Bashkir, along with Russian, is the official language of the Republic of Bashkortostan (formerly Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic). The language is used in education. For instance, it is studied as a subject and used as a medium of instruction in elementary and secondary schools, as well as at the university level. Bashkir is also used in print and electronic media. Different genres of literature are published in Bashkir. Local theaters regularly produce plays in the Bashkir language. Many speakers of Bashkir also speak Russian and/or Tatar. Many younger Bashkirs speak Russian as their first and Bashkir as their second language.
Bashkir is not currently taught on the IU campus, but we do have access to archived materials.