The location of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China(de-facto)
By TUBS - Own workThis W3C-unspecified vector image was created with Adobe Illustrator.This file was uploaded with Commonist.This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: China edcp location map.svg (by Uwe Dedering)., CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Uyghur is the native language of over ten million people in Xinjiang and Central Asia. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region occupies one sixth of China’s territory (nearly as large as Alaska). Significant communities of Uyghur-speakers are also located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and various other countries have Uyghur-speaking expatriate communities.
Learning Uyghur is a gateway to the Turkic world and Central Asia. Non-profits, government, the military, and international companies are all interested in finding people who speak Uyghur.
Many students learning Uyghur use the language to explore a region that is still little-known and mysterious to many, yet crucial to China and the region’s future development and stability. The neighborhoods in Xinjiang thrum with a Middle Eastern beat and mosques and minarets grace the skyline. Street vendors offer spices, nuts, and fruits, jeweled knives, richly embroidered caps, or seasoned kebabs and savory Central Asian pilaf.
The Department of Central Eurasian Studies offers a full major in the language with tracks of two or three years of language study available. Learn more about the language and courses at IU from the Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center here on campus.
CeLCAR(Center for Languages of Central Asian Region) @ IU has very detailed introduction of the nation and language of Uyghurs.
Who are Uyghurs? Where do they live? Which Language do they speak?
Uyghur Language Program Pamphlet (PDF)
CeLT also has some learning material listed as below but will not share in the public domain. If you would like to request them, please send email to CeLT.