Turkic peoples facts for kids
The Turkic peoples are a group thought to have originated in Manchuria in northeastern China and parts of Mongolia. Today they live mostly in Northern and Central Eurasia.
Turkic people speak languages belonging to the Turkic family. A Turkic person is called a Turk (e.g. the Kazakh Turks, the Kyrgyz Turks, etc., or in historical context: the Seljuq Turks, the Timurid Turks etc).
There are Turks in many places. They dominate modern Central Asia, there are many in the Caucasus area, Middle East, and Eastern Europe. There are also some in Pakistan and India, but are intermixed with the local people, like the Muhajir group in Pakistan. Turkic people can have varying looks, but they originally were black haired, black or brown eyed, and white to yellowish skin (see Mongoloid). The western Turks in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan mostly look like Iranians, as they are heavily mixed with various Iranian and other Indo-European groups.
The ancient Turks, called proto-Turks, looked like Chinese or Mongolian people. The Xinglongwa culture in Manchuria, in northeastern China, along the Liao river is the proposed homeland of the proto-Turks. From their they expanded into Siberia and the Altai mountains, see Altai people. They are an East Asian people.
Related pages
Images for kids
-
The top of Belukha in the Altay Mountains in Mongolia is shown here. The mountain range is thought to be the birthplace of the Turkic people.
-
Göktürk petroglyphs from Mongolia (6th to 8th century)
-
Bashkirs, painting from 1812, Paris
-
A shaman doctor of Kyzyl.
-
Mosque in Kazakhstan.
-
Kyz kuu.
-
Azerbaijani girls in traditional dress.
-
Young and old Gagauz people.
-
Turkmen girl in national dress.
-
Turkish women playing backgammon.
-
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Tatarstan.
-
Bashkir boys in national dress.
-
A Chuvash woman in traditional dress.
-
Uyghur man of Yarkand.
-
Two Uyghur elders from Turpan.
-
A female Chuvash dancer in traditional dress.
-
Tatar woman in the 18th century.
-
Female Azerbaijani from Baku.
-
Karachay patriarchs in the 19th century
-
Uyghur farmer, Xinjiang.
-
Altay man in national suit on horse
-
Kazakh family inside a Yurt
See also
In Spanish: Pueblos túrquicos para niños
