Tajik language
Tajik or Tadjik (Tajiki-Persian, Persian, Tajik: Тоҷикӣ, Tojikí) is a variety of the Persian language spoken in Central Asia. It is an Indo-European language, more specifically part of the Iranian language group. Speakers of Tajik live mostly in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, though approximately 30,000 live near the Tajikistan border in China. It is the official language of Tajikistan.
The most important Tajik-speaking cities of Central Asia, namely Samarkand and Bukhara, are in present-day Uzbekistan. There have been claims that the speakers of the language have been oppressed by the Uzbekistan's government, and were forced to speak in Uzbek in public, or otherwise would be fined.
In China, Tajik has no official written form. Most Chinese "Tajik" speakers actually speak the Sariqul (or Sariköli) language, which, though called "Tajik", is no more closely related to Tajik than the other Pamir languages, and use Uyghur and Chinese to communicate with people of other nationalities in the area.
See also
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