The Uygur are the Largest Ethnic Minority in the Xinjiang Uygur

The Uygur are the largest ethnic minority in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Making up three-fifths of Xinjiang's total population, they mostly live in the area south of the Tianshan Mountains.

The Uygur are descended from the nomads who roamed north and northwestern China in the third century. Historical records call them the Huihe. Natural calamities and wars at the end of the ninth century forced one group of Huihe move to the area around Turpan and Hami. Over the following centuries, they mingled with the natives of the area and the Tubo, Khitan and Mongolians who came later, and in 1934 they took the name Uygur.

The Uygur have their own spoken and written language, and they believe in Islam.