Liczba mnoga: Uigurs

1. A member of a Turkic people of Chinese Turkestan and neighboring areas (formerly of Mongolia and eastern Turkestan); Also called: Uighur.
2. The Turkic language spoken by the Uigur people; Also called: Uighur.
Member of a Turkic people living in nw China and Kazakhstan; they form about 80% of the population of the Chinese province of Xinjiang Uygur. There are about 5 million speakers of Uigur, a language belonging to the Turkic branch of the Altaic family; it is the official language of the province.
The Uigur are known to have lived in the region since the 3rd century ad, and converted to Islam in the 14th century. They have been under Chinese rule since the 17th century. A small number fled to Kazakhstan at that time, and it is from them that the present minority is descended.