Uzbek is the official national language of Uzbekistan, where it is spoken by nearly 23 million people. Uzbek speakers also can be found in areas of neighbouring Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and north-western China. An estimated 25 million people speak Uzbek world-wide. Although the Uzbek language is closely related to the Uighur language, Uzbek and the culture have been heavily influenced by Persian. Under the Soviet Union, the Cyrillic alphabet was adopted. Though the "official" Uzbek alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, not all Uzbekistani are familiar with it, so this dictionary provides both Latin and Cyrillic scripts. This dictionary provides students and travellers with a portable, yet comprehensive resource for everyday use. Features: Over 20,000 dictionary entries, presented in both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets; Includes common words as well as technical, legal and business terminology; Phonetics that are intuitive for English speakers; Concise grammar and pronunciation sections.