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Bukharan Jews
Jewish subgroup of Central Asia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bukharan Jews (Bukharian: יהודיאני בוכארא/яҳудиёни Бухоро, Yahudiyoni Bukhoro; Hebrew: יְהוּדֵי־בּוּכָרָה, Yehudey Bukhara), in modern times called Bukharian Jews (Bukharian: יהודי בוכרה/яҳудиёни бухорӣ, Yahudiyoni Bukhorī; Hebrew: יְהוּדִים־בּוּכָרִים, Yehudim Bukharim), are the Mizrahi Jewish sub-group of Central Asia that historically spoke Bukharian, a Judeo-Tajik[4][3][5] dialect of the Tajik language, in turn a variety of the Persian language. Their name comes from the former Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara (now primarily Uzbekistan), which once had a sizable Jewish population. Bukharan Jews are of Persian-Jewish ancestry, though they are considered one of the oldest ethno-religious groups of Central Asia and over the centuries developed their own distinct culture.[3][6][4]
![]() Jewish students with their teacher in Bukhara, c. 1910 | |
Total population | |
---|---|
320,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 160,000 |
![]() | 120,000 80,000 |
![]() | 15,000 |
![]() | 3,000–3,500 |
![]() | 2,000 |
![]() | 1,500 150[1][2] |
![]() | 1,500 |
![]() | 1,000 |
Languages | |
Traditionally Bukharian (Judeo-Tajik),[3] Russian, Hebrew (Israel), English (United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia) and German (Austria and Germany), Uzbek (Uzbekistan) | |
Religion | |
Judaism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Iranian Jews, Afghan Jews, Mashhadi Jews, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, Mizrahi Jews Soviet Jews, Kaifeng Jews |
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the great majority have immigrated to Israel or the United States while others have immigrated to Europe or Australia.