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{{for|the medieval border-guards of the [[Kievan Rus]]|Chorni Klobuky}}
{{distinguish|Qarapapaqs}}

{{More footnotes|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group = Karakalpaks
| native_name = Qaraqalpaqlar, Қарақалпақлар
|flag=File:Flag of Karakalpakstan.svg
|flag_caption=Flag of [[Karakalpakstan]]
| image = Small race in Takhtakupir.jpg
| image_caption =Karakalpak boys race in [[Taxtako‘pir]]
|pop = approx. 620,000
|region1 = {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
*{{flag|Karakalpakstan}}
|pop1 = 518,301
|region2 = {{flag|Kazakhstan}}
|pop2 = 56,000
|region3 = {{flag|Turkmenistan}}
|pop3 = 5,000
|region4 = {{flag|Russia}}
|pop4 = 4,466
|langs = [[Karakalpak language|Karakalpak]]
|rels = [[Sunni Islam]]
|related = {{hlist|[[Kazakhs]]|[[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]]|[[Nogais]]}}
}}
The '''Karakalpaks''' or '''Qaraqalpaqs''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=Nl-Karakalpaks.ogg|ˈ|k|ær|ə|l|k|əl|p|ɑː|k|s|,_|-|p|æ|k|s}}; {{lang-kaa|Qaraqalpaqlar, Қарақалпақлар}}) are a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic people]] who primarily live in [[Uzbekistan]]. During the 18th century, they settled in the lower reaches of the [[Amu Darya]] and in the (former) [[river delta|delta]] of Amu Darya on the southern shore of the [[Aral Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Karakalpakstan|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/312029/Karakalpakstan#ref154170|website=Britannica.com|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref> The name "Karakalpak" comes from two words: "qara" meaning black, and "[[qalpaq]]" meaning hat. The Karakalpaks number nearly 620,000 worldwide, out of which about 500,000 live in the Uzbek [[Karakalpakstan|Republic of Karakalpakstan]].

== Homeland ==
[[File: Karakalpaki.jpg|thumb|Karakalpak nomads, 1932]]
The Karakalpak population is mainly confined to the central part of [[Karakalpakstan]] that is irrigated by the [[Amu Darya]]. The largest communities live in [[Nukus]], the capital of Karakalpakstan, and the surrounding large towns, such as Khodzheli, Shimbay, Takhtaitash, and Kungrad. Rural Karakalpaks mainly live on former collective or state farms, most of which have been recently privatised.
[[File:Armature dune yourte (Khorezm, Ouzbékistan) (6859416536).jpg|thumb|A frame of traditional Karakalpak [[yurt]] or ''qara u'y''.]]
Many rural Karakalpaks have been seriously affected by the desiccation of the [[Aral Sea]], which has destroyed the local fishing industry along with much of the grazing and agricultural land in the north of the delta. Karakalpaks have nowhere to go. The majority of Karakalpakstan is occupied by desert - the [[Kyzyl Kum]] on the eastern side, the barren Ustyurt plateau to the west, and now the growing Aral Kum to the north, once the bed of the former Aral Sea.

Although their homeland bears their name, the Karakalpaks are not the largest ethnic group living in Karakalpakstan. They are increasingly being outnumbered by Uzbeks, many of whom are being encouraged to move into the rich agricultural region around [[Turtkul]] and [[Beruni]].

The [[Kalmyks]] battled the Karakalpaks.<ref>http://www.qaraqalpaq.com/sawkele03.html</ref>

== Language ==
The [[Karakalpak language|Karakalpak]] language belongs to the Kipchak-Nogai group of [[Turkic languages]], which also includes [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]] and [[Nogai language|Nogai]].

Spoken Karakalpak has two dialects: Northeastern and Southwestern. Written Karakalpak uses both a modified form of the [[Cyrillic alphabet]] and [[Latin alphabet]], with the former being standard during the [[Soviet Union]] and the latter modelled on Uzbekistan's alphabet reform for [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]]. Before the Soviet Union, Karakalpak was rarely written, but when it was it used a modified form of the [[Perso-Arabic alphabet]].

Due to the geography and history of the Karakalpak people, Karakalpak has been influenced by Uzbek, [[Tajik language|Tajik]], and [[Russian language|Russian]]. A Karakalpak-Uzbek [[pidgin language]] is often spoken by those bilingual in both languages.

== Origins ==
The word Karakalpak is derived from the Russian Cyrillic spelling of their name and has become the accepted name for these people in the West. The Karakalpaks actually refer to themselves as Qaraqalpaqs, whilst the [[Uzbeks]] call them Qoraqalpogs. The word means "black hat" and has caused much confusion in the past, since historians linked them with other earlier peoples, who have borne the appellation "black hat" in Slavic vernacular. Many accounts continue to link the present day Karakalpaks with the Slavic [[Cherniye Klobuki]] of the 11th century, whose name also means "black hat" in Russian. Cherniye Klobuki were mercenary military troops of the [[Kievan Rus]]. Apart from the fact that their names have the same meaning, there is no archaeological or historical evidence to link these two groups. The [[Karakul (hat)|Qaraqul hat]] is made from the fur of the [[Karakul sheep|Qaraqul]] breed of sheep which originated in Central Asia with archaeological evidence pointing to the breed being raised there continuously since 1400 BCE. The breed is named after Qorako‘l which is a city in Bukhara Province in Uzbekistan.

Recent archaeological evidence indicates that the Karakalpaks may have formed as a confederation of different tribes at some time in the late 15th or the 16th centuries at some location along the [[Syr Darya]] or its southern [[Zhany Darya]] outlet, in proximity to the [[Kazakhs]] of the [[Jüz|Lesser Horde]]. This would explain why their language, customs and material culture are so similar to that of the Kazakhs.

== Religion ==
Karakalpaks are primarily followers of the [[Hanafi]] School of [[Sunni]] [[Islam]]. It is probable they adopted Islam between the 10th and 13th centuries, a period when they first appeared as a distinct ethnic group.

Dervish orders such as the [[Naqshbandi]], [[Kubrawiya]], [[Khoja Akhmet Yassawi|Yasawi]] and [[Qalandar]]i are fairly common in this region. The religious order that established the strongest relation with the people of the region is the Kubrawiya, which has [[Shi'a Islam|Shi'i adherents]].

Although there were 553 mosques in the year of 1914, there are not so many mosques left today. The mosques that are present are located in Nukus, Törtkül, Hocaeli and Çimbay.

==See also==
* [[Uzbekistan]]
* [[Uzbeks]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*Richardson, David; Richardson, Sue (2012), ''Qaraqalpaqs of the Aral Delta'', Prestel Verlag, ISBN 978-3-7913-4738-7. Retrieved 2012-07-27
*MaryLee Knowlton: ''Uzbekistan''. Marshall Cavendish 2005, ISBN 0-7614-2016-9, pp. 54–58 ({{Google books|tPv2SFhDpuIC|online copy|page=54}})
*Shirin Akiner: ''Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union'', Taylor & Francis 1983, ISBN 0-7103-0025-5, pp. 338–345 ({{Google books|Qa89AAAAIAAJ|online copy|page=338}})
*James Stuart Olson, Nicholas Charles Pappas: ''An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet empires''. Greenwood Publishing Group 1994, ISBN 0-313-27497-5, pp. 343–345 ({{Google books|CquTz6ps5YgC|online copy|page=345}})
*David J. Phillips: ''Peoples on the Move: Introducing the Nomads of the World''. William Carey Library 2001, ISBN 0-87808-352-9, p. 304 ({{Google books|54gyRnhIugkC|online copy|page=304}})

== External links ==
{{commons category|Karakalpak people}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Kara-Kalpaks |short=x}}

{{Turkic peoples}}
{{Ethnic groups in Uzbekistan}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karakalpak}}
[[Category:Turkic peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Turkic tribes]]
[[Category:Muslim communities in Asia]]

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