Kazakhs

The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the Kipchak branch. The Kazakh Khanate was founded in 1465 by Kerey and Janibek khans. For centuries Kazakhs lived as nomads herding horses, sheep and camels; the yurt, kumis and horseback games remain at the heart of national culture.

Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country and became independent in 1991. Large Kazakh communities live in China's Ili region, in Uzbekistan, in southern Russia and in the Bayan-Ölgii province of Mongolia.