Uzbeks are one of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China. The total population of China's Uzbeks in 2021 was 12,742, scattered in Yining, Tacheng, Ürümqi, and Yarkant in Xinjiang. Most of them live in urban areas and a few in rural areas. The Danangou Uzbek Township, located in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, is the only township designated for Uzbeks in China. The Uzbeks in southern Xinjiang speak Uyghur because they have lived amongst the Uyghurs for a long time, and the Uzbeks in the pastoral areas of northern Xinjiang speak Kazakh.