The Uzbeks (, ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak minorities, and are also found as a minority group in: Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, and China. Uzbek diaspora communities also exist in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United States, Ukraine, and other countries. Etymology The origin of the word Uzbek still remains disputed. One view holds that it is eponymously named after Oghuz Khagan, also known as Oghuz Beg, became the word Uzbek. Another theory states that the name means independent, genuine man, or the lord himself, from Öz (self) and the Turkic title Bek/Bey/Beg. A third theory holds that the variant Uz, of the word Uğuz, earlier Oğuz, united with the word Bek to form Uğuz-bek > Uz-bek, meaning "leader of an oguz". The personal name "Uzbek" is found in Arabic and Persian historical writings. Historian Usama ibn Munqidh (died in 1188), describing the events in Iran under the Seljukids, notes that one of the leaders of Bursuk's troops in 1115-1116 was the "emir of the troops" Uzbek, the ruler of Mosul. According to Rashid ad-din, the last representative of the Oghuz dynasty of Ildegizids who ruled in Tabriz was Uzbek Muzaffar 1210–1225. The name Uzbek seems to have become widely adopted as an ethnonym under the rule of Ozbeg Khan, who converted the Golden Horde to Islam. Origins Before the 5th century, what is today's Uzbekistan was part of Sogdia, Khwarazm, Bactria mainly inhabited by Sogdians, Bactrians, and Khwarazmians, all Indo-Iranian peoples. It was part of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th-4th centuries BC and, by the 3rd century CE, part of Sasanian Empire. From 5th to 6th century, what is today's Uzbekistan was part of the Hephthalite Empire. From 6th to 8th century, what is today's Uzbekistan was under the rule of Göktürk Khanate. The Turkic component was part of the Kidarite tribes in the 5th century. The seal of the Kidarites, made in the 5th century in Samarkand, has a Bactrian inscription containing the title of the ruler: "Oglar Khun", of Turkic origin. Since the entry of Central Asia into the Turkic Kaganate (6th century), the process of Turkicization has intensified. In subsequent centuries, the main ethnocultural process that took place on the territory of the Central Asian