Karakalpakstan is an autonomous republic located in western Uzbekistan and is home to ethnic Karakalpaks, Turkic-speaking peoples who speak Kipchak languages numbering to just approximately 752,000 or 2.2% of Uzbekistan's population.[7] Throughout the course of history, the territory of Karakalpakstan had been under control of various empires before forming its own present-day identity in around the 17th century as a separate confederation of nomadic tribes initially belonging to Kazakh Khanate,[8] thus resulting in Karakalpaks having closer cultural ties with the Kazakhs in terms of customs, material culture, and language contrary with the Uzbeks.[9][10]