Editing Samarkand (section)

===Language===
[[File:Bilingual Samarkand.jpg|thumb|right|Greeting in two languages: Uzbek (Latin) and Tajik (Cyrillic) at the entrance to one of the [[mahallah]]s (Bo'zi) of Samarkand]]
The state and official language in Samarkand, as in all Uzbekistan, is the [[Uzbek language]]. Uzbek is one of the [[Turkic languages]] and the mother tongue of [[Uzbeks]], [[Turkmens]], [[:ru:Среднеазиатские иранцы|Samarkandian Iranians]], and most [[:ru:Среднеазиатские арабы|Samarkandian Arabs]] living in Samarkand.

As in the rest of Uzbekistan, the [[Russian language]] is the [[de facto]] second official language in Samarkand, and about 5% of signs and inscriptions in Samarkand are in this language. [[Russians]], [[Belarusians]], [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Germans]], [[Koryo-saram|Koreans]], the majority of [[Ukrainians]], the majority of [[Armenians]], [[Greeks]], some [[Tatars]], and some [[Azerbaijanis]] in Samarkand speak Russian. Several Russian-language newspapers are published in Samarkand, the most popular of which is "[[:ru:Самаркандский вестник|Samarkandskiy vestnik]]" (Russian: Самаркандский вестник, lit. the Samarkand Herald). The Samarkandian TV channel STV conducts some broadcasts in Russian.

De facto, the most common native language in Samarkand is [[Tajik language|Tajik]], which is a dialect or variant of the [[Persian language]]. Samarkand was one of the cities in which the Persian language developed. Many classical Persian [[poetry|poets]] and writers lived in or visited Samarkand over the millennia, the most famous being [[Ferdowsi|Abulqasem Ferdowsi]], [[Omar Khayyam]], [[Jami|Abdurahman Jami]], [[Rudaki|Abu Abdullah Rudaki]], [[Suzani Samarqandi]], and [[Kamal Khujandi]].

While the official stance is that Uzbek is the most common language in Samarkand, some data indicate that only about 30% of residents speak it as a native tongue. For the other 70%, Tajik is the native tongue, with Uzbek the second language and Russian the third. However, as no population census has been taken in Uzbekistan since 1989, there are no accurate data on this matter. Despite Tajik being the second most common language in Samarkand, it does not enjoy the status of an official or regional language.<ref name="Karl Cordell 1999. pg 201">Karl Cordell, "Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe", Routledge, 1998. p.&nbsp;201: "Consequently, the number of citizens who regard themselves as Tajiks is difficult to determine. Tajikis within and outside of the republic, Samarkand State University (SamGU) academic and international commentators suggest that there may be between six and seven million Tajiks in Uzbekistan, constituting 30% of the republic's 22 million population, rather than the official figure of 4.7% (Foltz 1996: 213; Carlisle 1995: 88).</ref><ref name="Lena Jonson 2006. pg 108"/><ref name="catoday.org"/><ref name="lingvomania.info">{{cite web |url=http://lingvomania.info/2016/status-tadzhikskogo-yazyka-v-uzbekistane.html |title=Статус таджикского языка в Узбекистане |website=Лингвомания.info — lingvomania.info |access-date=22 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029222029/http://lingvomania.info/2016/status-tadzhikskogo-yazyka-v-uzbekistane.html |archive-date=29 October 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="news.tj"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.profi-forex.org/novosti-mira/novosti-sng/uzbekistan/entry1008185843.html |title=Есть ли шансы на выживание таджикского языка в Узбекистане — эксперты |website="Биржевой лидер" — pfori-forex.org |access-date=22 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322113157/http://www.profi-forex.org/novosti-mira/novosti-sng/uzbekistan/entry1008185843.html |archive-date=22 March 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Nevertheless, at Samarkand State University ten faculties offer courses in Tajiki, and the Tajik Language and Literature Department has an enrolment of over 170 students.<ref name="Bloomsbury Publishing">{{cite book|last1=Foltz|first1=Richard|author-link=Richard Foltz|title=A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East, 2nd edition |date=2023|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-7556-4964-8|page=186}}</ref> Only one newspaper in Samarkand is published in Tajiki, in the [[Tajik alphabet|Cyrillic Tajik alphabet]]: ''[[:ru:Овози Самарканд|Ovozi Samarqand]]'' (Tajik: ''Овози Самарқанд'' —''Voice of Samarkand''). Local Samarkandian STV and "Samarkand" TV channels offer some broadcasts in Tajik, as does one regional radio station. In 2022 a quarterly literary magazine in Tajiki, ''Durdonai Sharq'', was launched in Samarkand.<ref name="Bloomsbury Publishing"/>

In addition to Uzbek, Tajik, and Russian, native languages spoken in Samarkand include [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], [[Tatar language|Tatar]], [[Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]], [[Arabic]] (for a very small percentage of Samarkandian Arabs), and others.

Modern Samarkand is a vibrant city, and in 2019 the city hosted the first Samarkand Half Marathon.<ref>[https://worldsmarathons.com/marathon/samarkand-marathon Samarkand Marathon].</ref> In 2022 this also included a full marathon for the first time.