The Russian government put in place measures to help in the social development of the Bakshir language. Being the third largest nationality in Russia, behind Russian and Tartar, it was imperative that the needs of its population be taken into consideration. This led to the establishment of the Modern Bashkir Linguistics Association. This took place after Bakshir and Russian were declared to be the official languages of the Republic of Bashkortostan in 1999. Bakshir and Russian are widely used in educational institutions and also by the mass media for communication purposes. A number of institutions of higher learning have dedicated themselves to the task of studying the language. This includes the Bashkir Institution of Education Development and Ufa Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Sciences. The Turk Dili Kurumu Scientific Society in Ankara, Turkey, is also involved in the study of Bakshir, together with other Turkish languages.
Bashkir is a Turkic language spoken by 2 million people, 1.8 million of these people live in Russia. Most Bakshirs are bilingual and can also speak Russian. Speakers of Bakshir live in Bashkorstan, in the Republic of Russia. Bakshir is also spoken in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The language has incorporated various features and words from other language groups that it came into contact with such as Persian, Arabic, Turkic, Russia, Bolgar, Tartar and Kypchak. Bakshir has three main dialects: Steppe Bakshir (Yurmaty), Mountain Bakshir (Kuvakan) and North Western Bakshir (Burzhan). All these dialects can be understood by anyone who speaks Bakshir or the Tartar language. The written form of the language is mainly based on the Mountain Bakshir, with traces of Steppe Bakshir. Cyrillic is currently the script that is in use.
The Bakshirs are traditionally Sunni Muslims. The Bakshir empire was granted autonomy in 1919 after a successful rebellion against the Russian empire. It was the first independent Republic within Russia. Traditionally, most of them were cattle herders. They also reared bees and practiced agriculture. Traditional Bakshir cuisine includes a traditional gruel called öyrä. Traditional cheese, qorot is also very popular.
