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I think half the reason no one talks about this consistently is there's no naming consistency from the media.

Is it Uighur or Uyghur?

Never saw anyone use Uighur. I thought it was typo.

Anyway I think Uyghur is more widely used one

I've always been familiar with Uighur, probably because:

> “Uighur,” with an “i,” has appeared for centuries in writings by Western scholars, and many Western media and experts on the region still prefer this spelling.

However, apparently native speakers prefer the other spelling:

> But members of this mostly Muslim ethnic group overwhelmingly prefer the spelling “Uyghur,” which they say more closely approximates the proper orthography and pronunciation in their native language, “Uyƣur."

The use of the latter spelling in the West seems to be a more recent shift to accommodate this.

Source: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/uyghur-spelling-0906...

That's a good point, I've always seen Uighur but who knows. The Chinese story has not gained a network effect yet, not enough people know about it to make it a profitable target for media companies. Occasionally you'll see a story on it, but until more people understand china headlines won't drive clicks.

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