Kyrgyz or Kirghiz /kɪərˈɡiːz/ (natively кыргызча/قىرعىزچا, kyrgyzcha, pronounced [qɯɾʁɯzʧɑ] or кыргыз тили/قىرعىز تىلى, kyrgyz tili, pronounced [qɯɾʁɯz tili]) is a Turkic language spoken by about four million people in Kyrgyzstan as well as China, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Russia. Kyrgyz is a member of the Kyrgyz–Kipchak subgroup of the Kypchak languages, and modern-day language convergence has resulted in an increasing degree of mutual intelligibility between Kyrgyz and Kazakh.