The Uighur (Simplified: 伟哥尔; Traditional: 偉哥爾; Hanyu pinyin: Wèi gē èr) (pronounced wē-gu̇r) ethnic group is a Turkic ethnic group originally from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China; the Uighurs call it "East Turkestan", and demand more autonomy. The Uighurs, who practice Islam, total about 8.4 million people in China, in addition to expatriates outside China.