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Uzbekistan: An Uzbek or Tajik woman wearing a burqa, Samarkand, c. 1910

Uzbekistan: An Uzbek or Tajik woman wearing a burqa, Samarkand, c. 1910

A burqa, also transliterated burkha, burka or burqua from Arabic: برقع‎ burquʻ or burqaʻ ) is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering (Arabic: jilbāb), plus the head-covering (Arabic: ḥijāb), plus the face-veil (Arabic: niqāb).