Uyghur nationalism (Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر مىللەتچىلىكى) is a nationalist movement which asserts that the Uyghur people, a Turkic-speaking Sunni Muslim group, are a distinct nation. Uyghurs are mostly concentrated in Xinjiang, a province-level autonomous region located in Western China. They are officially recognized by the Chinese government as one of the official 55 ethnic minorities. Uyghur nationalism promotes the cultural unity of Uyghurs, either as an independent group or as a regional group within a larger multi-ethnic Chinese nation.

Uyghur nationalism is linked to the East Turkestan independence movement, also known as the Uyghur independence movement, which seeks to separate Xinjiang from China and establish self-rule as an independent nation. "East Turkestan" and "Uyghurstan" being alternatives names for Xinjiang.

While the term "Uyghur" is derived from the 9th century Buddhist Kingdom, the use of the term did not reemerge in great prominence until it was officially recognized as a national category by Sheng Shicai's government in 1936. Ondřej Klimeš identifies four stages of Uyghur nationalism: protonational identity and interest (1900s), emergence of national idea and national agitation (1910s–1920s), politicization of national interest (1930s), and significance of national boundary in flux (1930s and 1940s). Other scholars have similarly identified the origins of Uyghur identity with pre-Modern linguistic and religious identification among the settle people of Altishahr (present-day Xinjiang) under the terms Musulman, yerlik (local), or the offensive chantou (纏頭, wrapped head).

Sheng's categorization of Xinjiang's ethnicities and nationalities laid the framework for modern notions of nationality in the region, with all of his classifications remaining following the PRC's take over of the region (with the exception of Taranchi, a term for settled Turkic people of Uzbekistan who trace there ancestry to the Tarim Basim).

The people today called Uyghurs are descended from several groups who have inhabited Central Asia, including speakers of Indo-European, Iranian, and Turko-Mongolian languages. Media reports about Uyghur ancesrtry and Xinjiang archeology often emphasis the discovery of the Tarim mummies, which demonstrated Caucasoid settlement in the region from 2000 BC.

Articulation of ancestral and physical differences between Uyghurs and Han Chinese often emerge when members of the groups draw distinctions between themselves. However, Uyghurs' historical continuity with pre-Qing colonialism of the region has lead some to argue that the case for Uyghur indigenous claims is strong.

See also: Islam in China and Chinese Buddhism

Since the 10th century conversion of Satuq Bughra Khan, the people who today comprise Uyghurs have been gradually Islamized. Prior to this, the Uyghurs practiced Buddhism, Manicheaism, and shamanism, with these traditions still influential on modern Uyghur Islamic practice, especially shrine pilgrimage.