Nogai (also Nogay or Nogai Tatar) is a Turkic language spoken in southwestern Russia. Three distinct dialects are recognized: Qara-Nogai (Black or Northern Nogai), spoken in Dagestan; Nogai Proper, in Stavropol; and Aqnogai (White or Western Nogai), by the Kuban River, its tributaries in Karachay–Cherkessia, and in the Mineralnye Vody District. Qara-Nogai and Nogai Proper are very close linguistically, whereas Aqnogai is more different.