Demographics of Kazakhstan

The demographics of Kazakhstan enumerate the demographic features of the population of Kazakhstan, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. Some use the word Kazakh to refer to the Kazakh ethnic group and language (autochthonous to Kazakhstan as well as parts of Russia, China and Mongolia) and Kazakhstani to refer to Kazakhstan and its citizens regardless of ethnicity,<ref>Schreiber, Dagmar and Tredinnick, Jeremy. Kazakhstan. Odyssey Publications, 2010, p. 82.</ref><ref name=USStateDept>Template:Cite web</ref> but it is not uncommon to use Kazakh in both senses.<ref name=FCO>UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Kazakhstan, 2 Feb 2011.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Ambassador Erlan A Idissov, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA.</ref>

Demographic trends

Official estimates put the population of Kazakhstan at 16,500,000 as of April 2011, of which 46% is rural and 54% urban population.<ref>[1], Statistical Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan Template:Ru icon</ref> The 2009 population estimate is 6.8% higher than the population reported in the last census from January 1999 (slightly less than 15 million). These estimates have been confirmed by the 2009 population census, and this means that the decline in population that began after 1989 has been arrested and reversed.

The proportion of men makes up 48.3%, the proportion of women 51.7%. The proportion of Kazakhs makes up 63.6%, Russians 23.7%, Uzbeks 2.9%, Ukrainians 2.1%, Uygur 1.4%, Tatars 1.3%, Germans 1.1%, others 3.9%.

The population of Kazakhstan increased steadily from 6.1 million in the 1939 census to 16.5 million in the 1989 census. Official estimates indicate that the population continued to increase after 1989, peaking out at 17 million in 1993 and then declining to 15 million in the 1999 census. The downward trend continued through 2002, when the estimated population bottomed out at 14.9 million, and then resumed its growth.<ref name=demoscope>Population dynamics and ethnic composition of Kazakhstan in the second half of the 20th century, Demoscope Weekly, No. 103-104, 3–16 March 2003 Template:Ru icon</ref> Significant amounts of Russians returned to Russia. Kazakhstan underwent significant urbanization during the first 50 years of the Soviet era, as the share of rural population declined from more than 90% in the 1920s to less than 50% since the 1970s.<ref name=yb/>

Population of Kazakhstan 1939–2014

Year (January)	Population ('000)	Rural, %	Urban, %	Source
1939	6,081	72	28	census
1959	9,295	56	44	census
1970	13,001	50	50	census
1979	14,685	46	54	census
1989	16,537	43	57	census
1999	14,953	43	57	census
2002	14,851	43	57	estimate
2005	15,075	43	57	estimate
2008	15,572	47	53	estimate
2009	15,982	46	54	census
2010	16,203	46	54	estimate
2011	16,440	45	55	estimate
2012	16,673	45	55	estimate
2013	16,909	45	55	estimate
2014	17,160	45	55	estimate

Data sources: Population 1939-1999 from demoscope.ru,<ref name=demoscope/> 2002-2008 from Kazakhstan Statistical Agency web site.<ref name=agency>Population and social policy, Statistical Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan Template:Ru icon</ref> Rural/urban shares 1939-1993 from statistical yearbooks, print editions,<ref name=yb>Statistical Yearbook of Kazakhstan, Almaty, various years since 1980 Template:Ru icon</ref> 2002-2008 from Kazakhstan Statistical Agency web site.<ref name=agency/> 2009-2014 from Kazakhstan Statistical Agency web site.<ref name=statgovkz>[2] Statistical Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan Template:Ru icon</ref>

As of 2003, there were discrepancies between Western sources regarding the population of Kazakhstan. United States government sources, including the CIA World Fact Book and the US Census Bureau International Data Base, listed the population as 15,340,533,<ref name=cia>CIA Factbook (Kazakhstan) Retrieved on May 2, 2008</ref> while the World Bank gave a 2002 estimate of 14,858,948.<ref name="World Databank">Template:Cite web</ref> This discrepancy was presumably due to difficulties in measurement caused by the large migratory population in Kazakhstan, emigration, and low population density - only about 5.5 persons per km² in an area the size of Western Europe.

Vital statistics

Births and deaths

<ref>http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm#2001 United nations. Demographic Yearbooks</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births1	Deaths1	Natural change1	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Fertility rates
1950	6 703	254 169	79 005	175 164	37.9	11.8	26.1
1951	6 946	272 354	80 553	191 801	39.2	11.6	27.6
1952	7 133	265 235	85 241	179 994	37.2	12.0	25.2
1953	7 271	262 758	73 930	188 828	36.1	10.2	26.0
1954	7 528	278 420	76 092	202 328	37.0	10.1	26.9
1955	7 992	299 854	73 283	226 571	37.5	9.2	28.3
1956	8 426	305 430	64 807	240 623	36.3	7.7	28.6
1957	8 722	326 766	68 050	258 716	37.5	7.8	29.7
1958	9 077	336 020	62 680	273 340	37.0	6.9	30.1
1959	9 516	349 794	69 602	280 192	36.8	7.3	29.4
1960	9 996	372 595	65 667	306 928	37.2	6.6	30.7
1961	10 480	377 789	68 610	309 179	36.1	6.5	29.5
1962	10 958	369 002	70 952	298 050	33.7	6.5	27.2
1963	11 321	346 084	67 218	278 866	30.6	5.9	24.6
1964	11 610	324 412	66 197	258 215	27.9	5.7	22.2
1965	11 909	314 533	69 803	244 730	26.4	5.9	20.6
1966	12 185	307 905	69 402	238 503	25.3	5.7	19.6
1967	12 456	301 715	71 824	229 891	24.2	5.8	18.5
1968	12 694	296 882	73 496	223 386	23.4	5.8	17.6
1969	12 901	297 129	78 660	218 469	23.0	6.1	16.9
1970	13 106	301 451	77 619	223 832	23.0	5.9	17.1
1971	13 321	317 423	79 881	237 542	23.8	6.0	17.8
1972	13 534	318 551	85 122	233 429	23.5	6.3	17.2
1973	13 742	321 075	90 282	230 793	23.4	6.6	16.8
1974	13 955	338 291	93 582	244 709	24.2	6.7	17.5
1975	14 136	343 668	101 865	241 803	24.3	7.2	17.1
1976	14 279	350 362	103 892	246 470	24.5	7.3	17.3
1977	14 425	349 379	105 376	244 003	24.2	7.3	16.9
1978	14 589	355 337	107 293	248 044	24.4	7.4	17.0
1979	14 743	354 320	113 687	240 633	24.0	7.7	16.3
1980	14 884	356 013	119 078	236 935	23.9	8.0	15.9
1981	15 033	367 950	120 974	246 976	24.5	8.0	16.4
1982	15 185	373 416	120 165	253 251	24.6	7.9	16.7
1983	15 334	378 577	123 807	254 770	24.7	8.1	16.6
1984	15 481	399 403	129 796	269 607	25.8	8.4	17.4
1985	15 623	396 929	126 786	270 143	25.4	8.1	17.3
1986	15 776	410 846	119 149	291 697	26.0	7.6	18.5
1987	15 948	417 139	122 835	294 304	26.2	7.7	18.5
1988	16 188	407 116	126 898	280 218	25.3	7.9	17.4
1989	16 243	382 269	126 378	255 891	23.5	7.8	15.8
1990	16 328	362 081	128 576	233 505	22.2	7.9	14.3
1991	16 405	353 174	134 324	218 850	21.5	8.2	13.3	2.67
1992	16 439	337 612	137 518	200 094	20.5	8.4	12.2	2.62
1993	16 381	315 482	156 070	159 412	19.3	9.5	9.7	2.54
1994	16 146	305 624	160 339	145 285	18.9	9.9	9.0	2.43
1995	15 816	276 125	168 656	107 469	17.5	10.7	6.8	2.21
1996	15 578	253 175	166 028	87 147	16.3	10.7	5.6	2.02
1997	15 334	232 356	160 138	72 218	15.2	10.4	4.7	1.93
1998	15 072	222 380	154 314	68 066	14.8	10.2	4.5	1.81
1999	14 939	217 578	147 416	70 162	14.6	9.9	4.7	1.79
2000	14 915	222 054	149 778	72 276	14.9	10.0	4.8	1.88
2001	14 910	221 487	147 876	73 611	14.9	9.9	4.9	1.84
2002	14 931	227 171	149 381	77 790	15.2	10.0	5.2	1.88
2003	15 002	247 946	155 277	92 669	16.5	10.4	6.2	2.03
2004	15 126	273 028	152 250	120 778	18.0	10.1	8.0	2.21
2005	15 281	278 977	157 121	121 856	18.3	10.3	8.0	2.22
2006	15 463	301 756	157 210	144 546	19.5	10.2	9.3	2.36
2007	15 659	321 963	158 297	163 666	20.6	10.1	10.5	2.47
2008	15 870	356 575	152 706	203 869	22.5	9.6	12.8	2.68
2009	16 093	356 378	143 238	213 140	22.1	8.9	13.2	2.55
2010	16 322	367 942	146 370	221 572	22.5	8.9	13.6	2.60
2011	16 557	372 801	144 944	227 857	22.5	8.7	13.8	2.59
2012	16 791	381 005	142 880	238 125	22.7	8.5	14.2	2.62
2013	17 035	393 421	137 630	255 791	22.7	8.0	14.7	2.64
2014	17 289	401 066	132 236	268 830	23.1<ref>file:///E:/Demography/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5%20%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5%202014.pdf</ref>	7.6	15.5	2.76
2015	17 557	398 561	131 867	266 694	22.7	7.5	15.2	2.73

¹ Template:Small

Structure of the population <ref>http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm</ref>

Structure of the population (01.07.2008) (Estimates) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	7 541 053	8 132 947	15 674 000	100
0-4	748 150	709 793	1 457 943	9.30
5-9	564 701	537 847	1 102 548	7.03
10-14	617 314	592 199	1 209 513	7.72
15-19	755 608	730 830	1 486 438	9.48
20-24	784 675	765 803	1 550 478	9.89
25-29	651 820	644 059	1 295 879	8.27
30-34	580 262	596 220	1 176 482	7.51
35-39	533 348	559 349	1 092 697	6.97
40-44	501 603	543 293	1 044 896	6.67
45-49	515 147	580 290	1 095 437	6.99
50-54	404 797	482 577	887 374	5.66
55-59	306 307	394 131	700 438	4.47
60-64	160 524	222 349	382 873	2.44
65-69	168 503	271 744	440 247	2.81
70-74	131 480	222 294	33 774	2.26
75-79	68 446	140 506	208 952	1.33
80-84	36 112	98 418	134 530	0.86
85-89	9 112	30 681	39 793	0.25
90-94	2 091	8 213	10 304	0.07
95-99	731	1 947	2 678	0.02
100+	322	404	726	<0.01

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	1 930 165	1 839 839	3 770 004	24.05
15-64	5 194 091	5 518 901	10 712 992	68.35
65+	416 797	774 207	1 191 004	7.60

Total fertility rate

Total fertility rate by regions of Kazakhstan: Mangystau - 3.80, South Kazakhstan - 3.71, Kyzylorda - 3.42, Atyrau - 3.29, Jambyl - 3.20, Aqtobe - 2.70, Almaty (province) - 2.65, Almaty (city) - 2.65, City of Astana - 2.44, West Kazakhstan - 2.29, Aqmola - 2.19, East Kazakhstan - 2.07, Qaragandy - 2.04, Pavlodar - 1.98, North Kazakhstan - 1.72, Qostanay - 1.70, Republic of Kazakhstan - 2.65. Thus it can be seen that fertility rate is higher in more traditionalist and religious south and west, and lower in the north and east, where the percentage of Slavic and German population is still relatively high.<ref>[3]</ref><ref name="spo">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="spoo">Template:Cite journal</ref>

According to the Kazakhstan Demographic and Health Survey in 1999, the TFR for Kazakhs was 2.5 and that for Russians was 1.38. TFR in 1989 for Kazakhs & Russians were 3.58 and 2.24 respectively.<ref>Kazakhstan: Demographic and Health Survey, 1999 - Final Report, Chapter 4: Fertility</ref>

Ethnic groups

File:Kazakhstan demographics 1897-1970 en.png

Kazakhstan demographics 1897-1970. Major ethnic groups. Famines of 1920s and 1930s are marked with shades.

History of ethnic composition

Kazakhstan's dominant ethnic group Kazakhs, traces its origin to 15th century, when a number of Turkic and some Mongol tribes united to establish the Kazakh Khanate. With cohesive culture and national identity, they constituted absolute majority on the land until Russian colonization.
Russian advancement into the territory of Kazakhstan began in the late 18th century, when the Kazakhs nominally accepted Russian rule in exchange for protection against repeated attacks by the western Mongolian Kalmyks. In the 1890s, Russian peasants began to settle the fertile lands of northern Kazakhstan, causing many Kazakhs to move eastwards into Chinese territory in search of new grazing grounds. The 1906 completion of the Trans-Aral Railway between Orenburg and Tashkent further facilitated Russian colonization.<ref name="Olcott, M. B. 1995">Olcott, M. B. (1995). The Kazakhs. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.</ref><ref>Pierce, A. R. (1960) Russian Central Asia, 1867-1917: A study in colonial rule. Berkeley: University of California Press.</ref> The first collectivized farms opened in Kazakhstan in 1921, populated primarily by Russians and Soviet deportees. In 1930, as part of the first Five Year Plan, the Kazakh Central Committee decreed the sedentarization of nomads and their incorporation into collectivized farms. This movement resulted in devastating famine, claiming the lives of an estimated 40% of ethnic Kazakhs (1.5 million), between 1930-33.<ref>Pianciola, N. (2001). The collectivization famine in Kazakhstan, 1931–1933. Harvard Ukrainian Studies, 25(3/4), 237–251. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41036834</ref> Hundreds of thousands also fled to China, Iran and Afghanistan. The famine rendered Kazakhs a minority within Kazakhstan, and only after the republic gained independence in 1991 did Kazakhs recover a slim demographic majority within Kazakhstan.<ref name="Olcott, M. B. 1995"/>

Demographics would continue to shift in the 1950-1960s, wherein as part of Nikita Khrushchev's Virgin Lands Campaign, hundreds of thousands of Soviet deportees were relocated to the Kazakh steppes in order to farm. As recognized in the 1959 census, the Kazaks became a minority in for the first time in history, composing just 30% of the total population of Kazakhstan. Russians numbered 42.7%.<ref>Zardykhan, Z. (2004). Russians in Kazakhstan and demographic change: Imperial legacy and the Kazakh way of nation building. Asian Ethnicity, 5(1), 61–79.</ref>

According to the 2009 census, the ethnic composition of Kazakhstan is approximately: 63.1% Kazakh, 23.7% Russian, 2.9% Uzbek, 2.1% Ukrainian, 1.4% Uyghur, 1.3% Tatar, 1.1% German, 1% Kyrgyz, and <1% Korean, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Dungan, Zaza, Tajik, Pole, Chechen.<ref>Central Intelligence Agency. (2014). Kazakhstan. In The World Factbook 2013-14. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kz.html</ref>

Population of Kazakhstan according to ethnic group 1897–1999

Ethnic group	census 18971		census 19262		census 19393		census 19594		census 19705		census 19796		census 19897		census 19998
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Kazakhs	3,392,751	73.9	3,627,612	58.5	2,327,625	37.8	2,794,966	30.0	4,161,164	32.4	5,289,349	36.0	6,534,616	39.7	8,011,452	53.5
Russians	454,402	12.8	1,275,055	20.6	2,458,687	40.0	3,974,229	42.7	5,499,826	42.8	5,991,205	40.8	6,227,549	37.8	4,480,675	29.9
Uzbeks	29,564	1.3	129,407	2.1	120,655	2.0	136,570	1.5	207,514	1.6	263,295	1.8	332,017	2.0	370,765	2.5
Ukrainians	860,201	13.9	860,201	13.9	658,319	10.7	762,131	8.2	930,158	7.2	897,964	6.1	896,240	5.4	547,065	3.7
Uygurs			11,631	0.2	35,409	0.6	59,840	0.6	120,784	0.9	147,943	1.0	185,301	1.1	210,377	1.4
Tatars	55,984	1.1	79,758	1.3	108,127	1.8	191,802	2.1	281,849	2.2	312,626	2.1	327,982	2.0	249,052	1.7
Germans			51,094	0.8	92,571	1.5	659,800	7.1	839,649	6.5	900,207	6.1	957,518	5.8	353,462	2.4
Koreans			42	0.0	96,453	1.6	74,019	0.8	78,078	0.6	91,984	0.6	103,315	0.6	99,944	0.7
Turks			46	0.0	523	0.0	9,916	0.1	18,397	0.1	25,820	0.2	49,567	0.3	75,950	0.5
Azerbaijanis			20	0.0	12,996	0.2	38,362	0.4	56,166	0.4	73,345	0.5	90,083	0.5	78,325	0.5
Belarusians			25,584	0.4	31,614	0.5	107,463	1.2	197,592	1.5	181,491	1.2	182,601	1.1	111,924	0.7
Dungans			8,455	0.1	7,415	0.1	9,980	0.1	17,283	0.1	22,491	0.2	30,165	0.2	36,945	0.2
Zazas					2,387	0.0	6,109	0.1	12,299	0.1	17,692	0.1	25,425	0.2	32,764	0.2
Tajiks			7,599	0.1	11,229	0.2	8,075	0.1	7,166	0.1	19,293	0.1	25,514	0.2	25,673	0.2
Poles			3,742	0.1	54,809	0.9	53,102	0.6	61,355	0.5	61,136	0.4	59,956	0.4	47,302	0.3
Chechens			3	0.0	2,639	0.0	130,232	1.4	34,492	0.3	38,256	0.3	49,507	0.3	31,802	0.2
Kyrgyz			10,200	0.2	5,033	0.1	6,810	0.1	9,474	0.1	9,352	0.1	14,112	0.1	10,925	0.1
Others			108,016	1.7	124,611	2.0	286,441	3.1	315,347	2.5	340,834	2.3	372,996	2.3	206,879	1.4
Total			6,198,465		6,151,102		9,309,847		12,848,573		14,684,283		16,464,464		14,981,281
1 Excluding the Kara-Kalpak AO; source:.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2 Source:.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 3 Source:.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 4 Source:.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 5 Source:.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 6 Source:.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 7 Source:<ref>http://www.stat.kz/p_perepis/Documents/Перепись%20рус.pdf Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Population of Kazakhstan according to ethnic group 2009–2014

Ethnic group	census 20098		20149
	Number	%	Number	%
Kazakhs	10,096,763	63.1	11,244,547	65.5
Russians	3,793,764	23.7	3,685,009	21.5
Uzbeks	456,997	2.9	521,252	3.0
Ukrainians	333,031	2.1	301,346	1.8
Uygurs	224,713	1.4	246,777	1.4
Tatars	204,229	1.3	203,108	1.2
Germans	178,409	1.1	181,928	1.1
Koreans	100,385	0.6	105,400	0.6
Turks	97,015	0.6	104,792	0.6
Azerbaijanis	85,292	0.5	98,646	0.6
Dungans	51,944	0.3	62,029	0.4
Belarusians	66,476	0.4	60,295	0.4
Zazas	38,325	0.2	42,312	0.3
Tajiks	36,277	0.2	42,143	0.3
Poles	34,057	0.2	32,661	0.2
Chechens	31,431	0.2	32,252	0.2
Kyrgyz	23,274	0.2	29,803	0.2
Others	157,215	1.0
Total	16,009,597		17,160,774
8 Source: 9 Source:<ref>[4]</ref>

Bibliography

• Template:Citation.

External links

For current data, use these sites.

• Population and social policy, Statistical Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan (kaz
• World Bank Database
• CIA World Fact Book page on Kazakhstan
• US Census Bureau International Data Base
• countrystudies.us
• WESP population statistics
• Russians left behind in Central Asia