Demographics of Kazakhstan

As of 2003, there is a discrepancy between reputable sources as to the population of Kazakhstan. US government sources including the CIA World Fact Book and the US Census Bureau International Data Base list the current population as 16,763,795, while United Nations sources such as the World Bank give a 2002 estimate of 14,794,830. This rather large discrepancy is presumably due to difficulties in measurement caused by the large migratory population of Kazakhstan, emigration, and the low population density - only about 5.5 persons per sq. km in an area the size of Western Europe.

The population is estimated to be 53% ethnic Kazakhs and 30% ethnic Russians, with an amazingingly rich array of other groups represented, including Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Koreans, Germans, Chechens, and Uygurs - that is, virtually any group that has ever come under the Russian sphere of influence. This diverse demography is due to the country's central location and its historical use by Russia as a place to send colonists, dissidents, and minority groups from its other frontiers - one can almost not understand Kazakhstan without understanding population transfer in the Soviet Union. This makes Kazakhstan one of the few places on earth where normally-disparate Germanic, Indo-Iranian, Chinese, Chechen, and Turkic groups rub elbows in a rural setting and not as a result of modern immigration. Most of the population speaks Russian; only half of ethnic Kazakhs speak Kazakh fluently, although it is enjoying a renaissance. Both Kazakh and Russian languages have official status.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the German population of Kazakhstan proceeded to emigrate en masse during the 1990s [1], as Germany, a highly-developed nation, is willing to repatriate them. Other groups have fewer good options for emigration but because of the economic situation are also leaving at rates comparable to the rest of the former East bloc.

Age structure:

  • 0-14 years: 27% (male 2,332,284; female 2,260,730)
  • 15-64 years: 65% (male 5,320,938; female 5,638,710)
  • 65 years and over: 8% (male 398,225; female 782,340) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate:

  • 0.26% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:

  • 15.52 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:

  • 9.59 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:

  • -3.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio:

  • at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.54 male(s)/female
  • total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

  • total: 30.54 deaths/1,000 live births
  • male: 35.24 deaths/1,000 live births
  • female: 25.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

  • total population: 66.07 years
  • male: 60.72 years
  • female: 71.73 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate:

  • 1.9 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Nationality:

  • noun: Kazakhstani(s)
  • adjective: Kazakhstani

Ethnic groups: (1999)

  • Kazakhs ( Qazaq) (53.4%)
  • Russians (30%)
  • Ukrainians (3.7%)
  • Germans (2.4%)
  • Uzbeks (2.5%)
  • Uyghur (1.4%)
  • other (6.6%)

Religions:

  • Muslim (47%)
  • Russian Orthodox (44%)
  • Protestant (2%)
  • other (7%)

Languages: (2001 est)

  • Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) (64.4%)
  • Russian (official, used in everyday business) (95%)

Literacy: (1999 est)

  • definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  • total population: 98.4%
  • male: 99.1%
  • female: 97.7%

See also