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Genetik/Peoples/Dungans

Dungans

Дунгане · Q868841

language area per Glottologcensus counts
78,817
Kazakhstan, census 2021 (national and/or ethnic group, UN)
140,387
sum of censuses in 4 countries, 2001-2021
Sino-Tibetan
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Kazakhstan: 78,817 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 4 countries; together they add up to 140,387. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2001-2021) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 3,028 people identified with the nationality "Дунгане" (Dungans)1. That is less than 0.01% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 1 other self-designation to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Dungan. Glottolog classifies it in the Sino-Tibetan family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Dungan» · [2]
78,817
Kyrgyzstan2009 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Dungan» · [3]
58,409
Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Дунгане» · [1]
3,028
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Dungan» · [4]
133
Sum across 4 countries140,387

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex, urban and rural, Russian regions

Sex

Men 1,569 · 51.8%Women 1,459 · 48.2%

Urban and rural

Urban 557 · 18.4%Rural 2,471 · 81.6%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Saratov Oblast
1,740
Penza Oblast
304
Altai Krai
303
Tomsk Oblast
58
Krasnodar Krai
49
Lipetsk Oblast
44
Moscow Oblast
44
Smolensk Oblast
34
Saint Petersburg (city)
33
Oryol Oblast
28

Source [1]: Rosstat, 2020 census, vol. 5, table 1

Languages and their lineage

Dungan

  1. Sino-Tibetansino1245
  2. Siniticsini1245
  3. Classical-Middle-Modern Siniticclas1255
  4. Middle-Modern Siniticmidd1354
  5. Northern Chinesenort3155
  6. Mandarinicmand1471
  7. Zhongyuanzhon1236
  8. Dungandung1253

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

Han ChineseHui peopleTujia peopleChinese peopleTibetansBai peopleTamang peopleHoa peopleRai peopleLahu peopleLimbu peopleQiangJingpo peopleSherpaAkhaPumiNu peopleMang peopleBamar (Burmans)

Sources

  1. Rosstat. National composition of the population of the Russian Federation. Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census (reference date 1 October 2021), vol. 5, table 1. Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx (archived copy)
  2. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kazakhstan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kyrgyzstan, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Ukraine, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  5. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)