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Genetik/Peoples/Kalmyks

Kalmyks

Калмыки · Q190209

language area per Glottologcensus counts
179,547
Russia, census 2021
180,554
sum of censuses in 4 countries, 2001-2021
Mongolic-Khitan
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Russia: 179,547 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 4 countries; together they add up to 180,554. 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), 179,547 people identified with the nationality "Калмыки" (Kalmyks)1. That is 0.14% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 10 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Oirad-Kalmyk-Darkhat. Glottolog classifies it in the Mongolic-Khitan 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.

Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Калмыки» · [1]
179,547
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kalmyk» · [2]
660
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kalmyk» · [3]
325
Belarus2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kalmyk» · [4]
22
Sum across 4 countries180,554

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex

Men 86,941 · 48.4%Women 92,606 · 51.6%

Urban and rural

Urban 95,307 · 53.1%Rural 84,240 · 46.9%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Republic of Kalmykia
159,138
Astrakhan Oblast
5,320
Moscow (city)
3,964
Moscow Oblast
1,841
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
1,092
Saint Petersburg (city)
1,067
Volgograd Oblast
919
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra
620
Stavropol Krai
617
Rostov Oblast
504

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

Languages and their lineage

Oirad-Kalmyk-Darkhat

  1. Mongolic-Khitanmong1349
  2. Mongolicmong1329
  3. Eastern Mongolicoira1260
  4. Khalkha-Buriatkhal1273
  5. Mongolianmong1331
  6. Oirad-Kalmyk-Darkhatkalm1243

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

MongolsKhalkhasBuryatsDaur peopleDarkhadBonan peopleYugursKhotons

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. 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…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Belarus, Census - de jure - 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)