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Genetik/Peoples/Karakalpaks

Karakalpaks

Каракалпаки · Q276315

language area per Glottologcensus counts
20,007
Kazakhstan, census 2021 (national and/or ethnic group, UN)
20,972
sum of censuses in 5 countries, 2001-2021
Turkic
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Kazakhstan: 20,007 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 5 countries; together they add up to 20,972. 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), 838 people identified with the nationality "Каракалпаки" (Karakalpaks)1. That is less than 0.01% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 2 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Kara-Kalpak. Glottolog classifies it in the Turkic 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 · «Kara-Kalpak» · [2]
20,007
Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Каракалпаки» · [1]
838
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kara-Kalpak» · [3]
117
Belarus2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kara-Kalpak» · [4]
6
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kara-Kalpak» · [5]
4
Sum across 5 countries20,972

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex, urban and rural, Russian regions

Sex

Men 466 · 55.6%Women 372 · 44.4%

Urban and rural

Urban 557 · 66.5%Rural 281 · 33.5%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Volgograd Oblast
100
Moscow (city)
73
Moscow Oblast
58
Astrakhan Oblast
51
Orenburg Oblast
41
Republic of Tatarstan
40
Saratov Oblast
36
Republic of Bashkortostan
34
Saint Petersburg (city)
29
Leningrad Oblast
24

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

Languages and their lineage

Kara-Kalpak

  1. Turkicturk1311
  2. Common Turkiccomm1245
  3. Kipchak-Turkestankipc1240
  4. Kipchakkipc1239
  5. Southeast Kipchaksout3396
  6. South Kipchaksout2701
  7. Kara-Kalpakkara1467

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

KazakhsUyghursAzerbaijanisTatarsKyrgyz peopleBashkir peopleChuvash peopleUzbeksKumyk peopleTurkish peopleYakutsTuvansCrimean TatarsKarachaysSalar peopleGagauzBalkarsNogaisAltai peopleKhakass peopleTurkmensKryashensShorsDolgans

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. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Tajikistan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  6. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)