Genetik
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Genetik/Peoples/Kazakhs

Kazakhs

Казахи · Q80040

language area per Glottologcensus counts
14,664,202
Kazakhstan, census 2025 (ethnicity / nationality)
16,980,440
sum of censuses in 11 countries, 2001-2025
Turkic
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Kazakhstan: 14,664,202 people in the 2025 census.

Official figures exist for 11 countries; together they add up to 16,980,440. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2001-2025) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 591,970 people identified with the nationality "Казахи" (Kazakhs)1. That is 0.45% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 11 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Kazakh. 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.

Kazakhstan2025 · ethnicity / nationality · «Kazakhs» · [2]
14,664,202
China2020 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [3]
1,562,518
Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Казахи» · [1]
591,970
Mongolia2020 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [4]
120,999
Kyrgyzstan2009 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [5]
33,198
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [6]
5,526
Belarus2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [7]
1,068
Latvia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [8]
302
Estonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [9]
293
Lithuania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [10]
214
Moldova, Republic of2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kazak» · [11]
150
Sum across 11 countries16,980,440

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex, urban and rural, Russian regions

Sex

Men 294,439 · 49.7%Women 297,531 · 50.3%

Urban and rural

Urban 246,045 · 41.6%Rural 345,925 · 58.4%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Astrakhan Oblast
143,717
Orenburg Oblast
107,734
Omsk Oblast
69,407
Saratov Oblast
64,065
Volgograd Oblast
37,576
Chelyabinsk Oblast
29,057
Samara Oblast
15,058
Tyumen Oblast (excl. autonomous okrugs)
14,435
Altai Republic
12,647
Moscow (city)
9,864

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

Languages and their lineage

Kazakh

  1. Turkicturk1311
  2. Common Turkiccomm1245
  3. Kipchak-Turkestankipc1240
  4. Kipchakkipc1239
  5. Southeast Kipchaksout3396
  6. South Kipchaksout2701
  7. Kazakhkaza1248

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

UyghursAzerbaijanisTatarsKyrgyz peopleBashkir peopleChuvash peopleUzbeksKumyk peopleTurkish peopleYakutsTuvansCrimean TatarsKarachaysSalar peopleGagauzBalkarsNogaisAltai peopleKhakass peopleTurkmensKryashensKarakalpaksShorsDolgans

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. Bureau of National Statistics, Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Key indicators - Demography (current population statistics, beginning of 2025; an administrative estimate, NOT a census). https://stat.gov.kz/en/industries/social-statistics/demography/publications/479778/
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. China, 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. Mongolia, 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. 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…
  6. 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…
  7. 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…
  8. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Latvia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  9. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Estonia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  10. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Lithuania, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  11. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Republic of Moldova, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  12. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)