Genetik
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Genetik/Peoples/Kumyk people

Kumyk people

Кумыки · Q211018

language area per Glottologcensus counts
565,830
Russia, census 2021
567,678
sum of censuses in 6 countries, 2001-2021
Turkic
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Russia: 565,830 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 6 countries; together they add up to 567,678. 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), 565,830 people identified with the nationality "Кумыки" (Kumyk people)1. That is 0.43% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 7 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Kumyk. 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.

Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Кумыки» · [1]
565,830
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kumyk» · [2]
900
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kumyk» · [3]
718
Belarus2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kumyk» · [4]
201
Latvia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kumyk» · [5]
24
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kumyk» · [6]
5
Sum across 6 countries567,678

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex

Men 279,094 · 49.3%Women 286,736 · 50.7%

Urban and rural

Urban 267,049 · 47.2%Rural 298,781 · 52.8%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Republic of Dagestan
496,455
Republic of North Ossetia-Alania
18,054
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra
13,669
Chechen Republic
12,184
Stavropol Krai
5,213
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
4,838
Moscow Oblast
1,704
Moscow (city)
1,576
Saint Petersburg (city)
1,340
Astrakhan Oblast
1,240

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

Languages and their lineage

Kumyk

  1. Turkicturk1311
  2. Common Turkiccomm1245
  3. Kipchak-Turkestankipc1240
  4. Kipchakkipc1239
  5. Northwest Kipchaknort3424
  6. West Kipchakwest1472
  7. Kaukasus Kipchakkauk1241
  8. Kumykkumy1244

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 peopleUzbeksTurkish 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. 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. 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…
  6. 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…
  7. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)