Genetik
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Genetik/Peoples/Lak people

Lak people

Лакцы · Q320693

language area per Glottologcensus counts
173,416
Russia, census 2021
173,479
sum of censuses in 4 countries, 2010-2021
Nakh-Daghestanian
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Russia: 173,416 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 4 countries; together they add up to 173,479. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2010-2021) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 173,416 people identified with the nationality "Лакцы" (Lak people)1. That is 0.13% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 5 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Lak. Glottolog classifies it in the Nakh-Daghestanian 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 · «Лакцы» · [1]
173,416
Latvia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Lak» · [2]
37
Belarus2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Lak» · [3]
24
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Lak» · [4]
2
Sum across 4 countries173,479

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex

Men 85,342 · 49.2%Women 88,074 · 50.8%

Urban and rural

Urban 124,020 · 71.5%Rural 49,396 · 28.5%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Republic of Dagestan
162,518
Stavropol Krai
1,615
Moscow (city)
1,167
Kabardino-Balkar Republic
986
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra
926
Moscow Oblast
822
Krasnodar Krai
537
Astrakhan Oblast
445
Rostov Oblast
313
Republic of North Ossetia-Alania
282

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

Languages and their lineage

Lak

  1. Nakh-Daghestaniannakh1245
  2. Daghestaniandagh1238
  3. Laklakk1252

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

ChechensAvarsDarginsIngush peopleLezginsTabasaran peopleAghul peopleRutuliansAndi peopleTsez peopleTsakhur peopleKarata peopleBezhta peopleAkhvakh peopleBotlikh peopleUdi peopleHunzib peopleGodoberi peopleArchi peopleTindi peopleKhwarshi peopleHinukh peopleKubachi peopleChamalal people

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. 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…
  3. 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…
  4. 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…
  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)