Genetik
RU
Genetik/Peoples/Turkish people

Turkish people

Турки · Q84072

language area per Glottologcensus counts
508,378
Bulgaria, census 2021 (ethnicity / nationality)
923,258
sum of censuses in 16 countries, 2001-2021
Turkic
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Bulgaria: 508,378 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 16 countries; together they add up to 923,258. 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), 116,705 people identified with the nationality "Турки" (Turkish people)1. That is 0.09% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 8 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Turkish. 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.

Bulgaria2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Turkish» · [2]
508,378
Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Турки» · [1]
116,705
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turks» · [3]
85,478
North Macedonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [4]
70,961
Kyrgyzstan2009 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turks» · [5]
39,133
Belgium2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [6]
37,717
Azerbaijan2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [7]
30,516
Romania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [8]
20,945
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [9]
8,844
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [10]
1,360
Estonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [11]
763
Islamic Republic of Iran2016 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [12]
713
Moldova, Republic of2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [13]
594
Philippines2020 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [14]
488
Croatia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [15]
404
Slovenia2002 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Turkish» · [16]
259
Sum across 16 countries923,258

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex, urban and rural, Russian regions

Sex

Men 62,782 · 53.8%Women 53,923 · 46.2%

Urban and rural

Urban 25,177 · 21.6%Rural 91,528 · 78.4%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Rostov Oblast
40,450
Kabardino-Balkar Republic
16,860
Stavropol Krai
12,724
Krasnodar Krai
8,070
Volgograd Oblast
5,063
Republic of Kalmykia
3,949
Republic of North Ossetia-Alania
3,878
Belgorod Oblast
3,818
Voronezh Oblast
3,248
Republic of Tatarstan
2,096

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

Languages and their lineage

Turkish

  1. Turkicturk1311
  2. Common Turkiccomm1245
  3. Oghuzoghu1243
  4. Nuclear Oghuznucl1769
  5. West Oghuzwest2406
  6. Turkishnucl1301

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 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. National Statistical Institute (NSI), Bulgaria. Ethno-cultural characteristics of the population as of September 7, 2021 (final data), Table 1. https://www.nsi.bg/en/file/24020/Census2021-ethnos_en.pdf
  3. 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…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. North Macedonia, 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. Belgium, Census - de jure - 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. Azerbaijan, 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. Romania, 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. 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…
  10. 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…
  11. 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…
  12. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Iran (Islamic Republic of), Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  13. 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…
  14. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Philippines, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  15. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Croatia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  16. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Slovenia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  17. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)