 Population |
The ninth biggest country in the world, Kazakhstan,
is one of the sparsely populated countries in the
world, about 6, 1 person per 1 square kilometer.
Today there are 16, 5 million inhabitants in Kazakhstan
(the fiftieth place in the world!).
2 main ethnic groups:
In addition to the two indicated main ethnic groups over 120 nations and nationalities live in Kazakhstan. Among them, there are more than 800 thousand Ukrainians, 500 thousand Germans, 400 thousand Uzbeks, and more than 300 thousand Tatars.
About 56% of population lives in towns and workers' settlements, the rest 44 per cent are the rural population.
Growth rate:
During two last decades the rate of the population has grown slowly. Such situation can be explained from one side by the migration of the main part of population abroad and on the other side by the stable loose of the absolute and relative quantity of the natural growth of inhabitants. From 1988, because of the crisis in economy and society, the demographic situation got worse: the birth-rate decreased and the death-rate increased. The total coefficient of the birth-rate for the period of 1988-1995 reduced from 25,5 to 17 on the basis of 1000 persons, and the coefficient of the death-rate grew from 7,5 to 10. For the last 4 years the negative balance of the external migration of the population exceeded 1 million people.
 |
Kazakh population:
Kazakhs take the seventieth place in the world -
more than 11, 5 million people - among two thousand
nations and nationalities Nearly 8 million Kazakhs
live in Kazakhstan now. In the middle of XV century
of A.D. Kazakhs formed the separate ethnic group.
To the middle of the XVI century Kazakhs were under
the head of the united khanate (state). Kazakh language
belongs to the Kipchak group of the Turk languages.
Kazakhs are the direct heirs of nomadic cultural
civilization of the European and Asian subcontinent,
which played the big role in the history of mankind.
The majority of Russians migrated to Kazakhstan
at the end of the last century from the Central
Russia, and Volga region. In the thirties, fifties
and sixties of the twentieth century Russians migrated
from all regions of the former USSR for the creation
of the industrial base and for the breaking of fresh
ground in Kazakhstan.
Religion:
Kazakhstan is a secular state. Historically, two
religions dominate in the Republic: Islam and Orthodoxy.
Islam first came into the region in the eighth century
with Arab conquerors. However, the faith did not
put down firm roots until the tenth century due
to the tribes' fragmentation. Orthodoxy came into
the region with the coming of the Russians and about
36% of the population is Orthodox.
 |
