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Kazakhstan

KZ

Central Asia

Kazakhstan is home to 12 documented ethnic groups in Central Asia — led by Kazakh (~71%), Russian Kazakhstani (~16%), Other Kazakhstani (~4%), Uzbek Kazakhstani (~3%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
KazakhKazakh70.6%Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Kazakh (~70.6%, ~13.5M); the dominant ethnic group, growth from ~40% in 1989 reflecting both natural increase and the substantial post-1991 ethnic-Russian emigration plus the Oralman/Qandas repatriation program returning ethnic Kazakhs from the broader diaspora (China, Mongolia, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Iran)
Russian KazakhstaniRussian Kazakhstani15.6%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Russian (~15.6%, ~3.0M); the largest ethnic minority. Concentrated heavily in northern Kazakhstan (East Kazakhstan, North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar, Akmola, Karaganda regions) — historically the ethnic-Russian-majority regions of the Kazakh SSR. Population has declined from ~37.8% in 1989 through substantial post-1991 emigration to Russia
Other KazakhstaniOther Kazakhstani3.5%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, residual including Turkish (~110,000+), Belarusian (~58,000+), Pole (~25,000+), Chechen (~30,000+), Ingush, Bashkir, Mordvin, Karakalpak, Kalmyk, Tajik, Lithuanian, plus other smaller groups
Uzbek KazakhstaniUzbek Kazakhstani3.3%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Uzbek (~3.3%, ~625,000); concentrated in southern Kazakhstan (South Kazakhstan / Turkestan Region), particularly the cities of Shymkent, Sairam, and Turkestan. Cross-border population shared with Uzbekistan
Ukrainian KazakhstaniUkrainian Kazakhstani2.0%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Ukrainian (~2.0%, ~388,000); descendants of late-19th c. Ukrainian peasant settlement during the Russian Empire's expansion plus 20th c. Soviet-era resettlement (the Virgin Lands Campaign of the 1950s-1960s brought substantial Ukrainian and Russian settlement to northern Kazakhstan). Population has declined from ~5.4% in 1989 through emigration
Uyghur KazakhstaniUyghur Kazakhstani1.4%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Uyghur (~1.4%, ~265,000); concentrated in Almaty Region and Almaty city. Cross-border population shared with Xinjiang, China — the Kazakhstan-resident Uyghur community has grown through 20th c. and ongoing migration from Xinjiang plus Soviet-era population transfers
Tatar KazakhstaniTatar Kazakhstani1.1%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Tatar (~1.1%, ~209,000); descendants of Volga Tatar and Crimean Tatar populations resettled to Kazakhstan during 19th-20th c. Russian and Soviet-era population movements
German KazakhstaniGerman Kazakhstani0.9%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified German (~0.9%, ~178,000); the descendants of the Volga German and other Russian-German populations deported to Kazakhstan during World War II under Stalin's 1941 Resettlement Decree. Population has declined from ~5.8% in 1989 through massive post-1991 emigration to Germany under the Spätaussiedler / late-resettler citizenship pathway
Korean KazakhstaniKorean Kazakhstani0.5%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Korean (~0.5%, ~105,000); the Koryo-saram community, descendants of the ethnic Korean population deported from the Russian Far East to Soviet Central Asia in 1937 under Stalin's Resettlement of the Koreans. Maintained Korean ethnic identity with substantial Russian-Soviet cultural-linguistic admixture; speak Koryo-mar (a critically endangered Korean dialect) plus Russian and Kazakh
Azerbaijani KazakhstaniAzerbaijani Kazakhstani0.5%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Azerbaijani (~0.5%, ~107,000); resettlement-era and post-Soviet migration
Dungan KazakhstaniDungan Kazakhstani0.3%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Dungan (~0.3%, ~73,000); the Sinophone Muslim ethnic group descended from the post-1862 Dungan Revolt refugees who fled Qing-period China to Russian Turkestan. Concentrated in Zhambyl Region near the Kyrgyz border. Distinct from Kazakhstan's Hui-related populations through their continuous Sinophone (Northwestern Mandarin / Gansu-Shaanxi-origin) language preservation
Kyrgyz KazakhstaniKyrgyz Kazakhstani0.3%Kazakhstan 2021 Census, self-identified Kyrgyz (~0.3%, ~62,000); cross-border population

Kazakhstan Phenotype Profile

Kazakhstan's population reflects a complex multi-source-population demographic structure shaped by the Russian-imperial-and-Soviet-era population movements of the 19th-20th centuries, the 1937 deportation of Koreans, the 1941 deportation of Russian-Germans, the 1944 deportation of Chechens-Ingush-and-Crimean-Tatars-and-Meskhetian-Turks, the 1954-1965 Virgin Lands Campaign that brought substantial Russian-Ukrainian-Belarusian agricultural migration, plus the broader Soviet-industrial-development migration. Post-1991 independence has produced substantial demographic re-shifting through emigration of Russians, Ukrainians, Russian-Germans, and others to their respective homelands, plus the Oralman/Qandas repatriation program returning ethnic Kazakhs from the diaspora — these processes have shifted the Kazakh share from ~40% in 1989 to ~71% in 2021.

The 2021 Census reports approximately 71% Kazakh, 15.6% Russian, 3.3% Uzbek, 2.0% Ukrainian, 1.4% Uyghur, 1.1% Tatar, 0.9% German, 0.5% Korean, 0.5% Azerbaijani, 0.3% Dungan, 0.3% Kyrgyz, and 3.5% other (Turkish, Belarusian, Polish, Chechen, etc.). Genome-wide studies (Yunusbayev et al. 2015, Balanovsky et al. 2017) place average Kazakh ancestry at approximately 65-70% East Asian and 30-35% West Eurasian — among the most clearly admixed populations of inner Eurasia.

Skin tone across the population spans Fitzpatrick I-V with II-III the modal value nationally — the multi-source-population diversity produces broader phenotype distribution than most Central Asian states. Hair texture is predominantly straight to wavy across the broader population; hair color spans the full range from blonde (Russian-Kazakhstani, German-Kazakhstani populations) to black (broader Kazakh / Uzbek / Korean populations). Eye color is predominantly brown nationally with elevated frequencies of hazel, green, and blue variants in Russian-Kazakhstani, German-Kazakhstani, Ukrainian-Kazakhstani, and broader Kazakh populations (the latter through the West Eurasian admixture component). Facial features track regional and ethnic-source-population distinctions. Build is variable; adult Kazakh male mean stature is approximately 175 cm in 2010s-2020s cohorts. Within-population variance is high.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Kazakhstan population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights are derived from the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan 2021 Census, the most recent comprehensive Kazakhstan census. Kazakhstan enumerates self-identified ethnic-group affiliation across all major ethnic groups including the post-Soviet ethnic minorities. Genome-wide ancestry context (Yunusbayev et al. 2015, Balanovsky et al. 2017) supports phenotype interpretation. Caveats: (1) the dramatic demographic shift between 1989 (Kazakh ~40%, Russian ~37.8%) and 2021 (Kazakh ~71%, Russian ~15.6%) reflects both the Russian-Ukrainian-German emigration to homelands and the substantial Oralman/Qandas repatriation program plus higher Kazakh natural increase; (2) the Russian-Kazakhstani population continues to decline through emigration; (3) the German-Kazakhstani population has shrunk by approximately 80% since 1989 through the Spätaussiedler emigration to Germany; (4) the Korean-Kazakhstani Koryo-saram and the various Stalin-era-deportee communities (Crimean Tatar, Chechen, Meskhetian Turk, etc.) are partially documented under their separate enumeration but the historical context of their presence in Kazakhstan is essential for understanding the demographic structure; (5) the Kazakh ethnic-minority sub-populations within Kazakhstan show some regional variation (zhuz / horde) — the Ulu (Senior), Orta (Middle), and Kishi (Junior) zhuz historically structured Kazakh political-genealogical identity, though modern self-identification de-emphasizes the zhuz distinctions.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan. National Census of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2021. Astana: BNS; 2022.
  2. 2.Yunusbayev B, Metspalu M, Metspalu E, et al. The genetic legacy of the expansion of Turkic-speaking nomads across Eurasia. PLoS Genet. 2015;11(4):e1005068. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005068
  3. 3.Balanovsky O, Zhabagin M, Agdzhoyan A, et al. Deep phylogenetic analysis of haplogroup G1 provides estimates of SNP and STR mutation rates on the human Y-chromosome. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(2):e0171519.
  4. 4.Olcott MB. The Kazakhs (2nd ed). Stanford: Hoover Institution Press; 1995.
  5. 5.Sahadeo J. Russian Colonial Society in Tashkent, 1865-1923. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; 2007 (with broader Russian-Central-Asian context).

Other countries in Central Asia

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring Central Asia nations, weighted by demographic composition.

Browse all Central Asiaethnic groups & countries →