Demographics of Kyrgyzstan

Demographics of Kyrgyzstan
Population of Kyrgyzstan (in millions) from 1950-2009
Population:	5,362,800 (2009 est.)
Density:	27.4/km2; 71/sq mi
Growth rate:	1.32/1,000 population (2010 est.)
Birth rate:	22.88 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)
Death rate:	2.69 deaths/1,000 population (2010 est.)
Life expectancy:	69.43 years
–male:	65.53 years
–female:	73.64 years (2009 est.)
Fertility rate:	2.65 children born/woman (2010 est.)
Infant mortality rate:	31.26 deaths/1,000 live births
Age structure:
0-14 years:	23.6%
15-64 years:	62.9%
65-over:	6.2%
Sex ratio:
At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.96 male(s)/female
65-over:	0.64 male(s)/female
Nationality:
Nationality:	Kyrgyzstani
Major ethnic:	Kyrgyz
Minor ethnic:	Russian, Uzbek, Ukrainian, Uyghur, Tatar, German
Language:
Official:	Kyrgyz
Spoken:	Kyrgyz, Russian

A Yurt family

The Demographics of Kyrgyzstan is about the demographic features of the population of Kyrgyzstan, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The name Kyrgyz, both for the people and the country, means "forty girls" or "forty tribes", a reference to the epic hero Manas who unified forty tribes against the Oirats, as symbolized by the 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan.

Demographic trends

Musicians

Kyrgyzstan's population increased from 2.1 million to 4.8 million between the censuses of 1959 and 1999.^[1] Official estimates set the population at 5.2 million in 2007.^[2] Of those, 34.4% are under the age of 15 and 6.2% are over the age of 65. The country is rural: only about one-third of Kyrgyzstan's population live in urban areas. The average population density is 69 people per square mile (29 people per km²).

The nation's largest ethnic group are the Kyrgyz, a Turkic people, which comprise 71% of the population (2009 census). Other ethnic groups include Russians (9.0%) concentrated in the north and Uzbeks (14.5%) living in the south. Small but noticeable minorities include Tatars (1.9%), Uyghurs (1.1%), Tajiks (1.1%), Kazakhs (0.7%) and Ukrainians (0.5%), and other smaller ethnic minorities (1.7%). Of the formerly sizable Volga German community, exiled here by Joseph Stalin from their earlier homes in the Volga German Republic, most have returned to Germany, and only a few small groups remain. A small percentage of the population are also Koreans, who are the descendants of the Koreans deported in 1937 from the Soviet Far East to Central Asia.

Kyrgyzstan has undergone a pronounced change in its ethnic composition since independence. The percentage of ethnic Kyrgyz increased from around 50% in 1979 to nearly 70% in 2007, while the percentage of European ethnic groups (Russians, Ukrainians, and Germans) as well as Tatars dropped from 35% to about 10%.^[1][2]

The Kyrgyz have historically been semi-nomadic herders, living in round tents called yurts and tending sheep, horses and yaks. This nomadic tradition continues to function seasonally (see transhumance) as herding families return to the high mountain pasture (or jailoo) in the summer. The retention of this nomadic heritage and the freedoms that it implies continue to have an impact on the political atmosphere in the country.

Vital statistics

Births and deaths^{[3] [4]}

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)
1980	3 628	107 278	30 460	76 818	29.6	8.4	21.2
1981	3 699	113 434	29 591	83 843	30.7	8.0	22.7
1982	3 775	117 235	29 194	88 041	31.1	7.7	23.3
1983	3 857	120 708	30 241	90 467	31.3	7.8	23.5
1984	3 937	126 075	32 603	93 472	32.0	8.3	23.7
1985	4 014	128 460	32 332	96 128	32.0	8.1	23.9
1986	4 093	133 728	29 083	104 645	32.7	7.1	25.6
1987	4 173	136 588	30 597	105 991	32.7	7.3	25.4
1988	4 250	133 710	31 879	101 831	31.5	7.5	24.0
1989	4 327	131 508	31 156	100 352	30.4	7.2	23.2
1990	4 395	128 810	30 580	98 230	29.3	7.0	22.4
1991	4 464	129 536	30 859	98 677	29.0	6.9	22.1
1992	4 515	128 352	32 163	96 189	28.4	7.1	21.3
1993	4 515	116 795	34 513	82 282	25.9	7.6	18.2
1994	4 513	110 113	37 109	73 004	24.4	8.2	16.2
1995	4 560	117 340	36 915	80 425	25.7	8.1	17.6
1996	4 628	108 007	34 562	73 445	23.3	7.5	15.9
1997	4 696	102 050	34 540	67 510	21.7	7.4	14.4
1998	4 769	104 183	34 596	69 587	21.8	7.3	14.6
1999	4 837	104 068	32 850	71 218	21.5	6.8	14.7
2000	4 888	96 770	34 111	62 659	19.8	7.0	12.8
2001	4 927	98 138	32 677	65 461	19.9	6.6	13.3
2002	4 965	101 012	35 235	65 777	20.3	7.1	13.2
2003	5 011	105 490	35 941	69 549	21.1	7.2	13.9
2004	5 065	109 939	35 061	74 878	21.7	6.9	14.8
2005	5 116	109 839	36 992	72 847	21.5	7.2	14.2
2006	5 164	120 737	38 566	82 171	23.4	7.5	15.9
2007	5 207	123 251	38 180	85 071	23.7	7.3	16.3
2008	5 250	127 332	37 710	89 622	24.3	7.2	17.1
2009	5 301	135 494	37 000	98 494	25.6	7,0	18.6
2010

Total fertility rate

2.65 children born/woman (2009 est.)

The differences in the number of children by nationality are significant: Uzbeks (3.0 children), Tajiks (3.0 children), Turks (2.9), Kyrgyz (2.9), Dungans (2.8) Russians (1.7), Koreans (1.7), Germans (1.8), Ukrainians (2.1), Tatars (2.1), Kazakhs (2.3) and Ugyhurs (2.5).^[1] The TFR for Russians in Kyrgyzstan is more than 60% higher than that in Russia and the TFR for Ukrainians is 100% higher than in Ukraine. TFR for Koreans in Kyrgyzstan is also very high compared to TFR of South Korea. Same is true for Germans.^{[citation needed]}

Ethnic groups

According to the 1999 census,^[1] the ethnic composition of the population was as follows: Kyrgyz (Kara Kyrgyz) 64.9%, Uzbeks 13.8%, Russians 12.5%, Dungans 1.1%, Ukrainians 1%, Ugyhurs 1%, other 5.7%, including Koreans 0.4% and Germans 0.4% (among them Low German-speaking Mennonites). Most Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Germans, and Koreans lived in northeast, especially around the city of Karakol. Most of the Dungans and Ugyhurs are found along the Chinese border. Most of the Tajiks and Uzbeks live in the south. The emigration of non-Turkic people to Russia, Ukraine, and Germany is now negligible, in part because most of them left prior to 1999 and in part because Kyrgyzstan is the most tolerant Central Asian nation.^{[citation needed]}

The table shows the ethnic composition of Kyrgyzstan's population according to all population censuses between 1926 and 2009. There has been a sharp decline in the European ethnic groups (Russians, Ukrainians, Germans) and also Tatars since independence (as captured in the 1989, 1999 and 2009 censuses).

Population of Kyrgyzstan according to ethnic group 1926–2009

Ethnic group	census 19261		census 19392		census 19593		census 19704		census 19795		census 19896		census 19997		census 20098
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Kyrgyz	661,171	66.6	754,323	51.7	836,831	40.5	1,284,773	43.8	1,687,382	47.9	2,229,663	52.4	3,128,147	64.9	3,804,800	70.9
Uzbeks	110,463	11.1	151,551	10.4	218,640	10.6	332,638	11.3	426,194	12.1	550,096	12.9	664,950	13.8	768,400	14.3
Russians	116,436	11.7	302,916	20.8	623,562	30.2	855,935	29.2	911,703	25.9	916,558	21.5	603,201	12.5	419,600	7.8
Dungans	6,004	0.6	5,921	0.4	11,088	0.5	19,837	0.7	26,661	0.8	36,928	0.9	51,766	1.1	58,400	1.1
Uygurs	7,540	0.8	9,412	0.6	13,757	0.7	24,872	0.8	29,817	0.8	36,779	0.9	46,944	1.0	48,500	0.9
Tajiks	2,667	0.3	10,670	0.7	15,221	0.7	21,927	0.7	23,209	0.7	33,518	0.8	42,636	0.9	46,100	0.9
Turks	44	0.0	33	0.0	542	0.0	3,076	0.1	5,160	0.1	21,294	0.5	33,327	0.7	39,100	0.7
Kazakhs	1,766	0.2	23,925	1.6	20,067	1.0	21,998	0.8	27,442	0.8	37,318	0.9	42,657	0.9	33,200	0.6
Tatars	4,902	0.5	20,017	1.4	56,209	2.7	68,827	2.3	71,744	2.0	70,068	1.6	45,438	0.9	31,500	0.6
Ukrainians	64,128	6.5	137,299	9.4	137,031	6.6	120,081	4.1	109,324	3.1	108,027	2.5	50,442	1.0	21,900	0.4
Koreans	9	0.0	508	0.0	3,622	0.2	9,404	0.3	14,481	0.4	18,355	0.4	19,784	0.4	17,300	0.3
Azeris	3,631	0.4	7,724	0.5	10,428	0.5	12,536	0.4	17,207	0.5	15,775	0.4	14,014	0.3	17,300	0.3
Germans	4,291	0.4	11,741	0.8	39,915	1.9	89,834	3.1	101,057	2.9	101,309	2.4	21,471	0.4	9,500	0.2
Kurds	-		1,490	0.1	4,783	0.2	7,974	0.3	9,544	0.3	14,262	0.3	-		-
Chechens	1	0.0	7	0.0	25,208	1.2	3,391	0.1	2,654	0.1	2,873	0.1	2,612	0.1	1,900	0.0
Belorussians	333	0.0	1,520	0.1	4,613	0.2	6,868	0.2	7,676	0.2	9,187	0.2	3,208	0.1	1,400	0.0
Jews	318	0.0	1,895	0.1	8,607	0.4	7,677	0.3	6,836	0.2	6,005	0.1	1,571	0.0	600	0.0
Others	9,300	0.9	17,261	1.2	35,713	1.7	41,157	1.4	44,741	1.3	49,740	1.2	50,770	1.1	43,300	0.8
Total	993,004		1,458,213		2,065,837		2,932,805		3,522,832		4,257,755		4,822,938		5,362,800
1 Source: [1]. 2 Source: [2]. 3 Source: [3]. 4 Source: [4]. 5 Source: [5]. 6 Source: [6]. 7 Source: [7]. 8 Source: [8]

Languages

Kyrgyz - 64.7%, Uzbek - 13.6% Russian - 12.5%, Dungun 1%, other 8.2% (census 1999)

In March 1996, the Kyrgyzstani legislature amended the constitution to make Russian an official language, along with Kyrgyz, in territories and work places where Russian-speaking citizens predominate.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Kyrgyzstan

Muslim are 75%, Russian Orthodox are 20%, and other are 5% of the Population (1999 census).

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

Data from CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.64 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate

Total 31.26 deaths/1,000 live births
Male 36.19 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 26.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 69.43 years
male: 65.43 years
female: 73.64 years (2009 est.)

Nationality

noun: Kyrgyzstani(s)
adjective: Kyrgyzstani

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.7%
male: 99.3%
female: 98.1% (1999 census)

see also

Demography of Central Asia

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Population census for Kyrgyzstan, 1999 (Russian)
2. ^ ^{a b} Ethnic composition of the population in Kyrgyzstan 1999-2007.
3. ^ United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
4. ^ National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan