Demographics of Kyrgyzstan Information & Demographics of Kyrgyzstan Links at HealthHaven.com

Population of Kyrgyzstan (in millions) from 1950-2007.

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 Mongols, as symbolized by the 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan.

[edit] 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 69% of the population (2007 estimate). 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 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.

[edit] CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

Data from CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Age distribution pyramid (2005)

[edit] Population

5,431,747 (2009 est.)

[edit] Population growth rate

1.40% (2009 est.)

[edit] Birth rate

23.44 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

[edit] Death rate

6.91 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)

[edit] Net migration rate

-2.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

[edit] 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.)

[edit] 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.)

[edit] Life expectancy at birth

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

[edit] 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]}

[edit] Nationality

noun: Kyrgyzstani(s)
adjective: Kyrgyzstani

[edit] Religions

Muslim 75%, Russian Orthodox 20%, other 5% (1999 census)

[edit] Languages

Kirghiz (Kyrgyz) - 64.7%, 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.

[edit] Literacy

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

[edit] 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 Plattdeutsch-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 (in percent) according to three population censuses between 1979 and 1999, with estimates for 2003 and 2007.^[1]^[2] There has been a sharp decline in the European ethnic groups (Russians, Ukrainians, Germans) and also Tatars since independence (as captured in the 1989 and 1999 censuses).

Nationality	1979 census	1989 census	1999 census	2003 estimate	2007 estimate
Total population (thou.)	3,522.8	4,257.8	4,822.9	4,984.4	5,189.8
Kyrgyz	47.9	52.4	64.9	66.9	68.9
Uzbeks	12.1	12.9	13.8	14.1	14.4
Russians	25.9	21.5	12.5	10.6	9.1
Ukrainians	3.1	2.5	1.0	0.8	0.5
Tatars	2.0	1.6	0.9	0.8	0.7
Dungans	0.8	0.9	1.1	1.1	1.1
Uyghurs	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.0
Kazakhs	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.8
Tajiks	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.9
Turks	0.1	0.5	0.7	0.7	0.7
Koreans	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4
Germans	2.9	2.4	0.4	0.3	0.2
Others	2.5	2.3	1.5	1.5	1.4

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Population census for Kyrgyzstan, 1999 (Russian)
^ ^a ^b ^c Ethnic composition of the population in Kyrgyzstan 1999-2007.

[census-0] Population census for Kyrgyzstan, 1999 (Russian)

[ethnic-1] Ethnic composition of the population in Kyrgyzstan 1999-2007.

[1]

[2]

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