Demographics of Turkmenistan

The Demographics of Turkmenistan is about the demographic features of the population of Turkmenistan, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The ethnic majority in Turkmenistan call themselves Turkmen.

Contents

Demographic trends

The population of Turkmenistan increased from 1.5 million in the 1959 census to 4.5 million in the 1995 census.[1] The population continued growing to over 5 million in 2001-2006.[2]

Vital statistics

UN estimates[3]

Period Live births per year Deaths per year Natural change per year CBR1 CDR1 NC1 TFR1 IMR1
1950-1955 55 000 21 000 35 000 43.2 16.2 27.0 6.00 150.0
1955-1960 64 000 23 000 41 000 43.3 15.5 27.8 6.02 140.1
1960-1965 78 000 24 000 53 000 44.6 13.9 30.7 6.75 130.3
1965-1970 77 000 24 000 54 000 38.0 11.7 26.3 6.34 120.4
1970-1975 87 000 24 000 63 000 37.1 10.3 26.8 6.19 110.6
1975-1980 95 000 26 000 69 000 35.3 9.6 25.8 5.32 100.7
1980-1985 107 000 27 000 81 000 35.2 8.7 26.5 4.79 90.9
1985-1990 123 000 28 000 95 000 35.7 8.2 27.4 4.55 81.0
1990-1995 128 000 34 000 94 000 32.5 8.6 23.9 4.03 75.5
1995-2000 106 000 34 000 73 000 24.5 7.8 16.7 3.03 61.3
2000-2005 108 000 36 000 72 000 23.3 7.7 15.6 2.76 51.7
2005-2010 108 000 38 000 70 000 22.0 7.7 14.2 2.50 50.5
1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Registered births and deaths[4]

Average population (x 1000) Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000)
1979 2 792 97 511 21 583 75 928 34.9 7.7 27.2
1980 2 861 98 069 23 863 74 206 34.3 8.3 25.9
1981 2 931 100 627 24 883 75 744 34.3 8.5 25.8
1982 3 003 104 340 23 984 80 356 34.7 8.0 26.8
1983 3 076 108 171 26 015 82 156 35.2 8.5 26.7
1984 3 151 111 083 25 760 85 323 35.3 8.2 27.1
1985 3 229 116 285 26 080 90 205 36.0 8.1 27.9
1986 3 310 122 337 27 865 94 472 37.0 8.4 28.5
1987 3 393 126 787 26 802 99 985 37.4 7.9 29.5
1988 3 479 125 887 27 317 98 570 36.2 7.9 28.3
1989 3 571 124 992 27 609 97 383 35.0 7.7 27.3
1990 3 668 125 343 25 755 99 588 34.2 7.0 27.2
1991 3 772 126 248 27 403 98 845 33.5 7.3 26.2
1992 3 883 131 034 27 509 103 525 33.7 7.1 26.7
1993 3 993 130 708 31 171 99 537 32.7 7.8 24.9
1994 4 096 129 700 32 067 97 633 31.7 7.8 23.8

Ethnic groups

The table shows the ethnic composition of Turkmenistan's population (in percent) between 1926 and 1995.[1] There has been a sharp decline in the European ethnic groups (Russians and Ukrainians) and also Tatars and Kazakhs since independence (as captured in the 1979 and 1995 censuses). Uzbeks are now the second largest ethnic group in Turkmenistan, with Russians relegated to the third place. According to data announced in Ashgabat in February 2001, 91% of the population are Turkmen, 3% are Uzbeks, and 2% are Russians. Between 1989 and 2001 the number of Turkmen in Turkmenistan doubled (from 2.5 to 4.9 million), while the number of Russians dropped by two-thirds (from 334,000 to slightly over 100,000).[5] However, this rapid growth seems rather unlikely.

Population of Turkmenistan according to ethnic group 1926–1995
Ethnic
group		 census 19261 census 19392 census 19593 census 19704 census 19795 census 19896 census 1995
Number  % Number  % Number  % Number  % Number  % Number  % Number  %
Turkmens 719,792 71.9 741,488 59.2 923,724 60.9 1,416,700 65.6 1,891,695 68.4 2,536,606 72.0 3,403,639 76.7
Uzbeks 104,971 10.5 107,451 8.6 125,231 8.3 179,498 8.3 233,730 8.5 317,333 9.0 408,259 9.2
Russians 75,357 7.5 232,924 18.6 262,701 17.3 313,079 14.5 349,170 12.6 333,892 9.5 297,319 6.7
Kazakhs 9,471 0.9 61,397 4.9 69,522 4.6 68,519 3.2 79,539 2.9 87,802 2.5 88,752 2.0
Tatars 4,769 0.5 19,517 1.6 29,946 2.0 36,457 1.7 40,432 1.5 39,277 1.1 35,501 0.8
Azeris 4,229 0.4 7,442 0.6 12,868 0.8 16,775 0.8 23,548 0.9 33,365 0.9 0.8
Armenians 13,859 1.4 15,996 1.3 19,696 1.3 23,054 1.1 26,605 1.0 31,829 0.9 0.8
Balochi 9,974 1.0 5,396 0.4 7,626 0.5 12,374 0.6 18,584 0.7 28,280 0.8 0.8
Ukrainians 6,877 0.7 21,778 1.7 20,955 1.4 35,398 1.6 37,118 1.3 35,578 1.0 0.5
Others 51,615 5.2 38,494 3.1 44,106 2.9 57,026 2.6 64,327 2.3 78,755 2.2 1.7
Total 1,000,914 1,251,883 1,516,375 2,158,880 2,764,848 3,522,717 4,437,600
1 Source: [1]. 2 Source: [2]. 3 Source: [3]. 4 Source: [4]. 5 Source: [5]. 6 Source: [6].

Language

Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%. Nearly 22% of the non-Russian population indicated in the 1995 census that they spoke Russian fluently.[1] According to Ethnologue, up to 50% claim "good knowledge" of Russian. Other languages include the Balochi language, which was spoken by 36,600 people in 1995.[1]

Religion

Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% (2003)

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

For more information, see this country's entry in the CIA World Factbook

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook as of September 2009, unless otherwise indicated.

Age structure

0-14 years: 28.9% (male 713,698/female 697,222)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 1,618,678/female 1,646,992)
65 years and over: 4.3% (male 90,352/female 117,945) (2009 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 67.87 years
male: 64.94 years
female: 70.95 years (2009 est.)

Nationality

noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.8%
male: 99.3%
female: 98.3% (1999 est.)

See also

Demography of Central Asia

References

  1. ^ a b c d Population census of Turkmenistan 1995, Vol. 1, State Statistical Committee of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, 1996.
  2. ^ Population estimates for Turkmenistan 2001-2006, Demoscope Weekly, No. 355-356, 1–18 December 2008.
  3. ^ World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
  4. ^ http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm#2001 United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
  5. ^ Ethnic composition of Turkmenistan in 2001, Demoscope Weekly, No. 37-38, 8–21 October 2001.
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