Demographics of Central Asia
The ethnolinguistic patchwork of Central Asia in 1992
Central Asian Countries
Central Asia is a diverse land with many ethnic groups, languages, religions and tribes. This article discusses all of the above, and includes the demographics of the nations of the five former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, a group which has a total population of about 61 million. When Afghanistan, which is not always considered part of the region, is included, then Central Asia has a total population of about 90 million as of 2010. It is to be noted that Pakistan has a large population of Central Asian peoples. [1] Although most central Asians have belonged to religions which were introduced into the area within the last 1,500 years,[2] such as Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Ismaili Islam, Tengriism, and Syriac Christianity, Buddhism was introduced to Central Asia over 2,200 years ago, and Zoroastrianism, over 2,500 years ago.[3]
Ethnic history of Central Asia
- Amerindians-migrated to the Americas
- Chouchi
- Dayuan
- Di (Wu Hu)
- Dongyi
- Finno-Ugric peoples - Some Finno-Ugric peoples migrated to Europe and Northern Asia and some Finno-Ugric peoples assilimated into the Russians, Iranians, Indo-Aryans and Turkic peoples.
- Hephtalites
- Inuit - migrated to the Americas
- Samoyedic peoples
- Indigenous peoples of Siberia
- Tanguts - extinct
- Tocharians - extinct European people
- Uar-(Eurasian Avars)?
- Xionites
- Xirong (people)
- Ethnic groups in Chinese history
- List of extinct languages of Asia
- Demographics of Siberia
- Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East
- Archaeology of the Americas
- Settlement of the Americas
- List of extinct indigenous peoples of Russia
Modern Central Asians (Indigenous peoples):
See also: Ethnic groups in Afghanistan
Historic Iranian peoples:
Historic Mongolic peoples:
Historic Turkic peoples:
Ethnic groups in Central Asia
Below is information on the demographics of ethnic groups in Central Asia [4]
| Ethnic Group | Center of population in Central Asia | Total roughly estimated population in Central Asia |
|---|---|---|
| Uzbek | Uzbekistan | 25,000,000 |
| Tajik | Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Northern Afghanistan. It includes Pamiri people, who are officially categorized as Tajiks in Tajikistan. | 25,000,000 |
| Kazakh | Kazakhstan | 16,500,000 |
| Kyrgyz | Kyrgyzstan | 4,100,000 |
| Russians | Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan | 7,000,000 [5][6][7][8] |
| Ukrainian | Northern Kazakhstan | 700,000 [9][10][11] |
| Turkmen | Turkmenistan | 6,500,000 |
| Volga German | Kazakhstan | 350,000[12][13] |
| Uyghur | Northwest China, Eastern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan | 13,000,000 |
| Dungan or Hui | Northwest China, Kyrgyzstan | 10,500,000 |
| Bukharian Arab | Uzbekistan | ? thousands |
| Bukharian Jew | Uzbekistan | 1,000 |
| British People[14] | Afghanistan or perhaps Kazakhstan | 1,500-2,000 |
| Kurds | Afghanistan | 250,000-300,000 |
| Tatar | Uzbekistan | 700,000 |
| Karakalpaks | North western Uzbekistan | 500,000 |
| Lakai sometimes considered to be Uzbeks | Uzbekistan | NA |
| Bashkirs | Kazakhstan | 30,000 |
| Meskhetian Turks | Kazakhstan | 200,000 |
| Armenians | Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan | 100,000 |
| Altai | Northern Kazakhstan | 10,000 |
| Pashtun | Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan | 12,500,000 |
| Hazara | Central Afghanistan | 3,500,000 |
| Baloch | Southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan | 600,000 |
| Brahui | Southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan | 250,000 |
| Aimak | Central and Northwest Afghanistan | 1,500,000 |
| Nuristani | Far eastern and northern Afghanistan | 200,000+ |
| Belarusians | Northern Kazakhstan | 100,000-200,000 [15] |
| Bulgarians | Kazakhstan | 10,000 |
| Romanians | Kazakhstan | 20,000 |
| Greeks | Kazakhstan | 30,000 |
| Mordvins | Kazakhstan | 20,000 |
| Moldovans | Kazakhstan | 25,000 |
| Chechens | Kazakhstan | 40,000 |
| Poles | Northern Kazakhstan | 50,000-100,000 |
| Azeri | Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan | 100,000-200,000 |
| Recent Indian subcontinental | Afghanistan | 4,000 |
| Pakistani | Kyrgyzstan | 2,000 |
| Koreans | Uzbekistan | 200,000-300,000 |
| Chuvash's | Northern Kazakhstan | 35,000 |
| Other native groups in central Asia | NA | NA |
| Others (Various Eurasian groups) | Kazakhstan? | NA |
Religions in Central Asia [16]
See also: Religion in Asia, Buddhism in Central Asia, Islam in Asia, Eastern religions and Islam by country
| Religion | Total roughly estimated Population in Central Asia | Center of Population in Central Asia |
|---|---|---|
| Sunni Islam | 28,000,000 | Southern Central Asia (Most dense in Afghanistan) |
| Buddhism | 17,000,000 | Mongolia, Russia, China, 260,000 people in Kazakhstan and Afghanistan; (Mongols, Koreans, Daur, Mongour, Tungusic peoples, Tibetans, Tuvans, Yugur) |
| Eastern Christianity | 7,000,000 | Northern Kazakhstan |
| Western Christianity | 510,000 | Kazakhstan |
| Judaism | 27,500 | Uzbekistan |
| Shia Islam | 4,000,000 | Hazaras, Central Afghanistan |
| Atheism and Irreligion | 2,500,000 -? Millions | throughout the region |
| Zoroastrianism | 10,000 | Historically Afghanistan |
See also
- Demographics of Asia
- Eurasian nomads
- Indigenous peoples of Asia#Asia
- Languages of Asia
- Languages of Russia
- Languages of China
- List of ethnic groups in China
- Ethnic minorities in China
- List of indigenous peoples of Russia
- List of endangered languages in China
- List of endangered languages in Russia
- Ethnic issues in China
- Religion in China
- Religion in Russia
- Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis
- Turkic migration
- History of the Jews in Central Asia
Works Cited
- ↑ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
- ↑ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
- ↑ http://www.duke.edu/~jds17/zoroast.html
- ↑ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
- ↑ http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_79.php
- ↑ http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2005/0191/analit05.php
- ↑ http://www.stat.kg/stat.files/din.files/census/5010003.pdf
- ↑ http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php
- ↑ http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_79.php
- ↑ http://www.stat.kg/stat.files/din.files/census/5010003.pdf
- ↑ http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php
- ↑ http://www.stat.kg/stat.files/din.files/census/5010003.pdf
- ↑ http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/brits_abroad/html/asia.stm
- ↑ http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php
- ↑ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
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