Kazakh - Worldwide Distribution

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Picture Cyrillic typewriterSpread of the Kazakh languageKazakh (proper name: қазақ тілі) is officially referred to as "Qasaq tili" and is the official language of Kazakhstan, the Russian Republic of Altai and the Kazakh autonomous district of Ili in China. It is spoken by a total of 17.3 million native speakers. This also includes speakers from the surrounding countries - mainly in Central Asia.

With 13.3 million speakers, Kazakhstan accounts for the largest share.

Development of the Kazakh language

Kazakh is a Turkic language that has its origins in the nomadic Turkic peoples of Central Asia. The earliest written records in a form of Old Turkic, from which modern Kazakh originated, date back to the 7th century. These inscriptions show that the linguistic roots of the Kazakhs are deeply rooted in the medieval Turkic Khaganate and the subsequent Kimak-Kipchak confederation.

Historically, Kazakh has changed considerably. Originally written in the old Turkic runic script, it switched to the Arabic alphabet in the 8th century, which was used until the 20th century. In the course of Sovietization, the Latin alphabet was introduced in 1929, but was replaced in 1940 by the Cyrillic alphabet, which is still in use in Kazakhstan today. Since 2017, however, there have been plans to return to the Latin alphabet by 2025.

The Kazakh language reflects the history of the nomadic cultures of Central Asia and is deeply rooted in the traditional music, literature and everyday rituals of the Kazakhs. Its development and geographical spread are closely linked to the political and social changes in the region, with the language playing a significant role in national identity and independence in the face of Russian influences.

Distribution Kazakh► Interactive map

CountryRegionOfficial languageDistributionTotal
KazakhstanCentral Asiayes64.4 %13,262,000
ChinaEast Asiano0.1 %1,973,000
UzbekistanCentral Asiano3.0 %1,091,000
RussiaEastern Europeno0.4 %574,000
MongoliaEast Asiano5.9 %208,000
TurkmenistanCentral Asiano2.0 %150,000
Unless otherwise described in the text, this page is about native speakers — not the total number of speakers. How many people understand or speak Kazakh as a subsequently learned language is not the subject of this page. Countries where native speakers make up only a few thousand, or even a few hundred people, or countries with a percentage well below 1% are unlikely to be listed here.

Official language, national language or lingua franca: explanation of frequently used terms🔎︎

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