Demography of Central Asia

The ethnolinguistic patchwork of Central Asia in later soviet times

Faravahar one of the major symbols of Zoroastrianism

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. Although most central Asians have belonged to religions which were introduced into the area within the last 1,500 years, such as Sunni 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.

Ethnic groups in Central Asia

Below is information on the demographics of ethnic groups in Central Asia

Ethnic Group	Center of population in Central Asia	Total roughly estimated population in Central Asia
Uzbek	Uzbekistan	27,000,000-30,000,000
Tajik	Tajikistan and to a lesser extent Northern Afghanistan. It includes Pamiri people, who are officially categorized as Tajiks in Tajikistan.	15,000,000
Kazakh	Kazakhstan	11,500,000
Kyrgyz	Kyrgyzstan	4,100,000
Russians	Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan	7,000,000
Ukrainian	Northern Kazakhstan	700,000
Turkmen	Turkmenistan	6,500,000
Volga German	Kazakhstan	350,000
Uyghur	Eastern Kazakhstan	300,000
Dungan and or Hui	Kyrgyzstan	100,000
Bukharian Arab	Uzbekistan	? thousands
Bukharian Jew	Uzbekistan	1,000
British People	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	Southern 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+
Belorussians	Northern Kazakhstan	100,000-200,000
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 Iranians	Turkmenistan?	? hundreds or thousands
Recent Indian subcontinental	Afghanistan	4,000
Pakistani	Kirghistan	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

Religion	Total roughly estimated Population in Central Asia	Center of Population in Central Asia
Eastern Christianity	7,000,000	Northern Kazakhstan
Western Christianity	510,000	Kazakhstan
Judaism	27,500	Uzbekistan
Shia Islam	4,000,000	Central Afghanistan
Sunni Islam	28,000,000	Southern Central Asia (Most dense in Afghanistan)
Atheism and Irreligion	2,500,000 -? Millions	only[citation needed] in Kazakhstan
Buddhism	260,000	Most common in Kazakhstan and Afghanistan
Zoroastrianism	10,000	Historically Northern Afghanistan