Demographics of Central Asia

The nations which make up Central Asia are five of the former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which have a total population of about 76 million.^[1][2] Afghanistan is not always considered part of the region, but when it is, Central Asia has a total population of about 122 million (2016); Mongolia and Xinjiang (part of China) is also sometimes considered part of Central Asia due to its Central Asian cultural ties and traditions, although geographically it is East Asian.^[1][2] Most central Asians belong to religions which were introduced to the area within the last 1,500 years, such as Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Ismaili Islam, Tengriism and Syriac Christianity (mostly East Syriac).^[3] Buddhism, however, was introduced to Central Asia over 2,200 years ago, and Zoroastrianism, over 2,500 years ago.^[4]

Population pyramid of Central Asia in 2023

The ethnolinguistic patchwork of Central Asia in 1992

Map of the countries of Central Asia, Afghanistan (occasionally included), the Caspian Sea, and surrounding countries

Main article: Demographics of Asia

Ethnic groups

See also: Ethnic demography of Kazakhstan, Ethnic groups in Afghanistan, and List of ethnic groups in Tajikistan

The below are demographic data on the ethnic groups in Central Asia^[3]

Ethnic Group	Center of population in Central Asia	Total roughly estimated population in Central Asia
Uzbek	Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan	36,000,000
Tajik	Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. It includes the Pamiri people, who are officially categorized as Tajiks in Tajikistan.	25,000,000^[5]
Kazakh	Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan	16,500,000
Kyrgyz	Kyrgyzstan	4,900,000^[6]
Mongolians	Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan	3,237,000
Russians	Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan	4,000,000 ^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]
Koreans	Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan	500,000 ^[11]
Ukrainian	Northern Kazakhstan	250,000 ^[7]^[9]^[10]
Turkmen	Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Iran	6,500,000
Volga German	Kazakhstan	200,000^[9]^[10]
Uyghur	Northwest China, Eastern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan	13,000,000
Dungan or Hui	Northwest China, Kyrgyzstan	10,500,000
Bukharian Jew	Uzbekistan	1,000
Tatar	Uzbekistan	700,000
Karakalpaks	North western Uzbekistan	500,000
Bashkirs	Kazakhstan	30,000
Meskhetian Turks	Kazakhstan	200,000
Armenians	Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan	100,000
Altai	Northern Kazakhstan	10,000
Pashtun	Afghanistan^[12]	12,500,000
Hazara	Afghanistan	6,500,000
Aimak	Central and Northwest Afghanistan	1,500,000
Baloch	Southern Afghanistan, Turkmenistan	600,000^[13]^[14]
Nuristani	Far eastern and northern Afghanistan	200,000+
Belarusians	Northern Kazakhstan	100,000-200,000 ^[10]
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
Chuvash	Northern Kazakhstan	35,000

Genetic history

Further information: Ancient North Eurasian, Indo-Iranians § Genetics, and Genetic studies on Turkish people

Paleolithic and pre-Neolithic Central Asia were initially populated by a distinct population known as "Ancient North Eurasians", and linked to the Botai culture as well as the early Tarim mummies. Bronze Age Central Asia was populated by a mostly West-Eurasian Iranian-speaking peoples, as well as a minority of Paleosiberian peoples. Since the Iron Age, significant migrations from Eastern Asia and South Central Siberia took place, mostly associated with the expansion of Mongolic and Turkic peoples from a region corresponding to modern day Mongolia, transforming Central Asia from a region with largely West-Eurasian ancestry into the mostly Turkic-speaking groups of the present day, who are primarily of East Asian ancestry.^[15]

An analysis of matrilineal DNA lineages of Iron Age human remains from the Altai region found evidence of a mixture of West Eurasian and East Asian maternal lineages.^[16] Prior to the Iron Age, all ancient maternal lineages in the Altai region were of West Eurasian origin, however Iron Age specimens show that Western Eurasian lineages were reduced by 50%, and East Asian lineages increased by 50%.^[17][18] The authors suggested that the rise of East Asian mtDNA lineages likely happened within the Iron Age Scythian period.^[19]

The ancestry of modern Central Asian populations is significantly derived from later Indo-Iranian and Turkic populations.^[20] Populations of farmers and nomadic pastoralists coexisted in Central Asia since the Chalcolithic (4th millennium BC). The two groups differ markedly in descent structure, as pastoralists are organized in exogamous patrilineal clan structures, while farmers are organized in extended families practicing endogamy (cousin marriage). As a consequence, pastoralists have a significantly reduced diversity in patrilineal descent (Y-chromosome) compared to farmers.^[21]

The Kyrgyz people derive a significant part of their ancestry from East Asian-related populations (c. 59.3–69.8%), as well as from Iranian-related sources. Modern Iranian-speaking Central Asians have less Northeast Asian ancestry (7.7–17.1%).^[22] Ancestry related to the earliest inhabitants, the Ancient North Eurasians, is still found in low amounts among modern day Central Asians.^[22]

Mongolian ancestry is shared by some groups in Central Asia, specifically the Kazakhs, who also carry additional West Eurasian ancestry from a Western Steppe Herder source.^{[23][24][25][26][27]}

Religion

See also: Buddhism in Central Asia, Christianity in Central Asia, and Islam in Central Asia

Religion^[3]	Approximate population	Center of population
Sunni Islam	103,000,000^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]	South and East of region: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Eastern Xinjiang and Southern Kazakhstan.(most dense in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan)
Buddhism	9,084,000^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37]^[38]	700,000 and 1.5 million Buddhists in Russia, 8.44 million in Xinjiang, 140,000 people in Kazakhstan and Afghanistan; (Mongols, Koreans, Daur, Mongour, Tungusic peoples, Tibetans, Tuvans, Yugur)
Shia Islam	4,000,000	Hazaras, Afghanistan. While a significant number of them are Sunni.
Eastern Christianity	4,000,000	Mainly in northern Kazakhstan, significant communities are also located in the other four Soviet republics in the region.
Atheism and Irreligion	2,500,000+	Throughout the region
Western Christianity	510,000	Kazakhstan
Judaism	27,500	Uzbekistan
Zoroastrianism	10,000	Historically Afghanistan

See also

• Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis
• Turkic migration
• History of the Jews in Central Asia

Bibliography

• Guarino-Vignon, P., Marchi, N., Bendezu-Sarmiento, J. et al. Genetic continuity of Indo-Iranian speakers since the Iron Age in southern Central Asia. Sci Rep 12, 733 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04144-4

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15. Damgaard, Peter de Barros; Marchi, Nina; Rasmussen, Simon; Peyrot, Michaël; Renaud, Gabriel; Korneliussen, Thorfinn; Moreno-Mayar, J. Víctor; Pedersen, Mikkel Winther; Goldberg, Amy; Usmanova, Emma; Baimukhanov, Nurbol (May 2018). "137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes". Nature. 557 (7705): 369–374. Bibcode:2018Natur.557..369D. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0094-2. hdl:1887/3202709. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 29743675. S2CID 13670282. These historical events transformed the Eurasian steppes from being inhabited by Indo-European speakers of largely West Eurasian ancestry to the mostly Turkic-speaking groups of the present day, who are primarily of East Asian ancestry.
16. González-Ruiz, Mercedes (2012). "Tracing the Origin of the East-West Population Admixture in the Altai Region (Central Asia)". PLOS ONE. 7 (11): e48904. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...748904G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048904. PMC 3494716. PMID 23152818. "Studies on ancient mitochondrial DNA of this region suggest that the Altai Mountains played the role of a geographical barrier between West and East Eurasian lineages until the beginning of the Iron Age. After the 7th century BC, coinciding with Scythian expansion across the Eurasian steppes, a gradual influx of East Eurasian sequences in Western steppes is detected. However, the underlying events behind the genetic admixture in Altai during the Iron Age are still unresolved: 1) whether it was a result of migratory events (eastward firstly, westward secondly), or 2) whether it was a result of a local demographic expansion in a ‘contact zone’ between European and East Asian people. In the present work, we analyzed the mitochondrial DNA lineages in human remains from Bronze and Iron Age burials of Mongolian Altai"
17. González-Ruiz 2012: "Archaeological findings, almost entirely provided by burial site discoveries, documented that the Scythians had European morphological features [7], [8], [12]. However, several recent works focusing on ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Eastern Scythian burials [9], [10], [11], [16], [17], [18], [19] revealed that this population has a mixed mtDNA composition of West and East Eurasian lineages. This is particularly interesting for the timing of the early contacts between European and Asian people in Altai because all ancient DNA samples analysed so far from Central Asia belonging to a period before the Iron Age bore West Eurasian lineages [18], [20]."
18. González-Ruiz 2012: "These molecular data raise two likely hypotheses for the origin of the genetic diversity and admixture among the Iron Age inhabitants of the Altai: 1) people holding west Eurasian lineages arrived at Altai Mountains with the eastward migration of Scythians and, once settled, they began to establish relationships with the neighbouring communities from East Asia holding East Eurasian lineages; 2) this was the result of the admixture between the native people inhabiting either sides of the Altai Mountains (people with West Eurasian lineages in Western Altai and East Eurasian lineages in the Eastern Altai), as a result of a demographic expansion during the Scythian period. Hence, the second hypothesis would provide support to the cultural transmission against the demic diffusion during the Scythian period."
19. González-Ruiz 2012: "Concerning Bronze Age samples from the Mongolian Altai mountains analyzed in the present study, 100% of the mtDNA lineages (3 different lineages from 2 archaeological sites) belong to East Eurasian haplogroups, an opposite profile to that detected in the West side of the Altai [18], [20]. On the other hand, in the Iron Age samples of Mongolian Altai, the same proportion (50%) of East and Western Eurasian lineages were found, evidencing a perfect admixture between East and Western Eurasian lineages as in other Iron Age populations from central Asia and Siberia [10], [18], [19], [20], [40]. Combined with the previous studies performed so far in the Altai region, our results suggest that the Altai represented a boundary to gene flow up to the beginning of the Iron Age and that during the Scythian period of the Altai (5th to 3rd century BC) there were demographic events in the region that led to a population admixture in both sides of the Altai. Half of the shared haplotypes between ancient populations from Central Asia and South Siberia represent lineages present in both pre-Iron Age and Iron Age populations and all of these lineages have a west Eurasian origin. Moreover, considering both shared and non-shared haplotypes, it seems that the number of West Eurasian lineages does not increase in the Iron Age. These results allow us to hypothesise that the substrate of mtDNA lineages is already present in pre-Iron Age populations of the central Asia and that in the Iron Age (Scythian period) a population expansion lead to the admixture of pre-existing lineages. Thus, the admixture profile observed in the region during the Iron Age would not derive from a migratory movement from west to east, as has been hypothesised, but would represent a local population expansion in different directions. This population expansion, however, would be probably be a consequence of the introduction of new technology by the adoption of a new culture, supporting the idea of cultural transmission against the demic diffusion during Scythian period."
20. Heyer, Evelyne; Balaresque, Patricia; Jobling, Mark A.; Quintana-Murci, Lluis; Chaix, Raphaelle; Segurel, Laure; Aldashev, Almaz; Hegay, Tanya (2009). "Genetic diversity and the emergence of ethnic groups in Central Asia". BMC Genetics. 10: 49. doi:10.1186/1471-2156-10-49. PMC 2745423. PMID 19723301. Our analysis of uniparental markers highlights in Central Asia the differences between Turkic and Indo-Iranian populations in their sex-specific differentiation and shows good congruence with anthropological data.
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23. Zhao, Jing; Wurigemule, null; Sun, Jin; Xia, Ziyang; He, Guanglin; Yang, Xiaomin; Guo, Jianxin; Cheng, Hui-Zhen; Li, Yingxiang; Lin, Song; Yang, Tie-Lin; Hu, Xi; Du, Hua; Cheng, Peng; Hu, Rong (December 2020). "Genetic substructure and admixture of Mongolians and Kazakhs inferred from genome-wide array genotyping". Annals of Human Biology. 47 (7–8): 620–628. doi:10.1080/03014460.2020.1837952. ISSN 1464-5033. PMID 33059477. S2CID 222839155. pp. 5-11: "Chinese Kazakhs shared significant more alleles with West Eurasians than any other Mongolian groups. We here confirm the genetic substructure within three Mongolian groups and Chinese Kazakhs was caused by the different amounts of West Eurasian related admixture in them." "We showed that there are genetic substructures within Mongolians corresponding to Ölöd, Chahar, and Inner Mongolian clusters, which is consistent with their tribe classifications. The substructure is shaped by the relatedness of Mongolians to West Eurasians. Mongolians and Kazakhs are on a genetic cline in terms of different proportions of West Eurasian related admixture from 6% to 40%. The genetic source for the West Eurasian ancestry was most likely Bronze Age Steppe population-related. We note that the small number of sampled individuals from different tribes is a limitation of the study. However, our findings are consistent with archaeological and ancient genomic evidence that the Bronze Age Steppe populations shaped the culture and genetic makeup of northern Eurasia through rapid expansion (Allentoft et al., 2015)."
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