Kurds in Kazakhstan

Kurds in Kazakhstan
Total population
48,642
Regions with significant populations
Almaty Province, Jambyl Province, South Kazakhstan Province[1][2]
Languages
Kurdish (Kurmanji), Kazakh, Russian[1]
Religion
Overwhelmingly Islam
Related ethnic groups
Iranian peoples

The Kurds in Kazakhstan, (Kurdish: Kurdên Qazaxistanê, Кӧрдэн Ԛазахьстанэ), form a part of the historically significant Kurdish population in the post-Soviet space, and encompass people born in or residing in Kazakhstan who are of Kurdish origin. According to the most recent Kazakh census in 2011, the Kurdish population is 38,325 or 0.2% of the population,[3] but Vice President of the Kurdish Association of Kazakhstan, Malikshah Gasanov numbers the population up to 46,000,[4] because many Kurds list themselves as Turks and Azeris.[1] Other sources predict this number to be higher, counting up to 60,000 Kurds in Kazakhstan. During the Soviet era, most of the Kurdish population in the Kazakh SSR were deported there by Joseph Stalin from the Armenian, Azerbaijan and Georgian Soviet republics. Years later, Kurds immigrated to Kazakhstan from the neighbouring countries, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.[4]

In cities with a substantial Kurdish population, Kurdish literature and Kurdish language is taught in the primary and secondary schools. In the village of Kashkabulak, Kurdish students can study Kurdish through 12th grade.[4] And since 1990, Kurds also have had their own newspaper, the Kurdistan newspaper.[4]

Religion among Kazakh Kurds[3]

  Islam (98.3%)
  Christianity (0.52%)
  Atheist and non-religious (0.7%)
  Other and undeclared (0.39%)
  Judaism (0.02%)
  Buddhism (0.01%)

Mother tongue among Kazakh Kurds[3]

  Kurdish (88.7%)
  Other languages (11.3%)
  1. ^ a b c Ustina Markus; Didar Kassymova; Zhanat Kundakbayeva (2012). Historical Dictionary of Kazakhstan. Scarecrow Press. p. 166. ISBN 9780810879836. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  2. ^ Chaliand, Gérard (1993). People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan. Zed Books. p. 203. ISBN 9781856491945. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Table 4.1.1 Population by individual ethnic groups" (PDF). Government of Kazakhstan. stat.kz. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d "Kazakhstan: A paradise for ethnic minorities". Kurdish Media. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.

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