Main Trends in the Transformation of the Ethnic Space of the Central Asian Macroregion from 1897 to 2017

Abstract

The main trends in the ethnic transformation of the post-Soviet space were set long before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The most striking example of this is the ethnic transformation in the macroregion, including the territory of young Central Asian states (Kazakhstan and the republics of the Soviet Central Asia). The aim of the study is to reveal the main trends in the transformation of the ethnic space of the Central Asian macroregion over a 120-year interval. For this, a set of ethnic indicators are used (ethnic mosaicity, homogeneity, concentration, etc.), calculated based on the results of censuses and population counts, as well as methods created in national cultural geography. Within the study period, two stages were identified, characterized by directly opposite trends in the transformation of the ethnic space of the macroregion. The first stage lasted until the late 1950s. It was characterized by a decrease in the share of the titular nations of the republics as a result of significant migration inflow from outside the macroregion, which led to an increase in the polyethnicity of the territory. Since the 1960s, the share of titular nations of the republics began to grow, which resulted from the demographic explosion of the indigenous population and migration outflow of nontitular nations of the republics; the concentration of titular ethnic groups within their republics increased. The most significant ethnic restructuring throughout the period was experienced by Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan. At the second stage, the ethnic structure of the population of all large cities of the macroregion underwent a radical transformation.