REGIONAL SPECIFICITIES OF URBANIZATION AND ETHNICSTRUCTURE IN THE REGIONS OF KAZAKHSTAN (1959–1989)

Abstract

This study examines the historical stages and regional specificities of Kazakhstan’s demographic development between 1959 and 1989. The processes of industrialization, urbanization, the Virgin Lands campaign, migration flows, and major social reforms of the second half of the twentieth century are analyzed as key factors that significantly influenced the country’s ethnodemographic structure. Based on archival sources, census materials, and statistical data, the study identifies changes in the population size, ethnic composition, the ratio of urban to rural inhabitants, as well as interregional differences. The study also highlights that the demographic transformations were closely linked to regional disparities in economic development and settlement patterns.

The research findings demonstrate that between 1959 and 1989, the population of Kazakhstan increased by a factor of 1.77, while the share of Kazakhs rose from 30% to 39.7%. These trends were largely driven by high natural population growth, the concentration of Kazakh populations in rural areas, and shifts in migration dynamics. At the same time, Soviet industrialization policies led to the predominance of Slavic ethnic groups in the northern and central regions of the republic. In contrast, the southern and western regions retained a demographic structure in which Kazakhs constituted the majority.