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The dynamics of the number of Russian-speaking title population in the states of Central Asia in the post-Soviet period
 
PIIS221979310018640-7-1
DOI10.37490/S221979310018640-7
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Alexander Khokhrin 
Occupation: PhD student
Affiliation: Pskov State University
Address: Russian Federation, Pskov
Viktor Fedorko
Occupation: geography teacher of the highest category
Affiliation: Secondary school №233 of the city of Tashkent
Address: Uzbekistan, Samarkand
Journal namePskov Journal of Regional Studies
EditionVolume 18. No2/2022
Pages3-20
Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the legal and factual status of the Russian language began to change in the countries of the near abroad, its distribution as a whole, including the degree of its use in various spheres of public life, significantly decreased. This also affected the degree of Russian language proficiency by representatives of various nationalities, including the titular population of young states. The purpose of the study is to identify factors that affect the dynamics of the Russian-speaking titular population of Central Asian countries in the post-Soviet period. The study is based on a comparative analysis of population census materials from different years, as well as expert assessments. The factors influencing the relevant socio-cultural processes in the countries of Central Asia at different time intervals of the post-Soviet period are analyzed. In particular, in the context of the states of the region, the factors of legislative, ethno-demographic, social, foreign policy and economic nature that affect the status of the Russian language in society were considered, positive and negative trends in the spread of the Russian language were identified. This, in turn, made it possible to form an assessment of the position of the Russian language among the titular population of the countries of the Central Asian region.

KeywordsRussian language, Central Asia, titular population, labor migration, Russian-speaking education
Received16.02.2022
Publication date22.06.2022
Number of characters40356
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1 Introduction. After the collapse of the USSR in the post-Soviet space, the legal and factual status of the Russian language, the degree of its distribution, use in various spheres of public life, and the degree of its proficiency by representatives of various nationalities began to change significantly. These socio-cultural processes proceeded and proceed in different ways in various countries and regions of the former USSR, including the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, in relation to which the term “Central Asia” is often used today.
2 At the end of the Soviet period and throughout the post-Soviet years, there was an outflow of Russian speakers from the countries of Central Asia. The share of the titular peoples of the states of the region in the period 1989–2020 increased by more than one and a half times, and the number of Russians, in turn, decreased by more than two times. Against this background, in all countries of the region there is a progressive trend towards a narrowing of the scope and a decrease in the level of the actual spread of the Russian language with an increase in the dominance of national (state) languages in all spheres of public life. The positions of the Russian language as a means of communication, informational discourse, language of instruction and creativity in Central Asia are not changing for the better. Although it is premature to talk about the unpromising position of the Russian language in the public life of the countries of the region, since today the Russian language continues to perform communicative functions in such areas as education, science, culture, military-political cooperation, diplomacy, etc.
3 After the collapse of the USSR, Russia actually did not pursue an effective policy to maintain the positions of the Russian language and the Russian-speaking population in the states of Central Asia. The difficulties of Russian society and the state in the post-Soviet period overshadowed geopolitical actions to support the Russian-speaking community abroad, primarily in neighboring countries. Subsequently, in the context of deepening Eurasian integration, the Russian language began to act as one of the key factors of Russian influence as a tool of “soft power”. In this regard, studies of the state and dynamics of the position of the Russian language in the countries of Central Asia, in particular, the population of the countries of the region who speak Russian, are of great interest.
4 The purpose of the study is to identify factors that affect the dynamics of the Russian-speaking population of the Central Asian countries in the post-Soviet period.
5 Information base and research methodology. The study relies, first of all, on the results of population censuses, in particular, the All-Union Population Census of 19891, population censuses of Kazakhstan (2009)2, Kyrgyzstan (2009)3, Tajikistan (2010)4. We also used the information presented in the work of A. L. Arefiev “Russian language at the turn of the 20–21 centuries” [1]. The data of independent research organizations, such as “Eurasian Monitor”5 and “Database “CIS Statistics””6, as well as the international association of teachers of Russian language and literature “MAPRYAL”7 were analyzed. To study the official legal status of the Russian language in the countries of the region, national databases of the laws of the Central Asian states were used. The dynamics of the number of Russians, indicators of Russian-speaking education in the countries of the region are analyzed on the basis of materials from national statistical8. In addition, the study used statistical information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on labor migration to Russia. 1. All-Union population census of 1989. Distribution of the population of the USSR by nationality and language, the population of the Union republics by the most numerous nationalities and languages. URL: >>>> (accessed 20.09.2021).

2. National composition of the population of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Volume 2. Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan by nationality and language proficiency. Results of the 1999 population census in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Statistical collection / Ed. A. Smailova. Almaty: Statistics Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2000. 272 p.; Population census of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2009. Brief summary. Statistical collection / Ed. A. A. Smailova. Astana, 2010. 112 p.

3. Population and Housing Census of the Kyrgyz Republic 2009. Book I. Basic socio-demographic characteristics of the population and the number of housing units. Bishkek: National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic, 2009. 54 p.

4. Population and Housing Census of the Republic of Tajikistan 2010. National composition, language skills and citizenship of the population of the Republic of Tajikistan. Volume III. Dushanbe: Agency for Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, 2012. 537 p.

5. Eurasian Monitor. URL: >>>> (accessed 11.08.2021).

6. Interstate Statistical Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States. URL: >>>> (accessed 11.08.2021).

7. International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature. URL: >>>> (accessed 11.08.2021).

8. Official site of the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan. URL: >>>> (accessed: 01.12.2021); Official site of the National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic. URL: >>>> (accessed: 01.12.2021); Official website of the Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. URL: >>>> >>>> (accessed: 11/30/2021); Official site of the State Committee of Turkmenistan on Statistics. URL: >>>> (accessed: 03.12.2021); Official site of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on statistics. URL: https:// www.stat.uz/ru/ (accessed: 03.12.2021).
6 Study of the issue. Quite a lot of modern research is devoted to the study of changes in the national composition of the population in the states of Central Asia in the Soviet period [8] and post-Soviet period [10; 19; 25; 28], including the dynamics of the number of titular peoples [9; 12] and the Russian population [17; 18]. There are works aimed at studying the modern culture of the Russian-speaking population in the countries of the region [14; 16]. A number of works by foreign authors are devoted to the consideration of Russians as an ethnic minority in the states of Central Asia ([24; 26; 27] and others). But especially a lot of research touches on the issues of the current situation in the language space of the Central Asian region [2–5; 11; 13; 21] and the legal status of the Russian language in the states of the region in the post-Soviet period [6; 7; 15; 22; 23].
7 However, in this article, attention is focused on the analysis of the influence of various factors on the dynamics of the titular population of each country in the region under consideration, who speaks Russian. Separately, labor migration in the direction of Russia is touched upon as one of the key factors determining the current position of the Russian language in the Central Asian states at the present time.

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