Kazakh

How many people are native Kazakh speakers?

Kazakh is one of the official languages of Kazakhstan, alongside Russian (because of its past membership in the Soviet Union). Kazakhstan is extremely diverse, with over 130 different ethnicities and numerous languages. In virtue of this diversity and the bilingual nature of the country, there is no specific estimate as to how many native speakers there actually are.

How many people speak Kazakh in the world?

It is estimated that at least 15 million people speak Kazakh in Kazakhstan. There are also millions of Kazakhs mainly living in China, Russia, and Uzbekistan who speak Kazakh.

Origins of Kazakh

Kazakh is a Turkic language that shares similarities with Kyrgyz and Uzbek. Its language has changed alphabets numerous times. It was first written in Arabic script, then Latin under the Soviet Union, then Cyrillic under Stalin’s rule and will soon switch back to Latin.