On 17th September, 2024, at the Ch.Ch. Valikhanov institute of History and ethnology. within the framework of the grant financing project AR22785742 “Modern trends in the demographic development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1991-2021)”, was held a round table for young scientists on the topic “Demographic development of the Republic of Kazakhstan: trends and problems”. On this topic, young scientists of the Institute made presentations, shared their research works and exchanged opinions.
The first speaker was T.A. Apendiev, Head of the Department of Historical Demography and the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan, PhD and manager of this project, with a report on the development of historical demography science of over the years of independence. He shared extensive data on the formation of historical demography, the directions of development in Soviet times, its goals, research objectives and subjects. In addition, the speaker spoke about current achievements and shortcomings in the national demographic science. According to the young scientist, researchers are faced with the task of including the 1937 census data into scientific circulation, studying the dynamics of urban population growth during the years of independence, analyzing statistical data on the history of famines (1921-22 and 1931-33) and other issues.
The next speaker, researcher at the Institute K.M. Murzakhodjaev, touched upon the issues of the emergence of cities in Kazakhstan, the proportions of urban and rural population in Soviet and independent times, the creation and development of large cities, etc. According to the researcher, the large-scale development of urbanization in the country occurred in the late 1920s, and reached its top in the 1970s. As the data from the 1979 census show, for the first time in the republic, the total share of the urban population reached 57%, prevailing over the rural population. Therefore, we can say that during this time our country has turned from an agrarian state into an industrial one. The researcher also focused on the current process of urbanization of the Republic of Kazakhstan and provided data on the growth of large cities, as well as on the decline of the rural population, the decline of villages and single-industry towns.
Researcher of the Institute, PhD student A.N. Konkabayeva acquainted with the results of the research work on the history and dynamics of migration in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Defining the terms “migration”, “resettlement”, “labor migration”, etc., well-established in general historical science, she dwelt in detail on its types and nature. According to the speaker, the population moving to urban centers because of the higher income level in the city than in rural areas. For example, as a result of a survey of residents who moved to the city, most of them moved based on economical and social motives.
M.T. Moryakova, a researcher at the Institute, PhD doctoral student, made a presentation on the database and documents related to the history of demographic development of independent Kazakhstan. According to the young scientist, statistical documents of the National Statistical Bureau of Demographic Indicators and data of the country (including the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan), reports of the migration Department, analytical indicators of the Secretariat of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, etc.) are stored in the State Archive of Astana city, in the form of a digital document, which are updated annually. In addition, she introduced the participants of the round table to the state official website of the National Bureau of Statistics stat.gov.kz .
The next speaker, O.B. Kuanbay, advisor to the Director of the Institute, PhD doctoral student at Ankara University, spoke about demographic development trends in example of the Turkish Republic in the period from 1927 to 2018. Based on the historical events that took place within the framework of this chronology, he focused on the dynamics of population growth in Turkey, birth and death rates, granting citizenship to Syrian refugees, social state programs within the country, etc. From the researcher’s point of view, in the 1970s and 80s, the state purposefully sent young people of Turkey to study in Europe, as a result of which they received European education, familiarized themselves with advanced technologies and gained tremendous experience, after returned to their native country, which gave the state a huge impetus to achieve success in all directions.
In last report, a junior researcher at the Institute, PhD doctoral student Sauyrkan Eldos, demonstrated the demographic indicators of Kazakhstan’s migration policy in recent years, analyzed the stages of development of migration policy, concretized each of them individually, and expressed his opinion on changes in migration policy and unresolved issues. At the same time, he analyzed the changes and migration trends of the population in 2020-2022. He also provided data on the dynamics of external and internal migration for 2023-2024.
At the end of the meeting, the speakers were asked questions from young scientists of the Institute, who participated in the round table and shared their thoughts. The young scientists noted that there are issues that are paying attention to when conducting research on the demographic development of the independent Republic of Kazakhstan. It was emphasized that demographic science has strategic importance for the state as a whole, has a close connection with other fields of science, is an area of science that has a direct impact on state strategic planning, and in this direction it is necessary to continue deeper scientific researchs. During the meeting, it was proposed to bring the voiced proposals to the relevant government agencies.
