Demographics of Central Asia
overview of the demographics of Central Asia
The nations which make up Central Asia are five of the former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which have a total population of about 76 million. Afghanistan is not always considered part of the region, but when it is, Central Asia has a total population of about 122 million (2016); Mongolia and Xinjiang (part of China) is also sometimes considered part of Central Asia due to its Central Asian cultural ties and traditions, although geographically it is East Asian. Most central Asians belong to religions which were introduced to the area within the last 1,500 years, such as Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Ismaili Islam, Tengriism, and Syriac Christianity (mostly East Syriac). Buddhism, however, was introduced to Central Asia over 2,200 years ago, and Zoroastrianism, over 2,500 years ago.
Ethnic groups
The below are demographic data on the ethnic groups in Central Asia.
Genetic history
An analysis of Scytho-Siberian matrilineal DNA lineages of Iron Age human remains from the Altai region found evidence of a mixture of West Eurasian and East Asian maternal lineages. Prior to the Iron Age, all ancient maternal lineages in the Altai region were of West Eurasian origin, however Iron Age specimens show that Western Eurasian lineages were reduced by 50%, and East Asian lineages increased by 50%. The authors suggested that the rise of East Asian mtDNA lineages likely happened within the Iron Age Scythian period.
The ancestry of modern Central Asian populations is significantly derived from later Indo-Iranian and Turkic populations.
A genetic study published in Nature in May 2018 examined the remains of four elite Türk soldiers buried between ca.
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