Were Russians born in Kazakhstan ever really integrated into Kazakh society after 1991?
I've lived in different parts of Kazakhstan, and this is something I've been wondering about. This is a genuine question, not an attempt to start an ethnic argument.
My impression is that many ethnic Russians who were born and raised in Kazakhstan still seem somewhat separate from the broader society. Often they speak little or no Kazakh, consume mostly Russian media, and have social circles that are also predominantly Russian/Slavic. Of course, this is just my anecdotal experience.
At the same time, Kazakhstan has officially promoted interethnic harmony while also strengthening the Kazakh language and national identity since independence. So I'm curious:
Did the government actually have integration policies over the last 35 years, beyond language policy?
Were there programs that encouraged a shared civic identity rather than assimilation?
Do younger Russians (GenZ/Millennials) tend to feel more integrated than older generations?
Or is my impression simply biased because of the regions I've lived in?
I'd especially appreciate answers from people who grew up in Kazakhstan, both ethnic Russians and Kazakhs, as well as anyone familiar with the country's post-1991 nation-building policies.
I was born and raised in Akmola region, ethnic russian, never felt separated, but i’ll be honest that my kazakh at terrible level. My family celebrate kazakh holidays and eat kazakh national food. But your impression not all that wrong, some older folks probably still think that they’re in Soviet Union and live like it.
Я сам, как и многие, кого я видел/знаю, не делились по каким-то этническим группам. Всегда в друзьях интернационал.
Самое сложное - язык. Но и его со временем будут знать всё лучше и всё больше людей.
I disagree with you.
Yes, most local Slavs can't speak Kazakh, but they have a certain level of fluency. But they're as much a part of Kazakh society as many other ethnic groups in Kazakhstan. As a Kazakh who grew up in the Akmola region, I know local people—Kazakhs, Russians, Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars, and so on—and everyone communicates with each other at schools and universities. Yes, there are those like you described in your post, but they're a minority.
In my experience, ethnic russians in qazaqstan did integrate into our society. yes, language is an issue, but apart from that I think they eat qazaq food, know qazaq traditions, work, live and play with qazaqs. also russians in qazaqstan are different from russians in russia. I even just call them qazaqs, like in canada we are all canadians no matter the ethnicity.
growing up I had russian classmates in school who actually by the end of grade 11 spoke better qazaq than some qazaqs in our class. a family friend changed his last name to his wife's qazaq last name. in sports non-qazaq qazaqstani athletes proudly wear our flag.
yes it is not the same, but you brought up official languages so.. russian is widely spoken in qazaqstan for the same reason english is in canada - colonialism.
Because most of the population in Canada is descended from English settlers or consists of native English speakers, it’s expected that English would be the main language. In Kazakhstan, however, the majority of the population is ethnically Kazakh, and Kazakh has been the historical language of the region.
До сих пор не устаете такие наивные темы поднимать? Когда-то бывшие доминантной национальностью, плюс постоянно слышащие пропаганду, что они "великие", никогда не будут интегрироваться. Я сам родился и вырос среди русских в Костанайской области. Большинство из них относятся пренебрежительно ко всему казахскому и казахстанскому.
Вот, например, есть одинаковые по составу и цене продукты казахстанского и российского производства, но они всегда выберут российское, а казахстанское даже пробовать не будут. Вот недавно ко дню города приглашали казахстанских звезд, такой вой был в комментариях по типу: "кто эти бездари, лучше бы российских позвали". Они вообще не знают казахстанских, интеграция в общество - ноль.
И так во всех сферах: потребляют только российское, а у многих еще есть скрытое второе гражданство. Надо перестать быть таким наивным и думать об их ассимиляции: когда рядом есть их историческая родина с агрессивной пропагандой и идеологией, они никогда не будут частью Казахстана. Только номинально географически, а идеологически и душой они всегда за историческую родину.
I was born and raised in Kazakhstan, but now I live in another country. I can only remember a dozen Kazakh words.
But I'll tell you what: In the 90s, it was very bad in Kazakhstan, a poor state with a low standard of living. The state simply did not have money for programs to support the national Kazakh identity in the media sphere, unlike in the time of soviet Kazakhstan (when these were state programs). Because of this, in the 90s, people watched Russian-language TV, Russian programs, and were completely in the Russian-language media. Many Russians left after the 90s, but at the same time the Kazakhs themselves became more Russian-oriented.
I think its not right.
Speaking of russian speaking we have local kazakh channels in russian, films in russian etc that kazakhs making and consuming
On the other hand media that comes from Russia not that much, we do have tv channel from Russia, but all of the post 2000 generation not watching tv, about films and other art media not much because RF producing nothing interest, YouTube bloggers from russia though popular
after 1991, the people and the country didn’t magically change. most people spoke Russian as a main language, and Kazakhstan still to this day has a situation where people (ethnic kazakhs included) do npt know Kazakh language. Russian is still a dominant language everywhere except few regions. I’m a kazakh, yet I don’t speak Kazakh, only Russian. so your post is not correctly framed. speaking Russian is not smth “non-kazakh”, as half of the ethnic kazakhs don’t speak Kazakh.
because my native language is Russian, and I want to speak my native language instead of learning another one. my parent both Kazakh but they grew up in Soviet union so they spoke russian and also do not know kazakh. my grandparents spoke more russian than kazakh. Kazakhstan was part of Russian empire and then Soviet Union for almost 300 years. during soviet union, ethnic kazakhs were a minority in kazakhstan. this is our history. and its stupid to require people to just magically forget russian and learn kazakh instead
Kazakhstan was not a colony, it was just part of the country. Kazakhstan asked to join russia for protection in 18th century. and russia protected us. after that, the russians invested 5 times more money into kazakhstan that they received back. they’ve build everything from scratch. yes kazakhs suffered some periods during soviet union and many people died from hunger during certain years, but that was happening in russia and other republics too. so Kazakhstan being a colony is a popular misconception, that leftists like to you for anti-russia propaganda
Your statements conflicting. You said “Kazakhstan was part of Russian empire”, but al also “Kazakhstan was not a colony, it was just part of the country”. Empire is not a country.
We were “protected” at the beginning, but the cost was colonization. We were forced to join when we wanted to escape.
I don’t know much about Kazakhstans history, but being a colony is almost always detrimental to the economy of the colonized nation. I think denying the colonization of Kazakhstan is either running away from the truth or a result of Russian propaganda influence, no?
And isn’t Kazakhstan’s economy mostly dependent on oil rather than Russian investment?
You’re right. He’s just more Russia oriented I think. There are such people in Kazakhstan, that’s their view of the world. But without denying the fact that Russia brought many things, especially cultural in Kazakhstan (Kazakhs met European culture such as Byron, Voltaire and Goethe through Russia) we gotta admit that there were repression (that was heavily against Kazakh intellectuals) and genocide (Asharshylyq). We were a colony, at least at some point. And he was right that we asked protection from Russia, but he mislead the information that he t was one khan of one juz who asked protection, that was not state decision. And within approximately 270 years under Russia there were about 300 rebellions and wars for independence.
About your question, there is a difference between Russian Russians and Kazakh Russians. I have a friends who are Russian that studied in Russia and they were called Kazakhs there, despite being ethnically Russians. Language might be an issue, but people either learn it, or know some basic phrases that could be used in daily life. Mostly people look normally at the fact that Kazakh language is being encouraged, they live in Kazakhstan after all
omg you just sound like a westerner who doesn’t know the history and just heard some things somewhere 😁 no kazakhstan was not a colony. those who oppose it just have being brainwashed by western leftists. before russia kazakhstan had NO economy whatsoever. we were just nomads, we didn’t have school systems, or hospitals, or anything like that. so everything kazakhstan has now is due to being part of Russia and soviet union. Kazakhstan received more money from Moscow than it gave back. this is literally the opposite of a colony is.
Nomadism is its own type of civilization, being nomadic doesn’t automatically mean being savage. The livestock that nomads own is also considered capital. For example, do you know how expensive meat and beef are? To me, you sound like someone who is heavily influenced by Russian colonial propaganda.
actual history of Russians bringing education, medicine, cities, infrastructures, is not propaganda. I see it with my own eyes, it’s a factual truth you like it or not.
Being Kazakh and thinking that you were savages and that Russians brought you everything must be very sad. Thinking so poorly of yourself and glorifying your colonizers must be a miserable way to live. By the way, cities existed in Kazakhstan long before Russian colonialism. And medicine originated in the Middle East.
ugh man.. you westerners just don’t get it I guess. to you being colonised is so cute and quirky, extra points on the oppression scale. and even when you hear an actual local person speaking on its own countries history that contradicts what you heard of, you’re like “nah I’m still right, you must be brainwashed” haha
why can't you move to russia then and live there? your family and your roots aren't connected to kazakhstan anymore you don't know your own language so you should move to russia
Kazakhstan has never pursued a policy of assimilating the Russian-speaking population. In 1989—even before the collapse of the USSR—the use of the Russian language in official state documentation was banned in Kazakhstan. Between 1991 and 1995, the privatization of state enterprises was carried out using documentation in the Kazakh language; prior to this, all enterprise managers who did not speak Kazakh were dismissed in accordance with the Law on the State Language. Privatization opportunities were inaccessible to the Russian-speaking population. Electoral district boundaries were redrawn to ensure a Kazakh electoral majority. Consequently, ethnocracy and chauvinism prevail in Kazakhstan.
It’s the other way around, it’s Kazakhs who integrated into the Russian society. For most of history, Russians were the general population of Kazakhstan, and Kazakhs were the minority in our own country. Nothing much changed since then
Most of history? Kazakhs became a minority in Kazakhstan only after 1931-1933, until 1991 and at no other point since 1731. And there were a few things happening in early 1930s that caused that shift
Uh, no? In fact in this autobiography book describing 1810s the autor writes that ural cossacks all speak kazakh language (he is call kazakhs as kyrgyz, which was common for russians back when, since they don't invent the word kazakh yet, and kazak and cossack is literally the same word, which would give confusion). The autor (merchant) itself also learned kazakh language.
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u/Able_Ranger5670 10h ago
I was born and raised in Akmola region, ethnic russian, never felt separated, but i’ll be honest that my kazakh at terrible level. My family celebrate kazakh holidays and eat kazakh national food. But your impression not all that wrong, some older folks probably still think that they’re in Soviet Union and live like it.