HISTORICAL DEMOGRAPHY OF KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

Historical demography is a discipline that emerged at the junction of demography and historical science. Historical demography studies the same questions as the demography, but in the historical retrospective. In historical demography of Kazakhstan, as well as in the history of Kazakhstan as a whole, there is a fundamental problem: the lack of written sources on which demographic science is based. The main task of historical demography of Kazakhstan is finding new, unconventional sources and developing new methods for studying problems of the population of nomadic peoples of pre-census period, being based on the data of demographic science. This task can be solved only by using the methods and sources of natural and geographical sciences. The formation and functioning of eco- and agrosystems, rhythmic variations in climate and its influence on the economy of nomadic societies allow defining of the place and role of nomads in mentioned systems, the size and population dynamics of arid lands of Eurasia and their migration. An interdisciplinary study of the problems of historical demography of peoples with no written language makes possible further development of research in this area.