Kazakhstan's population hits 18 million - Nazarbayev
ALMATY. June 23 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the country's population has reached 18 million people.
"I announce Kazakhstan's population reaching the mark of 18 million people," he said at the Fifth World Kurultay of Kazakhs on Friday in Astana.
"In 1991, when the country declared its Independence, ethnic Kazakhs accounted for 40% of the country's population, now 70% of Kazakhstan's population are Kazakhs."
"During the famine, many Kazakhs had no other choice but to move to neighboring countries. According to our estimates, more than 5 million Kazakhs are living abroad. During the years of independence, we kept supporting our fellow countrymen coming from far lands, irrespective of the difficulties we faced. Over a million ethnic Kazakhs retuned to their homeland and we helped them as much as we could," the head of state said.
