Demographics and ethnicity: the peoples of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is one of the fastest-growing populations in Eurasia. From 20.5 million at independence in 1991 it has passed 37 million in 2025, and the UN projects it may reach 43 million by 2035. The growth rate — around 2.1 per cent a year in the 2020s — is the highest in the former Soviet Union.

The population is unusually young: a median age of 28 (compare Germany's 46 or Russia's 40), and roughly one in three Uzbeks is under fifteen. Literacy is near-universal (99.9%), a Soviet inheritance that has been maintained. Life expectancy is around 74 years and rising.

About half of Uzbeks live in cities; Tashkent (~3 million) is by far the largest, followed by Samarkand (~550,000), Namangan (~600,000), Andijan (~500,000), Bukhara (~280,000), and Nukus (~330,000). Roughly 60 per cent of the entire population lives in the densely-farmed Fergana Valley in the east.

Uzbekistan is home to more than 100 ethnic groups. The 2017 census (with subsequent estimates) puts the composition roughly as follows:

The name 'Uzbek' first appears with reference to a confederation of Turkic tribes in the Golden Horde in the 14th century, named after Uzbeg Khan (r. 1313–1341). By 1500, under Muhammad Shaybani, these tribes had displaced the Timurids as the ruling stock of Central Asia — and gave their name to the settled Turkic-speaking population of the region.

Ethnically, Uzbeks are a fusion of Turkic incomers and the earlier Iranian-speaking Sogdian and Khorezmian populations. Modern Uzbeks show a mixed genetic profile intermediate between Western Eurasian and East Eurasian populations — see the separate article on DNA and genetic heritage for the detail.

Culturally, Uzbeks divide themselves informally into 'Turkic' Uzbeks (mostly Kipchak-descended, historically more nomadic, concentrated in the Fergana Valley and north) and 'Sart' Uzbeks (mostly Karluk-descended, historically settled and urban, concentrated in Samarkand and Bukhara). The distinction is mild and eroding.

Tajiks are the largest minority, though their numbers are debated — official figures say 5 per cent, unofficial estimates go as high as 15 per cent. They are heaviest in Samarkand and Bukhara, both of which were majority-Tajik cities until relatively recently, and remain so at the family-language level even where official identification is Uzbek. Culturally, Uzbek and Tajik populations of the western cities are difficult to separate — many families use both languages at home.

Karakalpaks are a distinct Turkic-speaking people (Kipchak branch, closer to Kazakh than Uzbek) who live in the Karakalpakstan autonomous republic in the north-west. Their number is around 700,000. They speak Karakalpak, which is an official language within the republic.

Russians and Ukrainians arrived in waves during Russian imperial and Soviet rule — as soldiers, engineers, teachers, and (after WW2) evacuated industrial workers. Their number peaked at over 1.5 million in the 1970s and has fallen to under 700,000 through emigration.

Koryo-saram — ethnic Koreans deported from the Soviet Far East by Stalin in 1937 — settled primarily in the Tashkent region. Around 175,000 live in Uzbekistan today; their contribution to Uzbek carrot salad (morkovcha, a Korean-inflected pickled carrot dish) has become part of the national cuisine.

Bukharan Jews are one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in the world, established in Central Asia by the 8th century. Their number in Uzbekistan has fallen from around 100,000 in 1989 to a few hundred, most having emigrated to Israel and the US. Bukhara and Samarkand still have functioning synagogues.

Uzbekistan is also a major sending country for labour migration. Roughly 2 million Uzbeks work abroad in a given year, primarily in Russia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Turkey and Germany. Their remittances have fluctuated between $8bn and $18bn a year in the 2020s — a significant share of GDP.

The diaspora is growing outside the traditional destinations. Uzbek communities in Germany (skilled migration), in New York (a Bukharan Jewish and post-2016 secular wave) and in the UK (student visas and asset migration) are all measurable, if still small on a national scale.

By 2035, Uzbekistan's population is projected to be around 43 million. Urbanisation will continue — the government is investing heavily in secondary cities (Samarkand, Bukhara, Nukus, Andijan). The workforce coming of age in the 2030s is the largest in Uzbek history and will define the country's economic trajectory. English proficiency, currently around 8 per cent of adults, is projected to rise sharply due to educational reforms. Emigration for work will remain a pressure, though the domestic economy under reforms is beginning to absorb more of the new labour supply at home.