National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Kazakhstan [x], The World [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Kazakhstan)
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 161/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 68/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 13/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 12/253 |
Kazakhstan: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Buddhists, Chinese folk-religionists, Ethnic religionists, Hindus, Jews, New religionists, Sikhs, Zoroastrians.
Kazakhstan: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Atheists, Catholics, doubly-affiliated, Independents, Mahayanists, Protestants, Saktists, Shaivites, Shias, unaffiliated Christians, Vaishnavites.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Kazakhstan [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 0.04% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 0.12% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | 0.12% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | --- | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | --- | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | 0.01% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 26.05% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.27% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | 24.23% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 0.69% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 0.27% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 0.67% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | --- | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | 0.16% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | 0.01% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | 0.00% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | 0.00% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | 0.00% | 3.57% |
| Jains | --- | 0.08% |
| Jews | 0.03% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 68.84% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 68.30% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | 0.55% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | --- | 0.21% |
| New religionists | 0.04% | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | 0.01% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | --- | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | 0.02% | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 4.68% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 4.01% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 0.67% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Kazakhstan)3
The country has an area of 1,052,540 square miles, and a population of 15.4 million, according to 2007 government statistics. The society is ethnically diverse, and many religious groups are represented. Due in part to the country's nomadic and Soviet past, many residents describe themselves as nonbelievers; surveys from past years suggested low levels of religious conviction and worship attendance. The Government maintains statistics on the number of registered congregations and organizations but not on the size of each group. The most recent reliable statistics on religious affiliation are based on the 1999 census. Although there was a large increase in the number of minority religious congregations registered since 1999, the Government believes that percentages of the population belonging to particular religious groups have remained consistent.
Ethnic Kazakhs, who constitute just over half of the population, and ethnic Uzbeks, Uighurs, and Tatars, who collectively comprise less than 10 percent, are historically Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school. Other Islamic groups that account for less than 1 percent of the population include Shafi'i Sunni (traditionally associated with Chechens), Shi'a, Sufi, and Ahmadi. The highest concentration of self-identified practicing Muslims is located in the southern region bordering Uzbekistan. There were approximately 2,200 registered mosques, all of them affiliated with the Spiritual Association of Muslims of Kazakhstan (SAMK), a national organization with close ties to the Government.
Approximately one-third of the population, comprising sizeable numbers of ethnic Russians and smaller populations of ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Belarusians, are Russian Orthodox by tradition. There were 257 registered Russian Orthodox churches. Members of a Roman Catholic archdiocese include many ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Germans and account for 2 percent of the population. An estimated 1.5 percent of the population is ethnic German, many of whom are Roman Catholic or Lutheran. The Government reported 82 registered Roman Catholic churches and affiliated organizations throughout the country. A smaller, affiliated community of Greek Catholics, many of whom are ethnic Ukrainians, had four registered churches.
According to government statistics, Protestant Christian congregations outnumber Russian Orthodox or Roman Catholic congregations, although it is unlikely that Protestant Christians account for a larger number of adherents. The Government reported 964 registered Protestant Christian organizations with 546 places of worship during the reporting period.
There are two Baptist groups in the country, the Union of Evangelical Christians and Baptists ("Union of Baptists"), with an estimated 10,000 adherents and 227 registered groups, and the Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians and Baptists ("Council of Churches") with up to 1,000 adherents. The Council of Churches Baptists refuse on principle to register.
Other Christian religious groups with a sizable number of congregations include Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Pentecostals, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists. Smaller communities of Methodists, Mennonites, and Mormons are also registered.
A Jewish community, estimated at well below 1 percent of the population, has synagogues in Almaty, Astana, Ust-Kamenogorsk, and Pavlodar.
Government statistics included 43 other registered religious groups during the reporting period, including 4 registered Buddhist groups, 11 affiliates of the Hare Krishna movement, as well as Baha'is, Christian Scientists, and the Unification Church.
Summary Information |
Kazakhstan [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Region | South-Central Asia | -- |
| Total Population4 | 16,819,537 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 1,052,090 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 72.0 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 22,910.0 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | (weakly autocratic) | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | -1.6 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | None | -- |
Kazakhstan - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Kazakhstan [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | Yes |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | Registration is required but sometimes denied |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups are officially required to register, and the government enforces this and discriminates against unregistered groups. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Cooperation |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Optional, or there is a choice between a religion and a non-religion course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world. |
| The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 | Government funding of religion goes to only some religions for which there are a substantial number of adherents in the country. |
| The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 | There are no religious requirements or oaths necessary in order to hold office. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Kazakhstan [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | no [ Article 1(1) ] |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | implied only [ Article 19(1), 22(1) ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | implied only [ Article 14(2) ] |
Constitution |
Kazakhstan [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 1995 |
| Last Amended10 | 2017 |
| Source10 | Constitute Project |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation, edited by ARDA staff |
| Current as of10 | October 3, 2018 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Kazakhstan [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population12 | 99.8 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 87.4 | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 97.6 | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Kazakhstan [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 137.3 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 39,132.2 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 43,569.3 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max14 | 69.0 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index15 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)16 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 22,910.0 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Kazakhstan [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 | 0.003103 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | 1.2 | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Kazakhstan [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 16,819,537 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 72.0 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | 0.0 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population13 | 53.2 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage13 | 1.4 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman13 | 2.7 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births13 | 10.1 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV13 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Kazakhstan)10
Article 1.
(1) The Republic of Kazakhstan proclaims itself a ... secular ... state ...
...
Article 5.
...
(3) ... inciting ... religious ... enmity ... shall be prohibited.
(4) Activities of ... religious parties ... shall not be permitted in the Republic.
(5) Activities of foreign religious associations on the territory of the Republic as well as appointment of heads of religious associations in the Republic by foreign religious centers shall be carried out in coordination with the respective state institutions of the Republic.
Article 14.
...
(2) No one shall be subject to any discrimination for reasons of ... attitude towards religion ...
Article 19.
(1) Everyone shall have the right to determine and indicate or not to indicate his ... religious affiliation.
...
Article 20.
...
(3) ... advocating ... religious ... superiority ... shall not be allowed.
Article 22.
(1) Everyone shall have the right to freedom of conscience.
...
Article 77.
...
(3) In application of law judge must be guided by the following principles:
...
(7) ... The clergy shall not be obligated to testify against those who confided in them with some information at confession;
...
...
Variable Details
Sources
1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.
5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.
7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.
8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.
9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at
11 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
12 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.
13 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
14 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
15 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
16 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
17 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
18 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.
19 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
