Population of the Kirghiz SSR from 1959 to 1991
Census of the Kyrgyz SSR in 1959 - 1970 - 1979 - 1989.
According to the 1959 census, the population of the Kyrgyz SSR was 2,066,000 (compared to 1,450,000 in 1939). The increase in population was due not only to a significant influx from other republics but also to a growing natural increase. The large influx of people into the Kyrgyz SSR was caused by the relocation of industrial enterprises from central regions of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War and the launch of new industrial construction in the post-war period. As a result of migration from outside, the proportion of Kyrgyz in the republic decreased from 66.8% in 1926 to 52% in 1939 and to 40.5% in 1959, despite an absolute increase in their numbers by 11% (Peoples of Central Asia... 1963. p. 154; Population... 2004. p. 116).
The urbanization of the titular population remained low; in 1959, only 13.2% of Kyrgyz lived in cities, while Russians, Ukrainians, and representatives of several other nationalities made up more than half.
The first signs of a radical change in migration flows appeared in the 1970s.
The influx from outside slowed down, and people began to move to other rapidly developing areas of the USSR, especially Siberia. The number of new large economic projects decreased. The reduction in the influx from other republics was also facilitated by the formation of national personnel - specialists and skilled workers. After 1970, a population outflow began. From 1959 to 1970, the proportion of Kyrgyz in the population of the republic increased from 40.5% to 43%, while the share of Russians decreased from 30.2% to 29.2%, and Ukrainians from 6.6% to 4.1% (National... 1991. p. 126). By 1989, according to the census, Russians made up 21.5% (Kosmarskaya, 2006. p. 58).
From 1979 to 1989, Kyrgyz again, for the first time since pre-war times, constituted the majority of the population, reaching a proportion of 52.4% (table 3). The population of the Kyrgyz SSR according to the 1979 census was 3,529,000, of which 1,687,000 were Kyrgyz, and according to the 1989 census - 4,290,000, of which 2,230,000 were Kyrgyz (National... 1991. p. 17; Population of the USSR... 1990. p. 9).
All-Union Census of Population in 1926 and 1939 in the Kyrgyz ASSR
