Population of Kazakhstan in 1950-1980s: demographic explosion and peculiarities of ethno-social evolutions

The article considers the demographic explosion as an integral part of the demographic transition in Kazakhstan in 1950s - the 1st half of the 1960s. It also studies the influence of the demographic explosion on ethno-social processes in Kazakhstan in 1950-1980s. One of the peculiarities of the demographic transition in Kazakhstan was ethnic differentiation of the population. In 1950s, as a result of migratory influx from other republics of the USSR, the overwhelming majority of the population, especially in cities, became Europeans, with Kazakhs living mostly in the countryside. Consequently, the industrial development of the republic was carried out mainly by representatives of European ethnic groups. The maturation of the explosion generation and its gradual attaining socially active age led to emergence of a new trend in the history of Kazakh ethnos - strong urbanization that caused significant socio-cultural processes. In 1990, the number of Kazakh students, in comparison with 1961, increased 4.9 times. In 1970s and 1980s, the demographic explosion generation, mostly Kazakhs, was attaining a student age, which was an objective social reflection of the age structure dynamics. As a result of a successful age-related situation caused by the demographic explosion and socially secured by the state, by the end of the Soviet period Kazakhs had had the highest level of higher education in the republic. Thus, previously ethnically differentiated demographic and socio-economic indicators became more homogeneous. The demographic explosion appeared to be the basis of social modernization among a significant part of Kazakhs. For the first time in the history of the republic a statistically significant layer of educated Kazakh youth had been formed that was capable to develop the urban space of Kazakhstan on an endogenous basis. Unfortunately, the modernization potential of this generation was largely neutralized during the crisis of 1990s. Nevertheless, as a result of the demographic waves, the demographic resource of 1950-1960s served as a basis for a growth of Kazakh ethnos population in the following decades including the beginning of the 21st century.