Currently, there is a policy of "Kazakhization" as Kazakhstan tries to move away from its Soviet and Russian legacy. These efforts started in the early 1990s. Streets and buildings were renamed, Kazakh kindergartens, schools and universities were opened, and Kazakh holidays were celebrated. At the government and administrative levels, key positions were reassigned to Kazakh personnel. The goal was to install loyal elites in predominantly Russian-inhabited regions. Furthermore, Kazakh was introduced as the official language. This is intended to reverse the process of Russification, which during the Soviet Union established Russian as the dominant language and helped ethnic Russians get highly paid jobs while Kazakhs had difficulty accessing good education and a high standard of living.

Ethic Groups in Kazakhstan as percentage of the Population (est. 2022)

Source: Own graph.