On April 9, the Russkiy Mir Foundation hosted a roundtable on “The Russian-Language Population in Central Asia: A Social Portrait”, which focused on the results of sociological research carried out by the Institute of CIS Studies, supported by a grant from the Russkiy Mir Foundation.
Opening the roundtable, Russkiy Mir Executive Director Vyacheslav Nikonov said: “The political events taking place today in Kyrgyzstan underline the importance of this report, which outlines the situation with the Russian-language population in four Central Asian countries. The situation with the Russian language in the Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is very different in each country. The authors have carried out very serious research, analyzing the Russian-language population in each country, and the conclusions that they reached as a result of this research should be carefully considered.” Nikonov emphasized the significance of the research for the Foundation and Russia in general, as it provides an opportunity to understand what steps can be taken to stabilize the situation in each of these countries.
The results of the survey carried out for this research indicate that compatriots in these countries are confident that Russian language will be preserved in the young and upcoming generation. The majority of respondents indicated that youth in their families continue to keep Russian as their first and native language. At the same time, a portion of the respondents were concerned with the preservation of the Russian language. For example, in Uzbekistan, around one-third of respondents said that it could be complicated to preserve fluent knowledge of the Russian language.
Participants of the roundtable discussed issues related to support of the Russian language. The main problem facing Russian language studies in Central Asia is the lack of studying materials at educational facilities. It was also noted that the situation has improved with regard to the attitude of local authorities, particularly in Uzbekistan.
A presentation of the research (in Russian) can be found here.
