Aida Alymbaeva

Internal Migration in Kyrgyzstan: A Geographical and Sociological Study of Rural Migration

This chapter considers the process of internal migration in Kyrgyzstan from a chronological perspective to identify the reasons for the large flows of rural Kyrgyz to urban areas during the post-Soviet period. It considers the relationship and dynamics between rural and urban populations, ethnic population distribution, and the ethnic division of labor. The chapter provides a historical overview to portray Kyrgyzstan’s population growth from Czarist times until independence. It presents a short overview of the growth of the capital Bishkek as an illustration of the extensive urbanization resulting from internal migration. The author argues that intensive internal migration over the last 15 years is the result of policies developed during Soviet times and has gradually sharpened rural-urban and center-periphery imbalances, and correspondingly, has led to an unequal correlation between rural and urban populations and resulted in specificities of ethnic distribution. Keywords:ethnic population distribution; internal migration; Kyrgyzstan; rural populations; soviet period; urban populations