They mainly speak Kazakh and Russian in Kazakhstan.

Quick Scoop: Main languages

  • Kazakh is the official state language of Kazakhstan.
  • Russian is also widely used and has a special status in law as the language of interethnic communication, especially in cities and business.
  • Many people are bilingual , using Kazakh and Russian side by side in daily life, media, and work.

A bit more detail

Kazakh is a Turkic language, related to Kyrgyz and Uzbek, and is increasingly promoted in education, government, and public signage. Russian, however, remains almost universally understood and is still very common in urban areas, higher education, and older generations.

You will also hear minority languages like Uzbek, Ukrainian, German, and Turkish among different ethnic communities, but these are much less widespread nationwide than Kazakh and Russian. In practice, if you know either Russian or Kazakh , you can get around most of the country quite comfortably.

TL;DR: When people ask “what language do they speak in Kazakhstan” , the accurate answer is: Kazakh is the official state language, and Russian is also widely spoken and used in daily life.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.