THE MIGRATION SITUATION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
The process of the formation of the multinational composition of the population of Kazakhstan has been taking place for several centuries. At various stages of the existence of statehood there have been inter-ethnic tensions. In the initial period of formation of independent Kazakhstan, a number of problems of social, economic, political and polyethnic character were faced. It was in the late 1990s and early 2000s that the outflow of population to neighbouring and distant foreign countries was observed. In this connection, the government undertook a number of measures to resolve the demographic situation in the country. Despite the multinational character of the population, two ethnic components have played and continue to play a major role in the life of the country: Kazakhs and Russians. Historically, the interethnic relations between the two peoples led to the formation of a distinctive Kazakh-Russian culture, where the two cultures interpenetrated.