The nation's largest ethnic group are the Kyrgyz, a Turkic people, which comprise 73.2% of the population (2018 census).

[1][2] The Kyrgyz have historically been semi-nomadic herders, living in round tents called yurts and tending sheep, horses and yaks.

This nomadic tradition continues to function seasonally (see transhumance) as herding families return to the high mountain pasture (or jailoo) in the summer.

The retention of this nomadic heritage and the freedoms that it implies continue to affect the political atmosphere in the country.

[citation needed] According to the 2022 census,[14] the ethnic composition of the population was as follows: Kyrgyz 77.6%, Uzbeks 14.2%, Russians 4.1%, Dungans 1.0%, Uyghurs 0.5%, other 2.7%, including Tajiks 0.9%, Kazakhs 0.4% and Turks 0.3%.

The emigration of non-Turkic people to Russia, Ukraine, and Germany is now negligible, in part because most of them left prior to 1999.

Due to emigration (and low fertility rates), there has been a sharp decline in the European ethnic groups (Russians, Ukrainians, Germans) and also Tatars since independence (as captured in the 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2022 censuses).