Russians and Kazakhs are two major peoples living in the post-Soviet space. Despite their millennia-old neighborhood and close historical ties, there are many differences between them, due to different origins, cultural traditions, religion, and way of life. Let's consider the main distinctions. Origins and Ethnogenesis Russians belong to the East Slavic group of peoples. Their ancestors are East Slavic tribes — Kривичи, Вятичи, Словене, and others, which formed the Ancient Russian state in the 9th-10th centuries. Kazakhs belong to the Turkic group of peoples. Their ethnogenesis developed on the basis of Turkic and Mongolian tribes inhabiting the territory of modern Kazakhstan since ancient times. The Golden Horde and the Kazakh Khanate had a great influence. Language The Russian language belongs to the East Slavic subgroup of the Indo-European language family. It uses the Cyrillic script. The Kazakh language belongs to the Turkic language group (Kyrgyz subgroup). It is most closely related to the Kyrgyz, Karakalpak, and Bashkir languages. The script uses Cyrillic, but since 2018, there has been a gradual transition to Latin. Religion Most Russians adhere to Orthodox Christianity (the Russian Orthodox Church). Orthodoxy was adopted in 988 and had a tremendous impact on the formation of Russian culture, statehood, and mentality. Most Kazakhs adhere to Sunni Islam of the Hanafi madhhab. Islam began to spread in Kazakh steppes in the 10th-12th centuries and became an integral part of Kazakh culture and daily life. Traditional way of life Russians have lived a sedentary lifestyle for centuries, engaging in agriculture, animal husbandry, and crafts. Traditional dwellings were wooden izbas with stoves. Kazakhs led a nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyle, engaged in animal husbandry (raised horses, sheep, camels). Traditional dwellings were yurts, which were easily assembled and disassembled, making it convenient for nomadism. Culture and traditions Russian cu ... Read more