ABSTRACT
Studies of the migration behavior of Russian-speaking populations in post-Soviet countries usually focus on the problem of reliable data that would clarify many unresolved issues such as the size of the flows. Studies of actual migration aside, an equally important question associated with the migration behavior of Russian-speaking people in the "near abroad" is an assessment of their potential migration. From 1994 to 1995, a survey of migration behavior of nontitular populations in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan was conducted. The mobility potential of various nontitular ethnic groups in Central Asia varies from one group to another. Ethnic Russians are most prone to out-migrate. The actual migration outflow from Central Asia is almost totally composed of nontitular nationalities. The role of a language barrier among factors of potential migration is conditioned not only by a state language policy but also by the possibility of its effective enforcement.
