This article presents a comprehensive ethno-demographic analysis of the dynamics of conflictual families and marital dissolution in Central Kazakhstan at the turn of the 20th century and the first twenty years of the 21st centuries. The relevance of the study is determined by the persistently high instability of marital and family relations in the Karaganda Region. At the same time, the population of the Ulytau Region demonstrates one of the lowest divorce rates in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The empirical basis of the research includes data from the National Population Census, current official statistics for the Karaganda and Ulytau Regions, as well as scholarly works by domestic and international authors. The study employs comparative, statistical, and structural-demographic methods of analysis, taking into account the ethnocultural specificity of the region.

The findings reveal a stable upward trend in divorce rates during the period under review, identify the ratio between registered marriages and dissolved unions, and establish differences in divorce indicators between urban and rural populations. The sex and age characteristics of spouses, the duration of marriage, and the most vulnerable stages in the family life cycle are analyzed. It is substantiated that a high level of urbanization, the region’s multiethnic composition, the transformation of family values, and differences in traditional and confessional worldviews significantly influence the level of marital conflict and instability.

The results obtained contribute to a more precise understanding of the regional characteristics of marital and family processes and may be applied in the development and improvement of demographic and family policy.