Abstract: The study analyzes Kazakh national identity from a social and philosophical prospective. It reviews the main criteria and features of the formation of Kazakh identity as well as its current status. The development of individual identity and its components are reviewed and this identity is analyzed in the context of primordialism and constructionism. A range of theoretical and methodological approaches to identity research are reviewed and different approaches to national identity and its complexity are analyzed with a central focus on the analysis of causes and factors contributing to the formation of Kazakh national identity and ethnic self-consciousness.