Kazakhstan (original) (raw)

Kazakhstan (also Kazakstan) is a country in Central Asia. It has borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and has a coastline on the Caspian Sea.

Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world by area, but has a population less than that of Australia. Population estimates range from less than 15 million people to almost 17 million people.

Қазақстан Республикасы Республика Казахстан
Official languages Kazakh, Russian
Capital Astana
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
Prime minister Daniyal Akhmetov
Area - Total - Ranked 9th2,717,300 km²
Population - Total () Density Ranked 57th1616,741,519 6/km²
Independence - Declared - From the Soviet Union, December 16, 1991
Currency Tenge
Time zone UTC +4 to +6
National anthem Anthem of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Internet TLD .KZ
Calling Code 7

History

Main article: History of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, once colonised by Czarist Russia, was absorbed into the Soviet Union following the Russian Revolution of 1917, led at that time by V.I. Lenin. For the next half-century, Kazakhstan suffered under the mismanagement of the Soviets, especially in agrarian policy and cattle-raising.

Kazakhstan proclaimed its independence in the early 1990s, immediately following the breakdown of the U.S.S.R. The current President of Kazakhstan is Nursultan Nazarbayev.

In 1997 the capital of Kazakhstan moved from the southern city of Almaty to Astana, a city closer to the geographic center of the country.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Kazakhstan

Although Kazakhstan is considered to have made greater progress in the field of democratic reforms, compared to the other Central Asian countries, the situation is far from perfect and international and non-governmental human rights organizations often point to frequent violations of human rights by state officials. The most famous recent case is the trial of opposition journalist Sergei Duvanov.

Kazakhstan is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Oblystar

Main article: Oblystar of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is divided into 14 oblystar (singular - oblysy) and 3 cities (qala, singular - qalasy)*:

Almaty, Almaty*, Aqmola (Astana), Aqtobe, Astana*, Atyrau, Batys Qazaqstan (Oral), Bayqongyr*, Mangghystau (Aqtau; formerly Shevchenko), Ongtustik Qazaqstan (Shymkent), Pavlodar, Qaraghandy, Qostanay, Qyzylorda, Shyghys Qazaqstan (Oskemen; formerly Ust'-Kamenogorsk), Soltustik Qazaqstan (Petropavlovsk), Zhambyl (Taraz; formerly Dzhambul)

_note:_administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); in 1995 the Governments of Kazakhstan and Russia entered into an agreement whereby Russia would lease for a period of 20 years an area of 6,000 sq km enclosing the Bayqongyr (Baykonur) space launch facilities and the city of Bayqongyr (formerly Leninsk).

Geography

Main article: Geography of Kazakhstan

Economy

Main article:

Economy of Kazakhstan

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Kazakhstan

Culture

Main article: Culture of Kazakhstan

Holidays

Date English Name Local Name Remarks

Miscellaneous topics

Environmental issues

In part because of the country's enormous deserts, the Soviet government used Kazakhstan as its nuclear testing site, and this, along with near-absent pollution controls, has contributed to an alarmingly high rate of disease in many rural areas. Kazakhstan has identified two major ecological disasters within its borders-- the shrinking of the Aral Sea and radioactive contamination at the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing facility. The Central Asian Regional Environmental Center is located in Kazakhstan, which fosters regional cooperation on environmental issues.

Cosmodrome

Kazakhstan possesses the Soviet equivalent to the United States' Cape Canaveral, where they have launched their version of the space shuttle and the well-known space station Mir. Russia currently leases approximately 6,000 km² of territory enclosing the Baikonur Cosmodrome space launch site in south central Kazakhstan.

Trivia

Kazakhstan appears in the movies Air Force One (with Harrison Ford), The World is Not Enough (James Bond), and Rollerball (with Jean Reno).

Countries of the world | Asia