Native Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic
and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated into the region in the 13th
century, were rarely united as a single nation. The area was conquered by
Russia in the 18th century, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in
1936. During the 1950s and 1960s agricultural 'Virgin Lands' program,
Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate Kazakhstan's northern
pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly Russians, but also some other
deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-Kazakhs
to outnumber natives. Independence in 1991 caused many of these newcomers
to emigrate. Kazakhstan's economy is larger than those of all the other
Central Asian states combined, largely due to the country's vast natural
resources and a recent history of political stability. Current issues
include: developing a cohesive national identity; expanding the
development of the country's vast energy resources and exporting them to
world markets; achieving a sustainable economic growth; diversifying the
economy outside the oil, gas, and mining sectors; enhancing Kazakhstan's
competitiveness; and strengthening relations with neighboring states and
other foreign powers.
Geography
Kazakhstan
Location:
Central Asia, northwest of
China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe
Geographic coordinates:
48 00 N, 68 00 E
Map references:
Asia
Area:
total: 2,717,300 sq km
land: 2,669,800 sq km water: 47,500 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than four times
the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
total: 12,012 km
border countries: China 1,533 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,051 km, Russia
6,846 km, Turkmenistan 379 km, Uzbekistan 2,203 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked); note -
Kazakhstan borders the Aral Sea, now split into two bodies of water (1,070
km), and the Caspian Sea (1,894 km)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
continental, cold winters and
hot summers, arid and semiarid
Terrain:
extends from the Volga to the
Altai Mountains and from the plains in western Siberia to oases and desert
in Central Asia
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Vpadina
Kaundy -132 m highest point: Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik
Khan-Tengri) 6,995 m
Natural resources:
major deposits of petroleum,
natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt,
copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium
total: 35 cu km/yr
(2%/17%/82%) per capita: 2,360 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
earthquakes in the south,
mudslides around Almaty
Environment - current issues:
radioactive or toxic chemical
sites associated with former defense industries and test ranges scattered
throughout the country pose health risks for humans and animals;
industrial pollution is severe in some cities; because the two main rivers
that flowed into the Aral Sea have been diverted for irrigation, it is
drying up and leaving behind a harmful layer of chemical pesticides and
natural salts; these substances are then picked up by the wind and blown
into noxious dust storms; pollution in the Caspian Sea; soil pollution
from overuse of agricultural chemicals and salination from poor
infrastructure and wasteful irrigation practices
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note:
landlocked; Russia leases
approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome;
in January 2004, Kazakhstan and Russia extended the lease to 2050
total: 29.3 years
male: 27.8 years female: 31.1 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.374% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
16.44 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Death rate:
9.39 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-3.31 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06
male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64
years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.54
male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2008
est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 26.56
deaths/1,000 live births male: 31.03 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 21.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 67.55
years male: 62.24 years female: 73.16 years (2008
est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.88 children born/woman (2008
est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.2% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
16,500 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 200 (2003 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Kazakhstani(s)
adjective: Kazakhstani
Ethnic groups:
Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian
30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%,
other 4.9% (1999 census)
Religions:
Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox
44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%
Languages:
Kazakh (Qazaq, state language)
64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the
'language of interethnic communication') 95% (2001 est.)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write total population: 99.5%
male: 99.8% female: 99.3% (1999 est.)
Government
Kazakhstan
Country name:
conventional long form:
Republic of Kazakhstan conventional short form: Kazakhstan
local long form: Qazaqstan Respublikasy local short
form: Qazaqstan former: Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
Government type:
republic; authoritarian
presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
Capital:
name: Astana
geographic coordinates: 51 10 N, 71 25 E time
difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time) note: Kazakhstan is divided into two time zones
Administrative divisions:
14 provinces (oblystar,
singular - oblys) and 3 cities* (qala, singular - qalasy); Almaty Oblysy,
Almaty Qalasy*, Aqmola Oblysy (Astana), Aqtobe Oblysy, Astana Qalasy*,
Atyrau Oblysy, Batys Qazaqstan Oblysy (Oral), Bayqongyr Qalasy*,
Mangghystau Oblysy (Aqtau), Ongtustik Qazaqstan Oblysy (Shymkent),
Pavlodar Oblysy, Qaraghandy Oblysy, Qostanay Oblysy, Qyzylorda Oblysy,
Shyghys Qazaqstan Oblysy (Oskemen), Soltustik Qazaqstan Oblysy
(Petropavlovsk), Zhambyl Oblysy (Taraz) 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 Baykonur space launch facilities and the city of Bayqongyr
(Baykonur, formerly Leninsk); in 2004, a new agreement extended the lease
to 2050
Independence:
16 December 1991 (from Soviet
Union)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 16 December
(1991)
Constitution:
first post-independence
constitution adopted 28 January 1993; new constitution adopted by national
referendum 30 August 1995
Legal system:
based on Islamic law and Roman
law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV (chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 22
February 1990, elected president 1 December 1991) head of
government: Prime Minister Karim MASIMOV (since 10 January 2007);
Deputy Prime Ministers Umirzak SHUKEYEV (since 27 August 2007) and Yerbol
ORYNBAYEV (since 29 October 2007) cabinet: Council of Ministers
appointed by the president elections: president elected by
popular vote for a seven-year term (no term limits); election last held 4
December 2005 (next to be held in 2012); prime minister and first deputy
prime minister appointed by the president election results:
Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV reelected president; percent of vote - Nursultan
A. NAZARBAYEV 91.1%, Zharmakhan A. TUYAKBAI 6.6%, Alikhan M. BAIMENOV 1.6%
note: President NAZARBAYEV arranged a referendum in 1995 that
extended his term of office and expanded his presidential powers: only he
can initiate constitutional amendments, appoint and dismiss the
government, dissolve Parliament, call referenda at his discretion, and
appoint administrative heads of regions and cities
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consists
of the Senate (47 seats; 7 members are appointed by the president; other
members are elected by local assemblies; to serve six-year terms) and the
Mazhilis (107 seats; 9 out of the 107 Mazhilis members are elected from
the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, which represents the country's
ethnic minorities; members are popularly elected to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - (indirect) last held December 2005; next to
be held in 2011; Mazhilis - last held 18 August 2007 (next to be held in
2012) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - NA; Mazhilis - percent of vote by party - Nur-Otan 88.1%,
NSDP 4.6%, Ak Zhol 3.3%, Auyl 1.6%, Communist People's Party 1.3%,
Patriots Party .8% Ruhaniyat .4%; seats by party - Nur-Otan 98; note -
parties must achieve a threshold of 7% of the electorate to qualify for
seats in the Mazhilis
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (44 members);
Constitutional Council (7 members)
Political parties and leaders:
Adilet (Justice) [Maksut
NARIKBAYEV, Zeynulla ALSHIMBAYEV, Bakhytbek AKHMETZHAN, Yerkin ONGARBAYEV,
Tolegan SYDYKOV] (formerly Democratic Party of Kazakhstan); Agrarian and
Industrial Union of Workers Block or AIST (Agrarian Party and Civic
Party); Ak Zhol Party (Bright Path) [Alikhan BAIMENOV]; Auyl (Village)
[Gani KALIYEV]; Communist Party of Kazakhstan or KPK [Serikbolsyn
ABDILDIN]; Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan [Vladislav KOSAREV];
National Social Democratic Party (NSDP)[Zharmakhan TUYAKBAY]; Nur-Otan
[Bakhytzhan ZHUMAGULOV] (the Agrarian, Asar, and Civic parties merged with
Otan); Patriots' Party [Gani KASYMOV]; Rukhaniyat (Spirituality)
[Altynshash ZHAGANOVA]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Adil-Soz [Tamara KALEYEVA];
Almaty Helsinki Group [Ninel FOKINA]; Confederation of Free Trade Unions
[Sergei BELKIN]; For a Just Kazakhstan [Bolat ABILOV]; For Fair Elections
[Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS, Sabit ZHUSUPOV, Sergey DUVANOV, Ibrash NUSUPBAYEV];
Kazakhstan International Bureau on Human Rights [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS,
executive director]; Pan-National Social Democratic Party of Kazakhstan
[Zharmakhan TUYAKBAI]; Pensioners Movement or Pokoleniye [Irina SAVOSTINA,
chairwoman]; Republican Network of International Monitors [Dos KUSHIM];
Transparency International [Sergei ZLOTNIKOV]
chief of mission:
Ambassador Yerlan IDRISOV chancery: 1401 16th Street NW,
Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 232-5488
FAX: [1] (202) 232-5845 consulate(s): New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador John M. ORDWAY embassy: Ak Bulak 4, Str. 23-22,
Building #3, Astana 010010 mailing address: use embassy street
address telephone: [7] (7172) 70-21-00 FAX: [7]
(7172) 34-08-90
Flag description:
sky blue background
representing the endless sky and a gold sun with 32 rays above a soaring
golden steppe eagle in the center; on the hoist side is a 'national
ornamentation' in gold
Economy
Kazakhstan
Economy - overview:
Kazakhstan, the largest of the
former Soviet republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous
fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals.
It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain.
Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of
these natural resources. The breakup of the USSR in December 1991 and the
collapse in demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products
resulted in a short-term contraction of the economy, with the steepest
annual decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97, the pace of the government
program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in a
substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. Kazakhstan enjoyed
double-digit growth in 2000-01 - 8% or more per year in 2002-07 - thanks
largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good
harvests, and foreign investment. Inflation, however, jumped to more than
10% in 2007. In the energy sector, the opening of the Caspian Consortium
pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black
Sea, substantially raised export capacity. In 2006 Kazakhstan completed
the Atasu-Alashankou portion of an oil pipeline to China that is planned
in future construction to extend from the country's Caspian coast eastward
to the Chinese border. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy
designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil
sector by developing its manufacturing potential. The policy aims to
reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. The
government has engaged in several disputes with foreign oil companies over
the terms of production agreements; tensions continue. Upward pressure on
the local currency continued in 2007 due to massive oil-related
foreign-exchange inflows. Aided by strong growth and foreign exchange
earnings, Kazakhstan aspires to become a regional financial center and has
created a banking system comparable to those in Central Europe.
oil, coal, iron ore, manganese,
chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates,
sulfur, iron and steel; tractors and other agricultural machinery,
electric motors, construction materials
Germany 12.4%, Russia 11.6%,
China 10.9%, Italy 10.5%, France 7.6%, Romania 4.9% (2006)
Imports:
$29.91 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, metal
products, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Russia 36.4%, China 19.3%,
Germany 7.4% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$229.2 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$19.25 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$93.9 billion (30 September
2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$39.3 billion (September 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$3.97 billion (September 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$10.52 billion (2005)
Currency (code):
tenge (KZT)
Currency code:
KZT
Exchange rates:
tenge per US dollar - 122.55
(2007), 126.09 (2006), 132.88 (2005), 136.04 (2004), 149.58 (2003)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications
Kazakhstan
Telephones - main lines in use:
2.928 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
7.83 million (2006)
Telephone system:
general assessment:
inherited an outdated telecommunications network from the Soviet era
requiring modernization domestic: intercity by landline and
microwave radio relay; number of fixed-line connections is gradually
increasing and fixed-line teledensity is about 20 per 100 persons;
mobile-cellular usage is increasing rapidly and subscriptions now exceed
50 per 100 persons international: country code - 7;
international traffic with other former Soviet republics and China carried
by landline and microwave radio relay and with other countries by
satellite and by the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable; satellite
earth stations - 2 Intelsat
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 60, FM 17, shortwave 9
(1998)
Radios:
6.47 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
12 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998)
Televisions:
3.88 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.kz
Internet hosts:
33,217 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
10 (with their own
international channels) (2001)
Internet users:
1.247 million (2006)
Transportation
Kazakhstan
Airports:
97 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 65 over
3,047 m: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 27 1,524 to 2,437
m: 17 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 8 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 32 over
3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m:
6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 12 (2007)
Heliports:
5 (2007)
Pipelines:
condensate 658 km; gas 11,082
km; oil 10,376 km; refined products 1,095 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 13,700 km
broad gauge: 13,700 km 1.520-m gauge (3,700 km electrified)
(2006)
Roadways:
total: 90,018 km
paved: 84,104 km unpaved: 5,914 km (2004)
Waterways:
4,000 km (on the Ertis
((Irtysh)) River (80%) and Syr Darya ((Syrdariya)) River) (2006)
Merchant marine:
total: 5 ships (1000 GRT
or over) 30,011 GRT/49,223 DWT by type: petroleum tanker 4,
refrigerated cargo 1 (2007)
Ground Forces, Naval Force, Air
and Air Defense Forces, Republican Guard
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory
military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years; minimum age for
volunteers NA (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49:
4,176,731 females age 16-49: 4,219,636 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49:
2,871,205 females age 16-49: 3,551,032 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 16-49: 145,495
females age 16-49: 140,149 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.9% (Ministry of Defense
expenditures) (FY02)
Transnational Issues
Kazakhstan
Disputes - international:
Kyrgyzstan has yet to ratify
the 2001 boundary delimitation with Kazakhstan; field demarcation of the
boundaries with Turkmenistan commenced in 2005, and with Uzbekistan in
2004; demarcation is scheduled to get underway with Russia in 2007;
demarcation with China was completed in 2002; creation of a seabed
boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea remains under discussion;
equidistant seabed treaties have been ratified with Azerbaijan and Russia
in the Caspian Sea, but no resolution has been made on dividing the water
column among any of the littoral states
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of
origin): 3,700 (Russia); 508 (Afghanistan) (2007)
Illicit drugs:
significant illicit cultivation
of cannabis for CIS markets, as well as limited cultivation of opium poppy
and ephedra (for the drug ephedrine); limited government eradication of
illicit crops; transit point for Southwest Asian narcotics bound for
Russia and the rest of Europe; significant consumer of opiates
