Kazakhstan
|
| Basic Facts |
| 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 |
| Gevernment type | republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch |
| Capital |
name: Astana
geographic coordinates: 51 10 N, 71 30 E time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Kazakhstan is divided into three time zones |
| Flag description | sky blue background representing the endless sky and a gold sun with 32 rays soaring above a golden steppe eagle in the center; on the hoist side is a "national ornamentation" in gold |
| Currency | tenge (KZT) |
| Internet country code | .kz |
| Ports and terminals | Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev), Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk) |
| Agriculture products | grain (mostly spring wheat), cotton; livestock |
| Industries | 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 |
| Geography |
| Location | Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe |
| Coordinates | 48 00 N, 68 00 E |
| Continent | Asia |
| Area |
total: 2,717,300 sq km
land: 2,669,800 sq km water: 47,500 sq km |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| Natural resources | major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium |
| Natural hazards | earthquakes in the south, mudslides around Almaty |
| People |
| Population | 15,233,244 (July 2006 est.) |
| 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.) |
