| Official Name | Republic of Kazakhstan |
| Continent | Asia |
| Lat Long | 51°10’N71°25’E |
| Area | 1.049 million sq mi (2,727,300 sq km) |
| Population | 17987736 |
| Capital | Astana |
| Largest City | Almaty |
| Official Languages | Kazakh (national) & Russian |
| Major Religion |
According to 2002 government statistics, major religious groups included: the Roman Catholic Church (55 percent); Kiribati Protestant Church (KPC), formerly the Congregational Church (37 percent); Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) (3 percent); Seventh-day Adventists (2 percent); and the Baha’i Faith …
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| National Day | 16 December (1991) |
| Form of Government | Unitary dominant-party presidential constitutional republic |
| President | Nursultan Nazarbayev |
| Vice President | NA |
| Prime Minister | Bakhytzhan Sagintayev |
| Currency | Kazakhstani Tenge (KZT) |
| GDP | $231.787 billion 2012 estimate |
| Calling Code | +7-6xx, +7-7xx |
| Time Zone | (UTC+5 / +6) |
| Internet TLD | .kz |
How big is Kazakhstan ?
Kazakhstan is 2,724,900 square kilometers, or 1,052,085 square miles. It is the world’s largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest overall. Kazakhstan is more or less the same size as all of Western Europe put together.
What countries border Kazakhstan ?
Kazakhstan is bordered by China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, but they are within a few dozen miles of each other.
On what continent is Kazakhstan located ?
Kazakhstan technically spans two continents, with its main body being located in Asia and a small eastern portion in Europe.
What is the population of Kazakhstan ?
Approximately 15.5 million people.
What is the national religion in Kazakhstan ?
Kazakhstan has no national religion, and people of all faiths are allowed to worship freely. The largest plurality is Muslim at close to fifty percent, with those of the Russian Orthodox Christian faith making up a large piece of the remainder.
What is the form of government in Kazakhstan ?
Kazakhstan is a presidential republic, although President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been in power for the last twenty years and has a somewhat authoritarian rule over the country. Elections in Kazakhstan have been accused of being rigged, but it is unlikely that serious reform will be occurring any time soon. The government in Kazakhstan has encouraged free trade and good relations with its neighbors and all other nations, resulting in steadily rising levels of prosperity.
What is the capital of Kazakhstan ?
The previous capital was Kazakhstan’s largest city, which has undergone several name changes but is now called Almaty. Upon achieving independence, the country decided to move its capital due to earthquake risk, security and expansion concerns. Kazakhstan’s capital is now its second-largest city, Astana, located in the center of the Kazakh Steppe.
What is the Kazakh Steppe ?
The Kazakh Steppe is a huge savanna in the north of the country, encompassing miles upon miles of open territory populated with native shrubs and grasses. Kazakhstan’s new capital, Astana, is located here. The region was of special interest to the USSR during the 1950s, who used it to test nuclear weapons and to build the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
What is the Baikonur Cosmodrome ?
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a space launch facility founded by the Russians on the steppes of Kazakhstan. It is one of the largest in the world, and has the distinction of being the jumping-off point of several important space missions, such as the launch of Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin’s orbital flight (the first manned voyage into space). The nation of Kazakhstan continues to lease the area to Russia, where the Baikonur Cosmodrome is still under operation.
What languages are spoken in Kazakhstan ?
Nearly two-thirds of the population speaks Kazakh, one of the official languages. The other is Russian, which is spoken by almost everyone. Kazakhstan is a country with a rich variety of different ethnicities, in many cases due to forced emigration that occurred during the years of the USSR. A large number of ethnic Russians remain within Kazakhstan, having arrived as part of the Virgin Lands Campaign.
What was the Virgin Lands Campaign ?
The Virgin Lands Campaign was an attempt to open up previously uncultivated land to agricultural production, set in motion by Nikita Khrushchev in 1954. As Kazakhstan was then a part of the USSR, a large area of its steppe was subjected to aggressive grain farming by Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. While successful at first, the unsustainable farming techniques eventually resulted in great losses. However, Kazakhstan is today an agriculturally prosperous nation that uses much of the same land initially developed during the Virgin Lands Campaign.
When did Kazakhstan declare independence ?
Kazakhstan was the last country to declare independence from the Soviet Union, doing so on December 16th of 1991.
