Kazakhstan - Tourism and Travel

The Republic of Kazakhstan occupies a large region in Central Asia.

Kazakhstan has an area of 1,049,155 square miles (2,717,300 square kilometers) and runs from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east - a distance of more than 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers).

The capital of Kazakhstan is Astana.

Almaty is the largest city.

Kazakhstan's official currency is the tenge, which equals 100 tiyn.

There is a presidential system of government.

Kazakhstan was formerly a Soviet Republic and is now a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Geography and Climate

More than two fifths of Kazakhstan is covered in steppe grassland.

In the west, the land is flat, with lowlands around the Caspian Sea, which lies between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia.

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake, with an area of 143,243 square meters (371,000 square kilometers).

There is desert in the south

Peski Bol'shiye is a sandy desert with many classic dune formations. There is a small amount of vegetation that is supported by groundwater.

Toward the east, the land rises to a central plateau. This region is basically flat, although there are some hillocks and rocky outcrops. There are many large lakes here.

Further east are the Altai Mountains are on the borders with China and Russia.

These mountains are cold and mostly barren.

Many of the rivers that run across Kazakhstan's steppes originate in the Altai Mountains.

Part of the Tien Shan mountain range is in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan has a continental climate.

People

15,637,000 people live in Kazakhstan.

57% are Kazakhstan, 27% are Russian, 3% are Uzbek, 3% are Ukrainian and 2% are German.

Kazakh is the official language.

Russian, Uzbek, Ukrainian, Tatar, Uighur and German are also spoken.

47% of the people are Muslim, mostly Sunni Muslim, and 44% are Christian Orthodox.

Many of the people of Kazakhstan endure difficult living conditions. The rural areas are often impoverished and cities are overcrowded.

Economy

Kazakhstan has large reserves of oil, gas, coal, lead, zinc, gold, chromium and molybdenum.

Many of Kazakhstan's rich mineral reserves are located in the country's central uplands.

Main industries include metallurgy, mining, machine building and food processing.

Agriculture and livestock rearing make significant contributions to the economy.

Nomadic peoples once moved their herds around Kazakhstan's grasslands. Today, most of them have become settled. They still retain their remarkable riding skills.

Kazakhstan's primary cash corps are tobacco and cotton.

Lake Balkhash supports a fishing industry.

Russia's space program is based at Baykonyr, in central Kazakhstan. Baykonyr is near the city of Kyzlorda

After Kazakhstan became independent, the economy was liberalized and foreign investment was encouraged, in order to promote economic cevelopment.

Environment

When Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union, the republic was forced to undergo a program of intense industrial and agricultural development.

This resulted in extreme damage to Kazakhstan's environment from industrial pollution, which included fallout from nuclear testing.

The Aral Sea, located in the southwest and shared with Uzbekistan, has shrunk by 90% since the 1960s, as a result of the excessive use of defoliants and fertilizers and the diversion of rivers that source it. These rivers were diverted to the desert, in order to be used for irrigation.

As the Aral Sea has shrunk, its waters have become highly saline, and most of the many species of fish that once inhabited it have become extinct.

Syr Darya, a river that flows into the Aral Sea, has had waters taken from it to be used for irrigation and industry. Its flow has been reduced by 60%, and it is now extremely polluted with industrial chemicals.