Region / Country specific information - Kazakhstan
| Background: |
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 has caused many of these newcomers to
emigrate. Current issues include: developing a cohesive national identity;
expanding the development of the country's vast energy resources and
exporting them to world markets; and continuing to strengthen relations
with neighboring states and other foreign powers. |
| Location: |
Central Asia, northwest of China
|
| Geographic coordinates: |
48 00 N, 68 00 E |
| Map
references: |
Commonwealth of Independent States
|
| 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 |
| Land
use: |
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 11%
permanent pastures: 57%
forests and woodland: 4%
other: 16% (1996 est.) |
| Irrigated land: |
22,000 sq km (1996 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
earthquakes in the south, mudslides
around Almaty |
| Environment - current issues: |
radioactive or toxic chemical
sites associated with its former defense industries and test ranges
are found throughout the country and pose health risks for humans and
animals; industrial pollution is severe in some cities; because the
two main rivers which 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, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
|
| Geography - note: |
landlocked; Russia leases approximately
6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome |
| Population: |
16,731,303 (July 2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 26.73%
(male 2,271,866; female 2,200,078)
15-64 years: 66.03% (male 5,358,535; female 5,688,550)
65 years and over: 7.24% (male 412,761; female 799,513)
(2001 est.) |
| Population growth rate: |
0.03% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
17.3 births/1,000 population (2001
est.) |
| Death
rate: |
10.61 deaths/1,000 population
(2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-6.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.52 male(s)/female
total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
59.17 deaths/1,000 live births
(2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population:
63.29 years
male: 57.87 years
female: 68.97 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
2.07 children born/woman (2001
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
0.04% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
3,500 (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
less than 100 (1999 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Kazakhstani(s)
adjective: Kazakhstani |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian
30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Uighur 1.4%, other 6.6%
(1999 census) |
| Religions: |
Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%,
Protestant 2%, other 7% |
| Languages: |
Kazakh (Qazaq, state language)
40%, Russian (official, used in everyday business) 66% |
| Literacy: |
definition: age 15
and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 96% (1989 est.) |
| Country
name: |
conventional long form:
Republic of Kazakhstan
conventional short form: Kazakhstan
local long form: Qazaqstan Respublikasy
local short form: none
former: Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic |
| Government type: |
republic |
| Capital: |
Astana; note - the government
moved from Almaty to Astana in December 1998 |
| Administrative divisions: |
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 (Petropavl), 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 Baykonur space launch
facilities and the city of Bayqongyr (Baykonyr, formerly Leninsk) |
| Independence: |
16 December 1991 (from the Soviet
Union) |
| National
holiday: |
Republic Day, 25 October (1990)
|
| Constitution: |
adopted by national referendum
30 August 1995; first post-independence constitution was adopted 28
January 1993 |
| Legal
system: |
based on civil law system |
| 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 Kazymzhomart TOKAYEV
(since 2 October 1999)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year
term; election last held 10 January 1999, a year before it was previously
scheduled (next to be held NA 2006); note - President NAZARBAYEV's previous
term had been extended to 2000 by a nationwide referendum held 30 April
1995; prime minister and first deputy prime minister appointed by the
president
election results: Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV reelected president;
percent of vote - Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV 81.7%, Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN
12.1%, Gani KASYMOV 4.7%, other 1.5%
note: President NAZARBAYEV expanded his presidential powers
by decree: 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 senators are appointed by the president;
other members are popularly elected, two from each of the former oblasts
and the former capital of Almaty, to serve six-year terms) and the Majilis
(67 seats; the addition of 10 "Party List" seats brings the total to
77; members are popularly elected to serve five-year terms); note -
with the oblasts being reduced to 14, the Senate will eventually be
reduced to 37; a number of Senate seats come up for reelection every
two years
elections: Senate - (indirect) last held 17 September 1999
(next to be held NA 2001); Majilis - last held 10 and 24 October and
26 December 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%;
seats by party - NA; 16 seats up for election in 1999, candidates nominated
by local councils; Majilis - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by
party - Otan 23, Civic Party 13, Communist Party 3, Agrarian Party 3,
People's Cooperative Party 1, independents 34; note - most independent
candidates are affiliated with parastatal enterprises and other pro-government
institutions |
| Judicial
branch: |
Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional
Council (7 members) |
| Political parties and leaders: |
Agrarian Party [Romin MADENOV];
Alash [Soverkazhy AKATAYEV]; AZAMAT Movement [Petr SVOIK, Murat AUEZOV,
and Galym ABILSIITOV, cochairmen]; Civic Party [Azat PERUASHEV, first
secretary]; Communist Party or KPK [Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN, first secretary];
Forum of Democratic Forces [Nurbulat MASANOV, Deputy Chairman of the
Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan (RNPK); Amirzhan KOSANOV, RNPK
activist; Seidakhmet KUTTYKADAM, Orleu Movement; cochairmen]; Labor
and Worker's Movement [Madel ISMAILOV, chairman]; Orleu Movement [Seidakhmet
KUTTYKADAM]; Otan [Sergei TERESCHENKO, chairman]; Pensioners Movement
or Pokoleniye [Irina SAVOSTINA, chairwoman]; People's Congress of Kazakhstan
of NKK [Olzhas SULEIMENOV, chairman]; People's Cooperative Party [Umirzak
SARSENOV]; People's Unity Party or PUP [Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV]; Republican
People's Party of Kazakhstan or RNPK [Akezhan KAZHEGELDIN] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: |
Kazakhstan International Bureau
on Human Rights [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS, executive director] |
| International organization participation: |
AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE,
ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS
(observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Kanat SAUDABAYEV
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 Richard H. JONES
embassy: 99/97A Furmanova Street, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
480091
mailing address: American Embassy Almaty, Department of
State, Washington, DC 20521-7030
telephone: [7] (3272) 63-39-21, 50-76-23, 50-76-27 (emergency
number)
FAX: [7] (3272) 63-38-83, 50-76-24 |
| 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 |
| Economy
- overview: |
Kazakhstan, the second largest
of the former Soviet republics in territory, possesses enormous fossil
fuel reserves as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals.
It also is a large agricultural - livestock and grain - producer. Kazakhstan's
industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural
resources and also on a growing machine-building sector specializing
in construction equipment, tractors, agricultural machinery, and some
defense items. The breakup of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse
of 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. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium
agreement to build a new pipeline from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oil
field to the Black Sea increases prospects for substantially larger
oil exports in several years. Kazakhstan's economy again turned downward
in 1998 with a 2% decline in GDP due to slumping oil prices and the
August financial crisis in Russia. The recovery of international oil
prices in 1999, combined with a well-timed tenge devaluation and a bumper
grain harvest, pulled the economy out of recession in 2000. Astana has
embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy
away from overdependence on the oil sector by developing light industry.
|
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $85.6
billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
10.5% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $5,000
(2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 10%
industry: 30%
services: 60% (1999 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: |
35% (1999 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 2.7%
highest 10%: 26.3% (1996) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
13.4% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
8.8 million (1997) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
industry 27%, agriculture 23%,
services 50% (1996) |
| Unemployment rate: |
13.7% (1998 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $3.1 billion
expenditures: $3.6 billion, including capital expenditures
of $NA (1999 est.) |
| Industries: |
oil, coal, iron ore, manganese,
chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates,
sulfur, iron and steel, nonferrous metal, tractors and other agricultural
machinery, electric motors, construction materials |
| Industrial production growth rate: |
14.9% (2000 est.) |
| Electricity - production: |
44.36 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 87.12%
hydro: 12.65%
nuclear: 0.23%
other: 0% (1999) |
| Electricity - consumption: |
44.132 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - exports: |
200 million kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - imports: |
3.077 billion kWh (1999) |
| Agriculture - products: |
grain (mostly spring wheat), cotton;
wool, livestock |
| Exports: |
$8.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
|
| Exports
- commodities: |
oil 40%, ferrous and nonferrous
metals, machinery, chemicals, grain, wool, meat, coal |
| Exports
- partners: |
EU 23%, Russia 20%, China 8% (1999)
|
| Imports: |
$6.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
|
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery and parts, industrial
materials, oil and gas, vehicles |
| Imports
- partners: |
Russia 37%, US, Uzbekistan, Turkey,
UK, Germany, Ukraine, South Korea (1999) |
| Debt
- external: |
$12.5 billion (2000 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$409.6 million (1995) |
| Exchange
rates: |
tenge per US dollar - 145.09 (January
2001), 142.13 (2000), 119.52 (1999), 78.30 (1998), 75.44 (1997), 67.30
(1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| Telephones - main lines in use: |
1.818 million (1997) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: |
11,202 (1997) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment:
service is poor; equipment antiquated
domestic: intercity by landline and microwave radio relay;
mobile cellular systems are available in most of Kazakhstan
international: international traffic with other former
Soviet republics and China carried by landline and microwave radio relay;
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 nine repeaters) (1998)
|
| Televisions: |
3.88 million (1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.kz |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
NA |
| Internet
users: |
70,000 (2000) |
| Railways: |
total: 14,400 km
in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
broad gauge: 14,400 km 1.520-m gauge (3,299 km electrified)
(1997) |
| Highways: |
total: NA km
paved: 150,000 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced,
and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are
surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable
in all weather) (2000)
unpaved: NA km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth
and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) |
| Waterways: |
3,900 km
note: on the Syrdariya (Syr Darya) and Ertis (Irtysh) rivers
|
| Pipelines: |
crude oil 2,850 km; refined products
1,500 km; natural gas 3,480 km (1992) |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev),
Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk) |
| Airports: |
449 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total: 28
over 3,047 m: 6
2,438 to 3,047 m: 14
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total: 421
over 3,047 m: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 18
1,524 to 2,437 m: 45
914 to 1,523 m: 101
under 914 m: 246 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
General Purpose Forces (Army),
Air Force, Border Guards, Navy, Republican Guard |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
18 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age 15-49:
4,509,179 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age 15-49:
3,598,859 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males: 163,628 (2001
est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$322 million (FY99) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.5% (FY99) |
| Disputes
- international: |
Caspian Sea boundaries are not
yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan
|
| Illicit
drugs: |
significant illicit cultivation
of cannabis and limited cultivation of opium poppy and ephedra (for
the drug ephedrone); limited government eradication program; cannabis
consumed largely in the CIS; used as transshipment point for illicit
drugs to Russia, North America, and Western Europe from Southwest Asia;
developing heroin addiction problem |
|
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