Kazakstan (kah-zahk-STAHN), republic (1,049,155 sq mi/2,717,311 sq km; 1992 estimated population 17,035,000; 2004 estimated population 15,143,704), central Asia; (cap.) Almaty (Alma-Ata).
Geography
Bordered N by Russian Siberia, E by China, S by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and W by the Caspian Sea, Kazakstan's major cities include Almaty, Shymkent, Semey (Semipalatinsk), Aktöbe (Aktyubinsk), Akmola (Akmolinsk, Tselinograd), and Ust-Kamenogorsk . Former Kazakh SSR, part of the USSR, it is a vast flatland, bounded by a high mountain belt in the SE. Extends nearly 2,000 mi/3,200 km from the lower Volga and the Caspian Sea (W) to the Altai Mountains (E). Largely lowland in N and W (W. Siberian, Caspian, and Turan lowlands), hilly in the center (Kazak Hills), and mountainous in S and E (Tianshan and Altai ranges). Kazakstan is a region of inland drainage; the Syr Darya, Ili, Chu, and other rivers drain into the Aral Sea and Lake Balkash. It has a dry continental climate, and most of the region is desert or has limited and irregular rainfall; yearly precipitation averages 8 in/20.3 cm–12 in/30 cm, with extremes of 20 in/51 cm on mountain slopes and less than 4 in/10.2 cm near the Aral Sea. Mean temperature in January varies from 28°F/-2.2°C (S) to 0°F/-17.8°C (N) and in July from 86°F/30°C (S) to 72°F/22.2°C (N).
Population
The population consists of Kazaks (53%), Russians (30%, though falling with emigration), Germans, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, and Tartars. The Russian population is concentrated in the industrialized N and W. The Kazaks speak a Turkic language and are nominally Sunni Muslims, originally converted in the late 18th century at the behest of Catherine the Great in order to foster stability among border nomads.
Economy - Argriculture
The agricultural economy is determined by latitudinal soil and vegetation differentiation. Black-earth wooded steppe (extreme N) is chief grain-growing area (hard-grained wheat, millet) and also has dairy farming; in chestnut-soil dry steppes (51°–40°N), millet and fat-tailed sheep are important; semi-desert and desert are principal grazing areas (fat-tailed sheep, camels); on piedmont loess plains (S) irrigated agriculture (sugar beets, tobacco, opium poppy, rubber-bearing plants, cotton, rice, orchards) predominates. Dry farming of cereal grains along the N borders was attempted from 1954 through the mid-1960s. The Virgin Lands Program under Krushchev brought hundreds of thousands of Russian, Ukrainian, and German settlers to the area. Kazakstan produced much of the USSR’s wool and cattle and a very great part of its wheat. Soviet agricultural practices employing diversion of rivers for irrigation and extensive over-fertilization have compromised soil quality and left much of the water supply polluted; the poisoning and relatively rapid evaporation of the Aral Sea is a large and very visible example of this legacy.
Economy - Mineral Resources
The Kazak Hills in the core of the region have important mineral resources. Coal is mined at Karaganda and Ekibastuz, and there are major oil fields in the Emba Basin (which includes the newly developed Tengiz fields), at N tip of the Caspian Sea and in the Mangyshlak Peninsula. In 1997 Russia and Kazakstan signed an agreement to export oil and gas via two pipelines (one to be built) linking the Tengiz field to Russian ports. Well over half the copper, lead, zinc, nickel, chromium, and silver mined in the former Soviet Union comes from this area; in NW and central Kazakstan there are huge iron-ore deposits and gold is found in various parts of the country. The Irtysh River hydroelectric stations at Ust-Kamenogorsk and the Buktyrma reservoir are a major source of power.
Economy - Industry and Space
The country’s industries are located along the margins of the region: Temirtau is the iron and steel center. Manufacturing includes machinery, fertilizers, steel, phosphorus acids, artificial fibers, synthetic rubber, textiles, and medicines. Semey (Semipalatinsk) was the Soviet center of space-related industries, and was also the site of Soviet nuclear testing; radiation pollution is widespread here and in adjoining regions. The Baikonur Cosmodrome in central Kazakstan was the Soviet space-operations center, and continues to serve Russian space exploration through an agreement between the two nations.
History
The original Turkic tribes were conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century and ruled by various khanates until the Russian conquest (1730–1840). In 1916, the Kazaks rebelled against Russian domination and were in the process of establishing a Western-style state at the time of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Organized as the Kirghiz ASSR in 1920, it was renamed the Kazakh ASSR in 1925 and became a constituent republic in 1936. Kazakstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union on December 16, 1991, and Nursultan Nazarbaev became the country's first president. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The culture of the Kazak nomads featured in the Central Asian epics, ritual songs, and legends. The 19th century saw the growth of the Kazak intelligentsia. A written literature strongly influenced by Russian culture was then developed. Almaty is the seat of the Kazak Al-Farabi State National University (founded 1934) and the Kazak Academy of Sciences (founded 1946). Kazakstan consists of nineteen administrative regions (former oblasts of the Kazakh SSR): Akmola, Aktöbe, Almaty, Atyrau, East Kazakstan, Karaganda, Kökshetau, Kostanai, Kyzylorda, Mangystau, North Kazakstan, Pavlodar, Semey, South Kazakstan, Taldykorgan, Torgai, West Kazakstan, Zhambyl, and Zhezkazgan. Also spelled Kazakhstan, Qazaqstan. In late 1997, the Almaty government announced its decision to return to the old spelling of Kazakhstan.
Government
Kazakstan has an elected 510-member parliament. A president, elected by popular vote, is chief of state. President Nursultan Nazarbayev continues as chief of state. The head of government, appointed by the president, is Daniyal Akhmetov (June 2003).
