Capital: Astana
Currency: Tenge (KZT)
Borders: China 1,533 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,051 km, Russia 6,846
km, Turkmenistan 379 km, Uzbekistan 2,203 km
Kazakhstan is one of the former Soviet Union states and is a huge
landlocked country, sandwiched between China to the east, Russia to
the north and west, and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to
the south. The total land area is 2,669,800 sq km with a further
47,500 sq km of water including the inland Caspian and Aral seas,
lakes Tengiz, Balkhash, Zaysan and the rivers Ural, Emba, Tobal,
Ishim and Irtysh. The terrain is comprised of a fertile rolling
central steppe, the desert of Betpaqdaia, the Saryaqa upland, the
Qaratau Mountains in the south and the Altai Mountains in the east.
The highest point of elevation is Khan Tangiri Shyngy at a height of
6995m. Kazakhstan possesses the very valuable natural resources of
petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, cobalt, copper,
lead, zinc, bauxite, gold and uranium. The Baykonur Cosmodrome is
located within Kazakhstan and has been the launch pad for all
Russian and Soviet space flight since Yuri Gagarin first left the
earth's atmosphere in 1961. After the break up of the former Soviet
Union, Kazakhstan agreed to lease the Baykonur Cosmodrome and its
surrounding land to Russia. Russian Rubles are the official currency
around the site.One of the largest of the
ex-Soviet states, Kazakhstan broke away claiming independence in
1991. It is worth noting that the long-time capital was moved from
Almaty to Astana in 1998. Almaty, however still remains the largest
city in Kazakhstan. The main languages spoken are Kazakh and
Russian. The national unit of currency is the Tenge.
Due to Kazakhstan's size and the Soviet investment made in it in the
past, Kazakhstan is heavily industrialized and has one of the
strongest economies of the former Soviet republics. Industry centres
largely on exploiting the country’s wealth of natural resources.
Agriculture accounts for only 10% of the GDP, although 20% of the
national workforce is employed within this sector, producing grain
and cotton. Kazakhstan's largest export partner is Russia. The
transport network of Kazakhstan consists of 13,601 km of railways
and 189,000 km of highways. The crude oil pipeline of Kazakhstan
measures 2850 km.
Kazakhstan has a continental climate and receives very cold winters
and long, hot summers. The desert areas of Kazakhstan experience a
dry, arid climate. Temperatures have been recorded as low as -37°C
in parts of Kazakhstan although they have also been known to rise to
38°C. |
