Languages: Kazak (Qazaq, state language) 64%; Russian
(official, used in everyday business) 95% (2001 est.)
Ethnicity/race: Kazak (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian
3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.4%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9%
(1999)
Religions: Islam 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%,
other 7%
Literacy rate: 99% (1999
est.)
Economic summary:GDP/PPP
(2007): $161.5 billion; per capita $10,400. Real growth
rate: 8.7%. Inflation: 10.8%. Unemployment: 7.3%.
Arable land: 8%. Agriculture: grain (mostly spring
wheat), cotton; livestock. Labor force: 7.85 million; industry
30%, agriculture 20%, services 50% (2002 est.). Industries:
oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper,
titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel;
tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors,
construction materials. Natural resources: major deposits of
petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel,
cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium.
Exports: $44.88 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): oil and oil
products 58%, ferrous metals 24%, chemicals 5%, machinery 3%, grain,
wool, meat, coal (2001). Imports: $29.91 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.): machinery and equipment 41%, metal products 28%, foodstuffs 8%
(2001). Major trading partners: Russia, Bermuda, Germany,
China, France, Italy, Ukraine (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in
use: 2.928 million (2006); mobile cellular: 7.83 million (2006). 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 Service Providers (ISPs): 33,217 (2007). Internet users:
1.247 million (2006).
Transportation:
Railways: total: 13,601 km (2002). Highways: total: 90,018
km; paved: 84 km; unpaved: 4,311 km (2004). Waterways:
3,900 km on the Syrdariya (Syr Darya) and Ertis (Irtysh). Ports
and harbors: Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev), Oskemen
(Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk). Airports:
97 (2007).
International disputes:
Kazakhstan and China have resolved their border dispute and are
working to delimit their large open borders to control population
migration, illegal activities, and trade; delimitation of boundary
with Russia is scheduled for completion in 2003—delimitations
with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are complete with demarcations
underway—delimitation with Kyrgyzstan is largely complete;
equidistant seabed treaties have been signed with Azerbaijan and
Russia in the Caspian Sea but no resolution has been made on dividing
the water column among any of the littoral states; no resolution of
Caspian seabed boundary with Turkmenistan.
Kazakhstan lies in the north of the central Asian republics and is
bounded by Russia in the north, China in the east, Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan in the south, and the Caspian Sea and part of Turkmenistan in
the west. It has almost 1,177 mi (1,894 km) of coastline on the Caspian
Sea. Kazakhstan is about four times the size of Texas. The territory is
mostly steppe land with hilly plains and plateaus.
Government
Republic.
History
The indigenous Kazakhs were a nomadic Turkic people who belonged to
several divisions of Kazakh hordes. They grouped together in settlements
and lived in dome-shaped tents made of felt called yurts. Their
tribes migrated seasonally to find pastures for their herds of sheep,
horses, and goats. Although they had chiefs, the Kazakhs were rarely
united as a single nation under one great leader. Their tribes fell under
Mongol rule in the 13th century and they were dominated by Tartar khanates
until the area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century.
The area became part of the Kirgiz Autonomous Republic formed by the
Soviet authorities in 1920, and in 1925 this entity's name was changed to
the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Kazakh ASSR). After 1927,
the Soviet government began forcing the nomadic Kazakhs to settle on
collective and state farms, and the Soviets continued the czarist policy
of encouraging large numbers of Russians and other Slavs to settle in the
region.
Owing to the region's intensive agricultural development and its use as
a testing ground for nuclear weapons by the Soviet government, serious
environmental problems developed by the late 20th century. Along with the
other central Asian republics, Kazakhstan obtained its independence from
the collapsing Soviet Union in 1991. Kazakhstan proclaimed its membership
in the Commonwealth of Independent States on Dec. 21, 1991, along with ten
other former Soviet republics. In 1993, the country overwhelmingly
approved the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. President Nursultan
Nazarbayev restructured and consolidated many operations of the government
in 1997, eliminating a third of the government ministries and agencies. In
1997, the national capital was changed from Almaty, the largest city, to
Astana (formerly Aqmola).
In Jan. 1999, Nazarbayev was sworn into office for another seven years,
although the election was widely criticized when an opposition leader was
disqualified on a technicality. Despite his authoritarianism, Nazarbayev,
who has ruled Kazakhstan since 1989 (when it was still part of the Soviet
Union), is a widely popular leader. Kazakhstan has the potential for
becoming one of central Asia's richest countries because of its huge
mineral and oil resources and its liberalized economy, which encourages
Western investment. In 2000, oil was discovered in Kazakhstan's portion of
the Caspian Sea. It is believed to be the largest oil find in 30 years. In
March 2001, a pipeline opened to transport oil from the Tengiz fields to
the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. In 2004, Kazakhstan signed a
deal allowing China to build an oil pipeline to the Chinese border.
But as its economic outlook blossoms, Kazakhstan's scarce democratic
principles continue to wither. In the past several years, the president
has harassed the independent media, arrested opposition leaders, and
passed a law making it virtually impossible for new political parties to
form. In Dec. 2005, President Nazarbayev was reelected with 91% of the
vote. In May 2007, Parliament voted to do away with term limits, thus
allowing President Nazarbayev to remain in office indefinitely. In June,
Nazarbayev dissolved parliament and called for elections in August, two
years ahead of schedule. The opposition complained that the move did not
give them adequate time to campaign.
Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov resigned in January 2007, giving no
reason for the move. He was replaced by former deputy prime minister Karim
Masimov.
In August 2007 parliamentary elections, the governing party, Nur Otan
(Light of the Fatherland), won 88.1% of the votes and all 98 contested
seats. The victory further consolidated power in the hands of
Nazarbayev.
