Kazakhstan

mean elevation:

387 m

elevation extremes:

lowest point: Vpadina Kaundy -132 m

highest point:

Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik Khan-Tengri) 6,995 m

agricultural land:

77.4%;

• arable land 8.9%;
• permanent crops 0%;
• permanent pasture 68.5%

forest:

1.2%

other:

21.4% (2011 est.)

• most of the country displays a low population density, particularly the interior;
• population clusters appear in urban agglomerations in the far northern and southern portions of the country

• radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with former defense industries and test ranges scattered throughout the country pose health risks for humans and animals;
• industrial pollution is severe in some cities;
• because the two main rivers that 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

party to:

Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

• world's largest landlocked country and one of only two landlocked countries in the world that extends into two continents (the other is Azerbaijan);
• Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome;
• in January 2004, Kazakhstan and Russia extended the lease to 2050

noun:

Kazakhstani(s)

adjective:

Kazakhstani

• most of the country displays a low population density, particularly the interior;
• population clusters appear in urban agglomerations in the far northern and southern portions of the country

at birth:

0.94 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.95 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.78 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.53 male(s)/female

total population:

0.92 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Kazakhstan

conventional short form:

Kazakhstan

local long form:

Qazaqstan Respublikasy

local short form:

Qazaqstan

former:

Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic

etymology:

• the name "Kazakh" derives from the Turkic word "kaz" meaning "to wander," recalling the Kazakh's nomadic lifestyle;
• the Persian suffix "-stan" means "place of" or "country," so the word Kazakhstan literally means "Land of the Wanderers"

name:

Astana

geographic coordinates:

51 10 N, 71 25 E

time difference:

UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

note: Kazakhstan has two time zones

history:

previous 1937, 1978 (preindependence), 1993; latest approved by referendum 30 August 1995, effective 5 September 1995

amendments:

• proposed by the president of the republic on the recommendation of Parliament or the government;
• the president has the option of submitting draft amendments to Parliament or directly to a referendum;
• passage of amendments to Parliament requires three-fourths majority vote of both houses and the signature of the president;
• passage by referendum requires absolute majority vote by more than one-half of the voters in at least two-thirds of the oblasts, major cities, and the capital, followed by the signature of the president;
• amended several times, last in 2017 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Kazakhstan

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President Nursultan Abishuly NAZARBAYEV (chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 22 February 1990, elected president 1 December 1991)

head of government:

Prime Minister Bakytzhan SAGINTAYEV (since 9 September 2016); First Deputy Prime Minister Askar MAMIN (since 13 September 2016)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 5-year term (eligible for a second consecutive term);
• election last held on 26 April 2015 (next to be held in 2020);
• prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president, approved by the Mazhilis;
• note - constitutional amendments in May 2007 shortened the presidential term from 7 to 5 years and established a 2-consecutive-term limit;
• NAZARBAYEV has official status as the "First President of Kazakhstan" and is allowed unlimited terms

election results:

Nursultan Abishuly NAZARBAYEV reelected president; percent of vote - Nursultan Abishuly NAZARBAYEV (Nur Otan) 97.8%, other 2.2%

description:

bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 32 members indirectly elected by majority 2-round vote by the oblast-level assemblies and 15 members appointed by the president; members serve 6-year terms, with one-half of the membership renewed every 3 years) and the Mazhilis (107 seats; 98 members directly elected in a single national constituency by proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms and 9 indirectly elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, a 350-member, presidentially appointed advisory body designed to represent the country's ethnic minorities)

elections:

Senate - last held on 28 June 2017 (next to be held in 2020); Mazhilis - last held on 20 March 2016 (next to be held by 2021)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - Nur Otan 16;
• Mazhilis - percent of vote by party - Nur Otan 82.2%, Ak Zhol 7.2%, Communist People's Party 7.1%, other 3.5%;
• seats by party - Nur Otan 84, Ak Zhol 7, Communist People's Party 7

highest court(s):

Supreme Court of the Republic (consists of 44 members); Constitutional Council (consists of 7 members)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges proposed by the president of the republic on recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council and confirmed by the Senate;
• judges normally serve until age 65 but can be extended to age 70;
• Constitutional Council - the president of the republic, the Senate chairperson, and the Majilis chairperson each appoints 1 member for a 3-year term and each appoints 1 member for a 6-year term;
• chairperson of the Constitutional Council appointed by the president of the republic for a 6-year term

subordinate courts:

regional and local courts

• Ak Zhol (Bright Path) Party or Democratic Party of Kazakhstan Ak Zhol [Azat PERUASHEV]
• Auyl National Patriotic Party [Ali BEKTAYEV] (a merger of the Patriots’ Party and the Auyl Social Democratic Party)
• Birlik (Unity) [Serik SULTANGALI] (a merger of Adilet (Justice; formerly Democratic Party of Kazakhstan) and Rukhaniyat (Spirituality))
• Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan [Vladislav KOSAREV]
• National Social Democratic Party or NSDP [Zharmakhan TUYAKBAY]
• Nur Otan (Radiant Fatherland) Democratic People's Party [Nursultan NAZARBAYEV] (the Agrarian, Asar, and Civic parties merged with Otan)

• Adil-Soz [Tamara KALEYEVA]
• Chairman of Bureau's Council [Roza AKYLBEKOVA]
• Foundation for Support of Civil Initiatives [Nurul RAKHIMBEK]
• International Legal Initiative [Aina SHORMANBAYEVA]
• Kazakhstan International Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law or KIBHR [Rosa AKYLBEKOVA]
• Legal Media Centre (sometimes known as the North Kazakhstan Legal Media Centre) [Diana OKREMOVA]
• Public Foundation for Parliamentary Development [Zauresh BATTALOVA]
• Republican Network of International Monitors or RNIM [Daniyar LIVAZOV]
• Transparency International [Natalya KOVALEVA]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Erzhar KAZYKHANOV (since 24 April 2017)

chancery:

1401 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 232-5488

FAX:

[1] (202) 232-5845

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador George KROL (since 18 March 2015)

embassy:

Rakhymzhan Koshkarbayev Ave. No 3, Astana 010010

mailing address:

use embassy street address

telephone:

[7] (7172) 70-21-00

FAX:

[7] (7172) 54-09-14

Consulate(s) General:

Almaty

• a gold sun with 32 rays above a soaring golden steppe eagle, both centered on a sky blue background;
• the hoist side displays a national ornamental pattern "koshkar-muiz" (the horns of the ram) in gold;
• the blue color is of religious significance to the Turkic peoples of the country, and so symbolizes cultural and ethnic unity;
• it also represents the endless sky as well as water;
• the sun, a source of life and energy, exemplifies wealth and plenitude;
• the sun's rays are shaped like grain, which is the basis of abundance and prosperity;
• the eagle has appeared on the flags of Kazakh tribes for centuries and represents freedom, power, and the flight to the future

name:

"Menin Qazaqstanim" (My Kazakhstan)

lyrics/music:

Zhumeken NAZHIMEDENOV and Nursultan NAZARBAYEV/Shamshi KALDAYAKOV

note: adopted 2006; President Nursultan NAZARBAYEV played a role in revising the lyrics

• oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, uranium, iron and steel;
• tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, construction materials

agriculture:

18.1%

industry:

20.4%

services:

61.6% (2017 est.)

lowest 10%:

4.3%

highest 10%:

22% (2013 est.)

general assessment:

inherited an outdated telecommunications network from the Soviet era requiring modernization

domestic:

• intercity by landline and microwave radio relay;
• number of fixed-line connections is inadequate;
• mobile-cellular usage increased rapidly and the subscriber base approaches 140 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 7;
• international traffic with other former Soviet republics and China carried by landline and microwave radio relay and with other countries by satellite and by the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (2017)

• state owns nearly all radio and TV transmission facilities and operates national TV and radio networks;
• there are 3 TV channels:
  • Kazakhstan,
  • KAZsport,
  • Balapan
  ;
• and 4 radio stations:
  • Kazakh Radiosy,
  • Shalkar,
  • Astana,
  • and Classic
  ;
• some former state-owned media outlets have been privatized;
• households with satellite dishes have access to foreign media;
• a small number of commercial radio stations operate along with state-run radio stations;
• recent legislation requires all media outlets to register with the government and all TV providers to broadcast in digital format by 2018;
• broadcasts reach 98.63% of the population as well as neighboring countries (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

10; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 71

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

5,081,631

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

37,669,008 mt-km (2015)

• condensate 658 km;
• gas 12,432 km;
• oil 11,313 km;
• refined products 1,095 km;
• water 1,465 km (2013)

total:

14,184 km

broad gauge:

14,184 km 1.520-m gauge (4,056 km electrified) (2014)

country comparison to the world: 19

total:

97,418 km

paved:

87,140 km

unpaved:

10,278 km (2012)

country comparison to the world: 48

total:

11

by type:

cargo 1, petroleum tanker 8, refrigerated cargo 1, specialized tanker 1

foreign-owned:

3 (Austria 1, Ireland 1, Turkey 1) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 109

major seaport(s):

Caspian Sea - Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev)

river port(s):

Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk) (Irtysh River)

• 18 is the legal minimum age for compulsory military service;
• conscript service obligation is 2 years, but Kazakhstan is transitioning to a largely contract force;
• military cadets in intermediate (ages 15-17) and higher (ages 17-21) education institutes are classified as military service personnel (2017)

• Kyrgyzstan has yet to ratify the 2001 boundary delimitation with Kazakhstan;
• field demarcation of the boundaries commenced with Uzbekistan in 2004 and with Turkmenistan in 2005;
• ongoing demarcation with Russia began in 2007;
• demarcation with China was completed in 2002;
• creation of a seabed boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea remains under discussion;
• Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the sea

• significant illicit cultivation of cannabis for CIS markets, as well as limited cultivation of opium poppy and ephedra (for the drug ephedrine);
• limited government eradication of illicit crops;
• transit point for Southwest Asian narcotics bound for Russia and the rest of Europe;
• significant consumer of opiates