68 Facts About Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe.

Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country, the largest and northernmost Muslim-majority country by land area, and the ninth-largest country in the world.

Kazakhstan is a member state of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Organization of Turkic States, and the International Organization of Turkic Culture.

Territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic groups and empires.

Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991.

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The Persian suffix means "land" or "place of", so Kazakhstan can be literally translated as "land of the wanderers".

The Kokand Khanate used the weakness of Kazakh juzs after Dzungar and Kalmyk raids and conquered present Southeastern Kazakhstan, including Almaty, the formal capital in the first quarter of the 19th century.

On 25 October 1990, Kazakhstan declared its sovereignty on its territory as a republic within the Soviet Union.

Kazakhstan's terrain extends west to east from the Caspian Sea to the Altay Mountains and north to south from the plains of Western Siberia to the oases and deserts of Central Asia.

Kazakhstan has an abundant supply of accessible mineral and fossil fuel resources.

Kazakhstan has an "extreme" continental climate, with hot summers and very cold winters.

Kazakhstan had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.

Kazakhstan has a bicameral parliament composed of the Majilis and senate (the upper house).

In July 2019, the President of Kazakhstan announced a concept of a 'listening state' that quickly and efficiently responds to all constructive requests of the country's citizens.

Kazakhstan's government relocated its capital from Almaty, established under the Soviet Union, to Astana on 10 December 1997.

Kazakhstan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Economic Cooperation Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

On 1 December 2007, it was announced that Kazakhstan had been chosen to chair the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for the year 2010.

Kazakhstan was elected a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the first time on 12 November 2012.

Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Turkic Council, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

In 1999, Kazakhstan had applied for observer status at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

The official response of the Assembly was that because Kazakhstan is partially located in Europe, it could apply for full membership, but that it would not be granted any status whatsoever at the council until its democracy and human rights records improved.

Since independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has pursued what is known as the "multivector foreign policy", seeking equally good relations with its two large neighbours, Russia and China, as well as with the United States and the rest of the Western world.

On 28 June 2016 Kazakhstan was elected as a non-permanent member to serve on the UN Security Council for a two-year term.

Kazakhstan has supported UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti, Western Sahara, and Cote d'Ivoire.

In 2014, Kazakhstan gave Ukraine humanitarian aid during the conflict with Russian-backed rebels.

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In October 2014, Kazakhstan donated $30, 000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross's humanitarian effort in Ukraine.

In January 2015, to help the humanitarian crisis, Kazakhstan sent $400, 000 of aid to Ukraine's southeastern regions.

Since the late 20th century, the Kazakhstan Army has focused on expanding the number of its armoured units.

Kazakhstan sent 29 military engineers to Iraq to assist the US post-invasion mission in Iraq.

In December 2013, Kazakhstan announced it will send officers to support United Nations Peacekeeping forces in Haiti, Western Sahara, Ivory Coast and Liberia.

Kazakhstan was ranked 122th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index for 2022; previously it ranked 155th for 2021.

In mid-2014, Kazakhstan adopted new criminal, criminal executive, criminal procedural, and administrative codes, and a new law on trade unions, which contain articles restricting fundamental freedoms and are incompatible with international standards.

The 2016 Human Rights Watch report commented that Kazakhstan "took few meaningful steps to tackle a worsening human rights record in 2015, maintaining a focus on economic development over political reform.

Kazakhstan was the first former Soviet Republic to repay all of its debt to the International Monetary Fund, 7 years ahead of schedule.

Kazakhstan's increased role in global trade and central positioning on the new Silk Road gave the country the potential to open its markets to billions of people.

Kazakhstan's government continued to follow a conservative fiscal policy by controlling budget spending and accumulating oil revenue savings in its Oil Fund – Samruk-Kazyna.

Since 2002, Kazakhstan has sought to manage strong inflows of foreign currency without sparking inflation.

Kazakhstan weathered the global financial crisis by combining fiscal relaxation with monetary stabilisation.

In September 2002, Kazakhstan became the first country in the CIS to receive an investment grade credit rating from a major international credit rating agency.

In 2000, Kazakhstan adopted a new tax code in an effort to consolidate these gains.

Kazakhstan furthered its reforms by adopting a new land code on 20 June 2003, and a new customs code on 5 April 2003.

Kazakhstan is the 19th largest oil-producing nation in the world.

The government of Kazakhstan was studying a project to create a unified national pension fund and transfer all the accounts from the private pension funds into it.

Kazakhstan climbed to 41st on the 2018 Economic Freedom Index published by the Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation.

Kazakhstan is thought to be one of the places that the apple originated, particularly the wild ancestor of Malus domestica, Malus sieversii.

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Thereafter, Kazakhstan took measures to modernise and revamp its air safety oversight.

Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country by area and the largest landlocked country in the world.

Kazakhstan has offered a permanent visa-free regime for up to 90 days to citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia and Ukraine, and for up to 30 days to citizens of Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Serbia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Turkey, UAE and Uzbekistan.

In 2015, the U S State Department said Kazakhstan was widely considered to have the best investment climate in the region.

In 2014, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and Kazakhstan created the partnership for Re-Energizing the Reform Process in Kazakhstan to work with international financial institutions to channel US$2.

Banking industry of Kazakhstan went through a boom-and-bust cycle in the early 21st century.

In October 2014, Kazakhstan introduced its first overseas dollar bonds in 14 years.

Kazakhstan was projected to reach the UN standards by 2019 or 2020.

Kazakhstan is ahead of other states in the CIS in almost all of the report's pillars of competitiveness, including institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market development, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation, lagging behind only in the category of health and primary education.

In 2012, Kazakhstan ranked low in an index of the least corrupt countries and the World Economic Forum listed corruption as the biggest problem in doing business in the country.

Kazakhstan has implemented anticorruption reforms that have been recognised by organizations like Transparency International.

Kazakhstan was ranked 79th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021.

Digital Kazakhstan program was launched in 2018 to boost the country's economic growth through the implementation of digital technologies.

Kazakhstan is home to a large number of prominent contributors to literature, science and philosophy: Abay Qunanbayuli, Mukhtar Auezov, Gabit Musirepov, Kanysh Satpayev, Mukhtar Shakhanov, Saken Seyfullin, Jambyl Jabayev, among many others.

In 2010, Kazakhstan joined The Region Initiative which is a Tri-regional Umbrella of Tourism-related organisations.

Kazakh literature expands from the current territory of Kazakhstan, including the era of Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Kazakh recognised territory under the Russian Empire and the Kazakh Khanate.

Russian influence on the music life in Kazakhstan can be seen in two spheres: first, the introduction of musical academic institutions such as concert houses with opera stages, and conservatories, where European music was performed and taught, and second, by trying to incorporate Kazakh traditional music into these academic structures.

In boxing, Kazakhstan performed well in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Kazakhstan's holds the record as the longest-reigning WBA female super middleweight champion, and the longest-reigning WBC female super middleweight champion.

Kazakhstan is the host of the International Astana Action Film Festival and the Eurasia International Film Festival held annually.

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Hollywood director Timur Bekmambetov is from Kazakhstan and has become active in bridging Hollywood to the Kazakhstan film industry.

Kazakhstan is ranked 161 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

Kazakhstan has three cultural and two natural sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list.