Kazakhstan

§1. Kazakhstan Introduction

Background:
  Native Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated into
    the region in the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation.
    The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century and Kazakhstan
    became a Soviet Republic in 1936. During the 1950s and 1960s agricultural
    "Virgin Lands" program, Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate
    Kazakhstan's northern pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly
    Russians, but also some other deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic
    mixture and enabled non-Kazakhs to outnumber natives. Independence has
    caused many of these newcomers to emigrate. Current issues include:
    developing a cohesive national identity; expanding the development of the
    country's vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets; and
    continuing to strengthen relations with neighboring states and other
    foreign powers.

§2. Kazakhstan Geography

Location:
  Central Asia, northwest of China

Geographic coordinates:
  48 00 N, 68 00 E

Map references:
  Commonwealth of Independent States

Area:
  total: 2,717,300 kmē
  land: 2,669,800 kmē
  water: 47,500 kmē

Area - comparative:
  slightly less than four times the size of Texas

Land boundaries:
  total: 12,012 km border countries: China 1,533 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,051 km,
    Russia 6,846 km, Turkmenistan 379 km, Uzbekistan 2,203 km

Coastline:
  0 km (landlocked); note - Kazakhstan borders the Aral Sea, now split into
  two bodies of water (1,070 km), and the Caspian Sea (1,894 km)

Maritime claims:
  none (landlocked)

Climate:
  continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid

Terrain:
  extends from the Volga to the Altai Mountains and from the plains in
  western Siberia to oases and desert in Central Asia

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Vpadina Kaundy -132 m highest point: Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik
    Khan-Tengri) 6,995 m

Natural resources:
  major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome
  ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium

Land use:
  arable land: 12%
  permanent crops: 11%
  permanent pastures: 57%
  forests and woodland: 4%
  other: 16% (1996 est.)

Irrigated land:
  22,000 kmē (1996 est.)

Natural hazards:
  earthquakes in the south, mudslides around Almaty

Environment - current issues:
  radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with its former defense
  industries and test ranges are found throughout the country and pose health
  risks for humans and animals; industrial pollution is severe in some
  cities; because the two main rivers which 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

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
    Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
  signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note:
  landlocked; Russia leases approximately 6,000 kmē of territory enclosing
  the Baykonur Cosmodrome

§3. Kazakhstan People

Population:
  16,731,303 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 26.73% (male 2,271,866; female 2,200,078)
  15-64 years: 66.03% (male 5,358,535; female 5,688,550)
  65 years and over: 7.24% (male 412,761; female 799,513) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  0.03% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  17.3 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  10.61 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  -6.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.52 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  59.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 63.29 years male: 57.87 years
  female: 68.97 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  2.07 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  0.04% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  3,500 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  less than 100 (1999 est.)

Nationality:
  noun: Kazakhstani(s)
  adjective: Kazakhstani

Ethnic groups:
  Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%,
  Uighur 1.4%, other 6.6% (1999 census)

Religions:
  Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%

Languages:
  Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 40%, Russian (official, used in everyday
  business) 66%

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 98%
  male: 99%
  female: 96% (1989 est.)

§4. Kazakhstan Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Republic of Kazakhstan
  conventional short form: Kazakhstan
  local long form: Qazaqstan Respublikasy
  local short form: none
  former: Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type:
  republic

Capital:
  Astana; note - the government moved from Almaty to Astana in December 1998

Administrative divisions:
  14 oblystar (singular - oblysy) and 3 cities (qala, singular - qalasy)*;
  Almaty, Almaty*, Aqmola (Astana), Aqtobe, Astana*, Atyrau, Batys Qazaqstan
  (Oral), Bayqongyr*, Mangghystau (Aqtau; formerly Shevchenko), Ongtustik
  Qazaqstan (Shymkent), Pavlodar, Qaraghandy, Qostanay, Qyzylorda, Shyghys
  Qazaqstan (Oskemen; formerly Ust'-Kamenogorsk), Soltustik Qazaqstan
  (Petropavl), Zhambyl (Taraz; formerly Dzhambul)
  note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative
    centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in
    parentheses); in 1995 the Governments of Kazakhstan and Russia entered
    into an agreement whereby Russia would lease for a period of 20 years an
    area of 6,000 kmē enclosing the Baykonur space launch facilities and the
    city of Bayqongyr (Baykonyr, formerly Leninsk)

Independence:
  16 December 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday:
  Republic Day, 25 October (1990)

Constitution:
  adopted by national referendum 30 August 1995; first post-independence
  constitution was adopted 28 January 1993

Legal system:
  based on civil law system

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV (chairman of the Supreme
    Soviet from 22 February 1990, elected president 1 December 1991)
  head of government: Prime Minister Kazymzhomart TOKAYEV (since 2 October
    1999)
  cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
  elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term;
    election last held 10 January 1999, a year before it was previously
    scheduled (next to be held NA 2006); note - President NAZARBAYEV's
    previous term had been extended to 2000 by a nationwide referendum held
    30 April 1995; prime minister and first deputy prime minister appointed
    by the president
  election results: Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV reelected president; percent of
    vote - Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV 81.7%, Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN 12.1%, Gani
    KASYMOV 4.7%, other 1.5%
  note: President NAZARBAYEV expanded his presidential powers by decree: only
    he can initiate constitutional amendments, appoint and dismiss the
    government, dissolve Parliament, call referenda at his discretion, and
    appoint administrative heads of regions and cities

Legislative branch:
  bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 7 senators are
  appointed by the president; other members are popularly elected, two from
  each of the former oblasts and the former capital of Almaty, to serve
  six-year terms) and the Majilis (67 seats; the addition of 10 "Party List"
  seats brings the total to 77; members are popularly elected to serve
  five-year terms); note - with the oblasts being reduced to 14, the Senate
  will eventually be reduced to 37; a number of Senate seats come up for
  reelection every two years
  elections: Senate - (indirect) last held 17 September 1999 (next to be held
    NA 2001); Majilis - last held 10 and 24 October and 26 December 1999
    (next to be held NA 2004)
  election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
    NA; 16 seats up for election in 1999, candidates nominated by local
    councils; Majilis - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Otan
    23, Civic Party 13, Communist Party 3, Agrarian Party 3, People's
    Cooperative Party 1, independents 34; note - most independent candidates
    are affiliated with parastatal enterprises and other pro-government
    institutions

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (7 members)

Political parties and leaders:
  Agrarian Party [Romin MADENOV]; Alash [Soverkazhy AKATAYEV]; AZAMAT
  Movement [Petr SVOIK, Murat AUEZOV, and Galym ABILSIITOV, cochairmen];
  Civic Party [Azat PERUASHEV, first secretary]; Communist Party or KPK
  [Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN, first secretary]; Forum of Democratic Forces
  [Nurbulat MASANOV, Deputy Chairman of the Republican People's Party of
  Kazakhstan (RNPK); Amirzhan KOSANOV, RNPK activist; Seidakhmet KUTTYKADAM,
  Orleu Movement; cochairmen]; Labor and Worker's Movement [Madel ISMAILOV,
  chairman]; Orleu Movement [Seidakhmet KUTTYKADAM]; Otan [Sergei
  TERESCHENKO, chairman]; Pensioners Movement or Pokoleniye [Irina SAVOSTINA,
  chairwoman]; People's Congress of Kazakhstan of NKK [Olzhas SULEIMENOV,
  chairman]; People's Cooperative Party [Umirzak SARSENOV]; People's Unity
  Party or PUP [Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV]; Republican People's Party of
  Kazakhstan or RNPK [Akezhan KAZHEGELDIN]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  Kazakhstan International Bureau on Human Rights [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS,
  executive director]

International organization participation:
  AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA,
  IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer),
  ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD,
  UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Kanat SAUDABAYEV chancery: 1401 16th Street,
    NW, Washington, DC 20036
  telephone: [1] (202) 232-5488
  FAX: [1] (202) 232-5845
  consulate(s): New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Richard H. JONES embassy: 99/97A Furmanova
    Street, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan 480091
  mailing address: American Embassy Almaty, Department of State, Washington,
    DC 20521-7030
  telephone: [7] (3272) 63-39-21, 50-76-23, 50-76-27 (emergency number)
  FAX: [7] (3272) 63-38-83, 50-76-24

Flag description:
  sky blue background representing the endless sky and a gold sun with 32
  rays soaring above a golden steppe eagle in the center; on the hoist side
  is a "national ornamentation" in gold

§5. Kazakhstan Economy

Economy - overview:
  Kazakhstan, the second largest of the former Soviet republics in territory,
  possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves as well as plentiful supplies of
  other minerals and metals. It also is a large agricultural - livestock and
  grain - producer. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction
  and processing of these natural resources and also on a growing
  machine-building sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors,
  agricultural machinery, and some defense items. The breakup of the USSR in
  December 1991 and the collapse of demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy
  industry products resulted in a short-term contraction of the economy, with
  the steepest annual decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97, the pace of the
  government program of economic reform and privatization quickened,
  resulting in a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. The
  Caspian Pipeline Consortium agreement to build a new pipeline from western
  Kazakhstan's Tengiz oil field to the Black Sea increases prospects for
  substantially larger oil exports in several years. Kazakhstan's economy
  again turned downward in 1998 with a 2% decline in GDP due to slumping oil
  prices and the August financial crisis in Russia. The recovery of
  international oil prices in 1999, combined with a well-timed tenge
  devaluation and a bumper grain harvest, pulled the economy out of recession
  in 2000. Astana has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to
  diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector by
  developing light industry.

GDP:
  purchasing power parity - $85.6 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  10.5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 10% industry: 30%
  services: 60% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  35% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 2.7% highest 10%: 26.3% (1996)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  13.4% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
  8.8 million (1997)

Labor force - by occupation:
  industry 27%, agriculture 23%, services 50% (1996)

Unemployment rate:
  13.7% (1998 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $3.1 billion
  expenditures: $3.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999
    est.)

Industries:
  oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium,
  bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel, nonferrous
  metal, tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors,
  construction materials

Industrial production growth rate:
  14.9% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
  44.36 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
  fossil fuel: 87.12% hydro: 12.65%
  nuclear: 0.23%
  other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:
  44.132 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:
  200 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:
  3.077 billion kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:
  grain (mostly spring wheat), cotton; wool, livestock

Exports:
  $8.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  oil 40%, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery, chemicals, grain, wool,
  meat, coal

Exports - partners:
  EU 23%, Russia 20%, China 8% (1999)

Imports:
  $6.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  machinery and parts, industrial materials, oil and gas, vehicles

Imports - partners:
  Russia 37%, US, Uzbekistan, Turkey, UK, Germany, Ukraine, South Korea
  (1999)

Debt - external:
  $12.5 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $409.6 million (1995)

Currency:
  tenge (KZT)

Currency code:
  KZT

Exchange rates:
  tenge per US dollar - 145.09 (January 2001), 142.13 (2000), 119.52 (1999),
  78.30 (1998), 75.44 (1997), 67.30 (1996)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Kazakhstan Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  1.818 million (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  11,202 (1997)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: service is poor; equipment antiquated
  domestic: intercity by landline and microwave radio relay; mobile cellular
    systems are available in most of Kazakhstan
  international: international traffic with other former Soviet republics and
    China carried by landline and microwave radio relay; with other countries
    by satellite and by the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable;
    satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat

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 country code:
  .kz

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  NA

Internet users:
  70,000 (2000)

§7. Kazakhstan Transportation

Railways:
  total: 14,400 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial
    lines
  broad gauge: 14,400 km 1.520-m gauge (3,299 km electrified) (1997)

Highways:
  total: NA km
  paved: 150,000 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include,
    in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with
    gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather)
    (2000)
  unpaved: NA km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are
    difficult to negotiate in wet weather)

Waterways:
  3,900 km
  note: on the Syrdariya (Syr Darya) and Ertis (Irtysh) rivers

Pipelines:
  crude oil 2,850 km; refined products 1,500 km; natural gas 3,480 km (1992)

Ports and harbors:
  Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev), Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar,
  Semey (Semipalatinsk)

Airports:
  449 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 28 over 3,047 m: 6
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 14
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
  under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 421 over 3,047 m: 11
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 18
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 45
  914 to 1,523 m: 101
  under 914 m: 246 (2000 est.)

§8. Kazakhstan Military

Military branches:
  General Purpose Forces (Army), Air Force, Border Guards, Navy, Republican
  Guard

Military manpower - military age:
  18 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
  males age 15-49: 4,509,179 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
  males age 15-49: 3,598,859 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
  males: 163,628 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $322 million (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  1.5% (FY99)

§9. Kazakhstan Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran,
  Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan

Illicit drugs:
  significant illicit cultivation of cannabis and limited cultivation of
  opium poppy and ephedra (for the drug ephedrone); limited government
  eradication program; cannabis consumed largely in the CIS; used as
  transshipment point for illicit drugs to Russia, North America, and Western
  Europe from Southwest Asia; developing heroin addiction problem
