General Information

Country: Republic of Kazakhstan

Population: 15.4 million (UN, 2007)

Capital: Astana

Ethnic groups: Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9% (1999 census)

Language: Kazakh, Russian

Currency: 1 Kazakh tenge = 100 tiyn

Area: 2.7 million sq km (1 million sq miles)

Major religion: Muslim and Christianity

Main exports: Oil, uranium, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery, chemicals, grain, wool, meat, coal

GNI per capita: US $2,930 (World Bank, 2006)

For travellers, Kazakhstan is one of the world’s last great unknowns. An oil rich country, Kazakhstan attracts more foreign oilmen than tourists. It’s a country of wide open spaces, mighty peaks, lakes, forests, deserts and archaeological treasures.

Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, enjoys a beautiful setting between mountains and plains. It is a city of modern architecture, cool fountains, parks and spectacular mountain views.

South Kazakhstan is a focus of Central Asian history with many famous monuments in the region. It is a scenically diverse region where the snow-capped peaks and the lakes and glaciers of the Tian Shan range give way to steppe and desert. The desert is home to the Singing Barkhan – a sand dune 3.2km (2 miles) long, which, as it crumbles, produces a peculiar singing sound.

Kazakhstan is bordered by the Russian Federation, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.