A Little About Kazakhstan

• Full name: Republic of Kazakhstan
• Population: 15.5 million (UN, 2008)
• Capital: Astana
• Largest city: Almaty
• Area: 2.7 million sq km (1 million sq miles)
• Major languages: Kazakh, Russian
• Major religions: Islam, Christianity
• Life expectancy: 62 years (men), 72 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Kazakh tenge = 100 tiyn
• Main exports: Oil, uranium, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery, chemicals, grain, wool, meat, coal
• GNI per capita: US $5,060 (World Bank, 2007)

The Kazakhs, for whom the country is named, constitute about 46% of the population (compared to 32% in 1970). Russians, who came to live in large numbers during the Soviet period, constitute 35%, Ukrainians, 5%, and ethnic Germans, 3%; the remaining 11% consists of smaller numbers of other European and Asian peoples. The culture and food reflect this and most people are bilingual in Kazakh and Russian or another language.

The educational and health-care systems, developed under the USSR, follows Soviet model, although some changes were introduced since independence in 1991. Restrictions on religion, for example, have been relaxed. The traditional Kazakh was nomadic and pastoral, but today their way of life and cultural expressions show strong Russian influences.

Kazakhstan, a land of nomadic mystical culture is expressed in oral epics, legends, ritual songs, and from the 19th century, in a written literature strongly influenced by Russian traditions. Today most Kazakhs are rural dwellers, but a few remain shepherds and in former traditional work roles. Racially of Mongolian descent and Muslim tradition, they give the impression of classic Mongol warriors when mounted on horseback and garbed in their native clothing. Their way of life, the least Islamized of any of the Central Asian Turks, is richly infused with customs, painting a tapestry of an ancient Asian culture with Soviet suppression and influence. Kazakhstan's economy is still closely tied to Russia's, but Kazakhstan is promoting investment to improve their social conditions. Infant mortality rate is 64 per 1000 births as compared to Russia's 25/1000.

Life is hard in Kazakhstan. Poverty is still widespread and Kazakhstan continues to face major economic challenges, particularly with unemployment and inflation. At the same time, an elite group of people have grown very rich since independence through privatization and other business deals which opposition figures allege to have been corrupt.