About Kazakhstan
Capital city: Astana (since December 10, 1997). Population: 653.8 thousand
In Kazakhstan, there are 14 regions; 84 cities and towns, of which 39 are those of the republic-wide and regional subordination; 159 districts; 241 townships, and 2042 rural boroughs.
State language: Kazakh. In government agencies and in local governments, Russian is officially used alongside with Kazakh.
Currency: tenge (KZT), 1 tenge = 100 tyins. Was introduced on November 15, 1993.
Geography: Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia, deep in the Eurasian continent.
Territory: 2,724,900 sq. meters (i.e. 1,049,150 sq miles). In terms of the area, it is the second largest among the CIS states. It occupies the ninth place in the world according to its square after Russia, China, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India and Australia. In fact the territory of Kazakhstan exceeds that occupied by twelve countries of the European Union.
Kazakhstan borders upon the following states: China- 1.460 km - long border; Kyrgyzstan - 980 km; Turkmenistan - 380 km; Uzbekistan - 2.300 km; the Russian Federation - 6.467 km. Total length of borders amounts to 12.187 km.
The territory of the Republic stretches on from the low reaches of the Volga in the West to the foothills of the Altai mountains in the East - for some 3,000 km ( a distance that spans two time zones), from West Siberian lowland in the North to the desert of Kyzylkum and the mountain range of Tien Shan in the South for some 2,000 km.
The northernmost point in Kazakhstan - 55'26'' NL - corresponds to the southern latitude of the central part of the East-European plain and to the southern part of the British Isles (the latitude of Moscow). As to the southernmost point - 40'56'' NL - it corresponds to latitudes of Transcaucasia and Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe (the latitude of Madrid, Istanbul and Baku).
The remoteness of the country from oceans and vastness of its territory determine climatic conditions.
The climate is rough continental in Kazakhstan. The average temperature in January is -19 to +4 degrees С; in July, it is +19 to +26 degrees С. The lowest temperature in winter may reach -45 degrees С, while the highest is +30 С.
In Kazakhstan, there are 8.5 thousand big and small rivers. Seven rivers’ length exceeds 1000 km. The biggest of them are Ural and Emba that flow into Caspian Sea; Syr-Darya flows into Aral Sea. Irtysh, Ishim, and Tobol pass through Kazakhstan and flow into Arctic Ocean.
There are 48000 big and small lakes in Kazakhstan. Of them, the largest are: Aral Sea, Balkhash, Zaissan, Alakol, Tenghiz, Seletenghiz. The largest part of North coast of Caspian Sea – the biggest sea on the Earth - and a half of its East coast belong to Kazakhstan. Caspian Sea coast in Kazakhstan is 2340 km long.
26% of Kazakhstan’s territory is the steppe. 167 million ha are occupied by deserts (44%) and half-deserts (14%); woods occupy 21 million ha.
155 species of mammals, 480 – of birds, 150 – of fish occur in the country’s territory, and up to 250 species of medicinal plants. In the South of Kazakhstan, there grows a herb that does not occur anywhere in the world, santonic/zedoary Artemisia.
Population: 15.82 million. The density of population is 5.5 persons per 1 sq. km
Source: Agency of the RK for StatisticsSource: Agency of the RK for Statistics
