Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world, and every crewed spaceflight to the International Space Station launches from its desert.
- CapitalAstanaPurpose-built and one of the coldest capitals on Earth
- PopulationAbout 20 millionSpread very thinly
- Area2,724,900 km2Ninth largest country in the world
- BaikonurEvery ISS crew launchThe world's oldest and largest spaceport
Kazakhstan is vast and mostly empty: rolling steppe grassland, semi-desert and desert, with mountains only along the southern and eastern edges. It is bigger than western Europe but has fewer people than the Netherlands.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome in the southern desert is the oldest and largest spaceport in the world. Sputnik launched from here in 1957, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space from here in 1961, and every crewed mission to the International Space Station still launches from Baikonur.
National symbols
- National animal Golden eagle, and the snow leopard
- National flower Tulip, which originated in this region
- National anthem Menin Qazaqstanym (Translation: My Kazakhstan)
- National day Independence Day, 16 December
Map of Kazakhstan
Geography
Kazakhstan covers 2,724,900 km2 and borders Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with a long shore on the Caspian Sea, which is a lake rather than an ocean.
Most of the country is flat steppe and desert. The Tian Shan and Altai mountains rise in the south-east and east, reaching Khan Tengri at around 7,000 m. The Aral Sea in the south-west has shrunk to a fraction of its former size.
Climate
Kazakhstan has an extreme continental climate because it is so far from any ocean. Winters are long and bitterly cold, and summers are hot and dry.
Astana averages around minus 15C in January and is one of the coldest capital cities in the world, second only to Ulaanbaatar. Summer temperatures in the southern deserts can pass 40C. Rainfall is low across most of the country.
Culture
Kazakh and Russian are both official. Kazakh is a Turkic language and is being changed from Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet, a transition running through the 2020s.
Around 70 per cent of Kazakhstanis are Muslim and around 26 per cent Christian, mostly Russian Orthodox. Traditional nomadic culture survives in the yurt, horse riding and the dombra, a two-stringed lute that is the national instrument.
Economy
Oil and gas dominate exports, drawn mainly from the Caspian region including the enormous Tengiz and Kashagan fields.
Kazakhstan is also the world's largest producer of uranium, and a major exporter of wheat, copper, zinc and chromium. Its position between China and Europe has made it a key overland trade route.
The flag
A sky blue field with a golden sun of 32 rays in the centre, a golden steppe eagle flying beneath it, and a vertical band of golden national ornament along the flagpole edge.
The blue stands for the endless sky and for the Turkic peoples, and also for peace and unity. The sun represents life and abundance, its rays shaped like grain. The eagle stands for freedom and the vision of the state, and the ornament pattern represents Kazakh art and culture.