Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia. It has borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and has a coastline on the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world by area, but has a population less than that of Australia. Population estimates range from less than 15 million people to almost 17 million people. Kazakhstan, once colonized by Czarist Russia, was absorbed into the Soviet Union following the Russian Revolution of 1917, led at that time by V.I. Lenin. For the next half-century, Kazakhstan was mainly concentrated on updating it’s policy and increasing capabilities for cattle-raising. Kazakhstan proclaimed its independence in the early 1990s, immediately following the breakdown of the U.S.S.R.

Economy
Kazakhstan, the second largest of the former Soviet republics in territory and possesses enormous untapped fossil fuels reserves as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also has considerable agricultural potential with its vast steppe lands accommodating both livestock and grain production. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources and also on a relatively large machine building sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors, agricultural machinery and some defense items. The breakup of the USSR and the collapse of demand for Kazakhstan’s traditional heavy industry products have resulted in a sharp contraction of the economy.
Geography
Map of KazakhstanWith an area of 2.7 million square kilometers (1.05 million sq. mi), Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest nation in the world. It is equivalent to the size of Western Europe. It shares borders of 6,846 kilometers (4,254 mi) with Russia, 2,203 kilometers (1,369 mi) with Uzbekistan, 1,533 kilometers (953 mi) with China, 1,051 kilometers (653 mi) with Kyrgyzstan, and 379 kilometers (235 mi) with Turkmenistan. Major cities include, Astana (capital since December 1997), Almaty (former capital of Alma-Ata), Karaganda, Shymkent (Chimkent), Semey (Semipalatinsk) and Turkestan.

The terrain extends east to west from the Caspian Sea to the Altay Mountains and north to south from the plains of Western Siberia to the oasis and desert of Central Asia. The Kazakh Steppe around 804,500 square kilometres (310,600 sq. mi), one-third of the country and the world's largest dry steppe region. The steppe is characterized by large areas of grasslands and sandy regions. Important rivers and lakes include: the Aral Sea, Ili River, Irtysh River, Ishim River, Lake Balkhash, and Lake Zaysan
Climate
Kazakhstan has a continental arid to semiarid climate with cold winters and hot summers.
Government
Kazakhstan is a constitutional republic with a strong presidency. The president is the head of state. Kazakhstan has a bicameral parliament, comprised of a Lower House (the Mazhilis) and upper house (the Senate).
People
The population is estimated to be 53% ethnic Kazakhs and 30% ethnic Russians, with many other groups represented, including Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Koreans, Germans, Chechens and Uyghurs. For an area the size of Western Europe, the population is relatively small, with a population density of about 5.5 persons per sq. km. Most of the population speaks Russian; only half of ethnic Kazakhs speak Kazakh fluently, although it is enjoying a renaissance. Both Kazakh and Russian languages have official status.
Religion
Two major religions in Kazakhstan are Islam and Christianity (57% and 40% respectively). Most Muslims in Kazakhstan belong to the Sunni denomination of Islam, while most of Christians belong to the Russian Orthodox Church.
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