KAZAKHSTAN ADOPTION PROGRAM

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

The Kazakhstan landscape consists mostly of fertile plains along the coastal line of the Caspian Sea and the banks of the Irtysh and Ishim rivers. There are steppes in western Siberia and oases in the deserts in Central Asia.

Climate

Kazakhstan has a continental arid to semiarid climate with cold winters and hot summers.

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.

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).

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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