Kazakhstan that is one of the most important transit countries between Asia and Europe is surrounded with Turkestan (ÇHC) in the east, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the south, Caspian Sea in the west, and Russian Federation in the north. Its surface area is 2.717.000 km2.
The geography of Kazakhstan that includes the vast plain lands in general is composed of plateaux, hilly places, savannas and mountains. Ust-yurt plateau is located in the south of the Caspian hollow that is dominant in the western and southwestern sections of the country and Karadağ and Akdağ Mountains extend in the peninsula of Mankışlak. The Ural plateau and Mugadjar Hills that are located in the east separate the Caspian Hollow from Turan savanna. Uludağ Mountain extends in the western section and Cengiz Mountains are located in the eastern section. Tigirek, Listugaay and Halzum mountain range that is the extended part of Altay Mountain Range and Tarbatagay Mountain Range that is the extended part of Narum-Kolbin system from the north and Cungarya Aladağ Mountains from the south penetrate into Kazakhstan from the south of Balkaş Lake. Cu-Ili Mountains extend in the northwest of Tien Shan Mountains in the borders of Kazakhstan.
Big and small Baruski deserts are located in the south of Kazakhstan. There are also Karakorum desert in the middle section and Kızılkum dessert in the south. Similarly, there are several hollow areas in which some salt lakes are located in the middle section of the country.
Severe continental climate is dominant in the entire country in Kazakhstan. The very arid summer turns into the dry cold of the winter. The temperature difference between the winter and summer months is so high. The aridity increases towards the south and southwestern regions. The rainfall decreases much below 100 mm.
There are more than seven thousands of river in the country. The most important rivers Ural, Emba, Syr-Darya, Ili and Irtish Rivers. Most of the rivers get dry in the summers. The most important rivers are Aral, Balkas, Zaysan, Alakol, Tengiz and Seletitengiz. Lake Aral that is the biggest lake of the country is on the verge of running dry.
The Republic of Kazakhstan has moved its capital city from Almaty to Akmola. Its population is 16.679.000. Of this population, 56% of people live in urban areas and 44% of the people live in the rural areas. The population of women is 2% greater than the population of men. The density of population is observed as 6.2 persons per kilometre. The average life expectancy is 68.9 years. The population increase rate is 0.16% and this rate so low. 46% of the population is composed of Kazakh Turks, 35% of the population is composed of Russians, 3% of the population is composed of Germans, 3% of the population is composed of Ukrainian people and 11% of the population is composed of the people of other nationalities. The working population is 6.093.000 people. Of this working population, 17.3% of people work in the sector of industry and 18.2% of people work in the field of agriculture.
Upon an official decree that was issued in the year of 1988, the official language has been declared as Kazakh dialect of Turkish to be spoken in the country. There are nearly nine thousands of schools with the level of primary and secondary education and 55 universities and institutes with the level of higher education.
The agriculture and stockbreeding are highly developed in Kazakhstan and the principal agricultural products are wheat and cotton. Maize, oats, corn and rice are also cultivated. The other important products are sugar beet, fruits and vegetables. The stockbreeding is highly based on cattle breeding and sheep and goat breeding. There are forests with the area of 23 millions hectares in the country.
Kazakhstan is a rich country in respect of the natural resources. The minerals extracted with abundant amounts in the country include chrome, zinc, copper, lead, wolfram, asbestos, barytes, beryllium, bismuth, gold, iron, coal, aluminium, titanium, boron, ferro-chrome, petroleum and natural gas. The production of iron has an important place with a share of 9.8%. This country takes the seventh place in copper production in the world.
The country takes the twenty-third place in the world in respect of the production of petroleum and natural gas. It has a petroleum reserve of totally 2.1 billion tonnes and a natural gas reserve of 1,7 trillion m3. By the year of 1993, the petroleum production was 23 million tonnes and the natural gas production was 6,7 billion m3.
The significant industrial branches include agriculture, metallurgy, light industry, petrochemicals and textile.
Metallic and the machinery have a share of 15.9% of the total industrial production. The important products in this field are the tractors, agricultural machinery, feeding machines and the relevant spare parts. In respect of chemical industry, the significant fields of production are the petroleum refinement, engine oil, diesel fuel, vehicle tyres, plastic and chromium compounds.
The GNP of the Republic of Kazakhstan was 992 billion Tenge in the year of 1995. According to the same year, its exportation figure was 2.234.8 million dollars and its importation figure was 1172.2 million dollars.
The Republic of Kazakhstan adopted its new constitution on the date of 28th January 1993. The new constitution stipulates a democratic, secular and unifying state structure. The parliament is composed of 177 members. Of these members, 135 members are elected directly and 42 members are elected by the President among the State List arranged.
The chairman and the members of the government are assigned by the President. However, the approval of the Parliament is taken in respect of the assignation of the Prime Minister, the deputies Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Minister of Finance and the Chairman of the State Security Council.
The President founded Kazakhstan National Peoples Assembly upon a decree that he issued in the year of 1995. This institution is composed of 300 members and it acts as an counselling body connected directly to the President.