Travelling Club - Kazakhstan

Fact Sheet: Kazakhstan

• Location: Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe
• Geographic coordinates: 48 00 N, 68 00 E
• Area: total: 2,717,300 sq km
• Climate: continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid
• Terrain: extends from the Volga to the Altai Mountains and from the plains in western Siberia to oases and desert in Central Asia
• Natural hazards: earthquakes in the south, mudslides around Almaty
• Population: 15,233,244 (July 2006 est.)
• Ethnic groups: Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9% (1999 census)
• Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%
• Languages: Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001 est.)
• Government type: republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
• Capital: name: Astana
• Currency code: tenge (KZT)
• Exchange rates: tenge per US dollar - 132.88 (2005), 136.04 (2004), 149.58 (2003), 153.28 (2002), 146.74 (2001)
• Internet country code: .kz
• Airports: 150 (2006)