Backgrounder: Kazakhstan
( 2003-05-27 10:01 ) (8)

Republic of Kazakhstan

President: Nursultan A. Nazarbayev (1990)

Prime Minister: Imangali Tasmagambetov (2002)

Area: 1,049,150 sq mi (2,717,300 sq km)

Population (2003 est.): 16,763,795 (growth rate: 0.8%); birth rate: 18.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 58.7/1000; density per sq mi: 16

Capital(1995 est.): Astana, 280,200 (formerly Aqmola; capital since 1997)

Largest cities (1991): Almaty (former capital), 1,200,000; Karaganda, 608,600; Shymkent, 438,000; Ust-Kamenogorsk, 332,900; Taraz, 312,300; Astana, 287,000; Aqt?be, 266,600

Monetary unit: Tenge

Languages: Kazak (Qazaq), official language spoken by over 40% of population; Russian, official language spoken by two-thirds of population and used in everyday business

Ethnicity/race: Kazak (Qazaq) 46%, Russian 34.7%, Ukrainian 4.9%, German 3.1%, Uzbek 2.3%, Tatar 1.9%, other 7.1% (1996)

Religions: Muslim, 47%; Russian Orthodox, 44%; Protestant, 2%; other, 7%

Literacy rate: 98% (1989)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2001 est.): $98.1 billion; per capita $5,900. Real growth rate: 12.2%. Inflation: 8.5%. Unemployment: 10%. Arable land: 11.23%. Agriculture: grain (mostly spring wheat), cotton; wool, livestock. Labor force: 8.4 million (1999); industry 30%, agriculture 20%, services 50% (2001 est.). Industries: oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel, tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, construction materials. Natural resources: major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium. Exports: $10.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.): oil and oil products 52.8%, ferrous metals 12.9%, machinery, chemicals, grain, wool, meat, coal (2000). Imports: $8.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.): machinery and parts 29.5%, energy and fuels 11.3%, electrical equipment 8.8%, vehicles 8.7%, ferrous metals 6.4% (2000). Major trading partners: Russia, China, Germany, U.S.

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.92 million (2001); mobile cellular: 400,000 (2001). Radio broadcast stations: AM 60, FM 17, shortwave 9 (1998). Radios: 6.47 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 12 (plus nine repeaters) (1998). Televisions: 3.88 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 10 (with their own international channels) (2001). Internet users: 85,000 (2001).

Transportation: Railways: total: 13,601 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines (2001). Highways: total: 189,000 km; paved: 108,100 km; unpaved: 80,900 km (1990). Waterways: 3,900 km on the Syrdariya (Syr Darya) and Ertis (Irtysh). Ports and harbors: Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev), Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk). Airports: 449 (2001).

International disputes: Kazakhstan is working rapidly with China and Russia to delimit its large open borders to control population migration, illegal activities, and trade; signed bilateral agreement with Russia delimiting the Caspian Sea seabed, but littoral states are far from any multilateral agreement on dividing the waters and seabed regimes - Iran insists on division of Caspian Sea into five equal sectors while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan have generally agreed upon equidistant seabed boundaries; border largely delimited with Uzbekistan, but unresolved dispute remains over sovereignty of two border villages, Bagys and Turkestan, and around the Arnasay dam; Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan wrestle with sharing limited water resources and the regional environmental degradation caused by the shrinking of the Aral Sea; disputes with Kyrgyzstan over providing water and hydropower to Kazakhstan.