Country Facts - Kazahkstan

The People

Ethnic Composition

Kazakh	53.4%
Russian	30%
Ukrainian	3.7%
Uzbek	2.5%
German	2.4%
Uighur	1.4%
Other	6.6%

Religious Composition

Muslim	47%
Eastern Orthodox	44%
Protestant	2%
Nonaffiliated and other	7%

Languages Spoken

Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001).

Education and Literacy

Literacy for citizens over the age of 15 is 98.4 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 8.4 million (1999)
By occupation:

Services	50%
Industry	30%
Agriculture	20%

Geography

Land Mass Total

1,049,155 sq mi (2,717,300 sq km)

Land

1,030,815 sq mi (2,669,800 sq km)

Water

18,339 sq mi (47,500 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 7,463 mi (12,012 km)
Border countries: China 952 mi (1,533 km), Kyrgyzstan 653 mi (1,051 km), Russia 4,253 mi (6,846 km), Turkmenistan 235 mi (379 km), Uzbekistan 1,368 mi (2,203 km)

Coastline

Landlocked

Maritime claim

Landlocked

Climate/Weather

Continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid.

Terrain

Extends from the Volga to the Altay Mountains and from the plains in western Siberia to oases and desert in Central Asia.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Vpadina Kaundy 433 ft (132 m)
Highest: Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik Khan-Tengri) 22,949 ft (6,995 m)

Natural Resources

Major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, and uranium.

Land use

Arable land	11%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	89%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Earthquakes in the south, mudslides around Almaty.

Environment - current issues

Radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with its former defense industries and test ranges are found throughout the country and pose health risks for humans and animals; industrial pollution is severe in some cities; because the two main rivers which flowed into the Aral Sea have been diverted for irrigation, it is drying up and leaving behind a harmful layer of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then picked up by the wind and blown into noxious dust storms; pollution in the Caspian Sea; soil pollution from overuse of agricultural chemicals and salination from poor infrastructure and wasteful irrigation practices.

Geography Note

Landlocked; Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome.

Demographics

Population

16,741,519 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	26%	Male: 2,212,985	Female: 2,141,392
15-64 years:	66.5%	Male: 5,393,281	Female: 5,731,288
65 years and over:	7.5%	Male: 434,879	Female: 827,694

Growth Rate

0.1% (2002)

Life Expectancy

63.38 years (2002)
Female: 69.01 years
Male: 58.02 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$5,900 (2001)

Infant Mortality

58.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.53 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.92 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-6.16 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also is a large agricultural - livestock and grain - producer. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources and also on a growing machine-building sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors, agricultural machinery, and some defense items. The breakup of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse in demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products resulted in a short-term contraction of the economy, with the steepest annual decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97, the pace of the government program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector.
Kazakhstan has enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 (13.5%) thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good harvests, and foreign investment. Growth in 2002 dropped to a respectable 9.5 percent, and estimates for 2003 and 2004 top 8 percent. The opening of the Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raises export capacity, however, regional conflicts have kept it from operating at full capacity. Astana has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from over-dependence on the oil sector by developing light industry.

Unemployment

10% (2001)

Inflation Rate

8.5% (2001)

Industries

Oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel, nonferrous metal, tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, and construction materials.

Exports

$10.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

$8.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$98.1 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Russia 19.5%, China 7.3%, Germany 6.2% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Russia 48.7%, Germany 6.6%, US 5.5% (2000)

Top Exports

Oil and oil products 52.8%, ferrous metals 12.9%, machinery, chemicals, grain, wool, meat, coal (2000)

Top Imports

Machinery and parts 29.5%, energy and fuels 11.3%, electrical equipment 8.8%, vehicles 8.7%, ferrous metals 6.4% (2000)

Debt - external

US$11.6 billion (2001)

Economic aid

US$610 million in US assistance programs (1992-2000)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Retail	10a.m. to 8p.m. one-hour break at 1p.m. Large bazaars open from 8a.m. to 8p.m. during summer months.	Saturday 10a.m. to 8p.m. Some shops and restaurants maintain Sunday hours and close on Mondays.
Banks	9a.m. to 1p.m. Urban banks may have afternoon hours.	Closed
Government	10a.m. to 6p.m.	Closed

Note: In more rural areas business hours are a function of local need and custom. All offices and businesses make allowances for Islamic prayer and holidays.

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Festival of Sacrifice (Eid Al Adha)¹	February 12	February 2	January 21
Women's Day	March 8	March 8	March 8
Noruz²	March 21 or 22	March 21 or 22	March 21 or 22
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Victory Day	May 9	May 9	May 9
Birthday of Prophet Mohammad (Mawlid an Nabi)³	May 14	May 2	April 21
Constitution Day	August 30	August 30	August 30
Republic Day	October 25	October 25	October 25
Start of Ramadan*¹	October 27	October 15	October 4
End of Ramadan (Eid Al Fitr)*²	November 26	November 14	November 3
Independence Day	December 16	December	December

¹	Culmination of the Haj or Holy Pilgrimage.
²	The Persian New Year occurs on either March 21 or 22 of the vernal equinox.
³	The Birthday of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated on the twelfth day in the month of Rabi'l of the Islamic calendar.
*¹	Ramadan (the month of fasting) begins with the first appearance of the new moon in the ninth month of the lunar Islamic Hijra calendar, and lasts 30 days. Dates for the start of Ramadan will vary from country to country, depending on the first appearance of the moon.
*²	Feasting that officially marks the end of Ramadan, and commonly lasts for 3 days.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press