Kazakhstan
| Republic of Kazakhstan | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||
| Anthem: Meniñ Qazaqstanım | ||||
.svg) |
||||
| Capital | Astana 51°10′N 71°25′E / 51.167°N 71.417°E | |||
| Largest city | Almaty | |||
| Official languages | Kazakh Russian |
|||
| Ethnic groups | (2009 census) 63.1% Kazakh 23.7% Russian 2.9% Uzbek 2.1% Ukrainian 1.4% Uyghur 1.3% Tatar 1.1% German 4.5% Other |
|||
| Demonym | Kazakh, Kazakhstani | |||
| Government | Presidential republic | |||
| - | President | Nursultan Nazarbayev | ||
| - | Prime Minister | Karim Massimov | ||
| - | Kazakh Khanate | 1465 | ||
| - | Alash Autonomy | December 13, 1917 | ||
| - | Kazakh SSR | December 5, 1936 | ||
| - | Declared Independence from the USSR | December 16, 1991 | ||
| - | Finalized Independence from the USSR | December 25, 1991 | ||
| Area | ||||
| - | Total | 2,724,900 km2 (9th) 1,052,085 sq mi |
||
| - | Water (%) | 1.7 | ||
| Population | ||||
| - | 2021 census | 19 000 988 | ||
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate | |||
| - | Total | $654.050 billion[1] (41st) | ||
| - | Per capita | $32,712[1] (57th) | ||
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate | |||
| - | Total | $259.292 billion[1] (53rd) | ||
| - | Per capita | $12,968[1] (69th) | ||
| Currency | Tenge (KZT) |
|||
| Time zone | West/East (UTC+5/6) | |||
| Drives on the | right | |||
| Calling code | +7-6xx, +7-7xx | |||
| Internet TLD | .kz | |||
Kazakhstan is a country located in Central Asia. Its area is a vast 2,724,900 square kilometres but consists mostly of semi-desert steppe terrain. Its population is estimated at over 20 million in 2023[2].
Language
Due to its history as a republic in the Soviet Union and intense Russification, Kazakhstan is a bilingual country. As of 2017, 92% of the population speaks Russian, and 83% speaks Kazakh.[3] The state uses both Russian and Kazakh, but is planning to increase the absolute share of Kazakh-language media by 5% every year starting from 2025.[4]
In 2017, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced a phase of transition from the use of the Cyrillic script which had been the standard for over 80 years since 1940, to the Latin script, planning to be complete by 2031. Its purported aim is to "re-assert Kazakh national identity" by weakening the traditional Russian influence over the country.[5]. Kazakh was originally written with the Arabic script from the 11th century until the Soviets officially replaced it, banning books written with the Arabic script in 1929, and introduced the Latin-based script Jaꞑalif (IPA: [jɑŋɑˈlif]). In 1940 they replaced Jaꞑalif with Cyrillic.
Demographics
Birth rates
Unlike in the developed world, fertility rates have been increasing ever since 1996, when 1.80 children per woman was the national average, to 3.32 in 2021.
In 2000, fertility rates for Kazakhs were 2.12, Russians 1.18, Ukrainians 1.60, Uzbeks 2.90.
In 2006, fertility rates for Kazakhs were 2.73, Russians 1.38, Ukrainians 1.80, Uzbeks 3.43.[6]
Ethnicity
The proportion of the population with European ancestry was around 59% in the 1970 Soviet Census. Russians were 42% of the population, and Kazakhs 32%.
In recent years Europeans have been estimated at 28% (2009), and 19% (2021) based on census data[7]. This rapid decline between 2009 and 2021 is caused primarily by the mass emigration of Russians to Russia, which may be caused by better economic opportunities in Russia or anti-Russian sentiment due to Russians being seen as colonising imperialists in Kazakhstan. It is to be noted that, while Russians are decreasing at a rate of over 60,000 a year, the number of Ukrainians and Germans in Kazakhstan has increased from 2009 to 2021. This implies more factors are at play than economic ones.
Despite this decline, Kazakhstan at 19% is the whitest White-minority country in the Old World, with the other Central Asian countries being in the 0-5% European range, and South Africa being 7% European[8].
In 2008, most inter-ethnic marriages have been between various European populations, such as Russian-Ukrainian, German-Ukrainian, and German-Russian. Marriages between European and Turkic ethnic groups are less common.[9]
Religion
As of 2021, Islam stood as the country's primary religion at 69.3%, Christianity at 17.2%, Atheism at 2.3% and other religions or no response at 11.1%.[10]
Among Muslim countries, Kazakhstan is the second least willing to implement Shari'a Law, with only 10% of the population supporting it. This can be compared to Azerbaijan (8%), Albania (12%), Turkey (12%), Bosnia (15%), Kosovo (20%), Kyrgyzstan (35%), Russian Muslims (42%), Ethiopia (65%), Nigeria (71%), Indonesia (72%), Egypt (74%), Bangladesh (82%), Pakistan (84%), Niger (86%), Iraq (91%), and Afghanistan (99%).[11]
