ABOUT KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakhstan lies in the north of the Central Asian republics and is bounded by Russia in the north, China in the east, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the south, and the Caspian Sea and part of Turkmenistan in the south. Kazakhstan is about the same size as Western Australia and is mostly steppe land with hilly plains and plateaus.

Kazakhstan has a Standard and Poor’s Credit Rating of ‘BBB-’ or ‘investment-grade’ and is considered a model transition economy, in overcoming the legacy of the Soviet centralised command economy. It has achieved this through sustained commitment to economic liberalisation and maintaining an attractive investment environment through pragmatic policy choices and cooperation with the West.

Kazakhstan is a free market economy with over 77% of its people employed in private enterprise.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND GEOGRAPHIC SETTING

Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world by area, covering some 2.7 million square kilometres. It borders Russia to the north, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to the south, the Caspian Sea to the west and China to the east. The area became a Soviet Republic in 1936 and gained independence in 1991 following the break-up of the USSR.

Kazakhstan has a population of 16 million. Astana, in the north of the country, was established as the capital city in 1998. Almaty, in the south of the country, was the nation’s capital before 1998. Kazakhstan has a continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers.

Kazakh is the state language; although Russian is the official language used in everyday business and has been designated as the “language of inter-ethnic communication”. Many people also speak English. There is a high literacy rate of approximately 99%. As of January 2006, major religions were Islam (1,853 religious units) and Russian Orthodox (267 religious units).

Natural resources include oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome, nickel, cobalt, uranium, copper and gold, whilst agricultural products include livestock and grains. Government reforms and privatisation efforts initiated since the mid-1990s have resulted in double digit economic growth since 2002.

 

 

POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL STATUS

Nursultan Nazarbayev became president of the independent state in December 1991 after the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union and was re-elected twice: in January 1999 and December 2005. The government is described as a presidential republic with ‘moderate’ international policies. There is little power outside the executive branch. Since the late 1990s serious efforts have been made to promote financial and banking transparency, and to fight corruption. In September 2002, Kazakhstan became the first country in the former Soviet Union to receive an investment-grade credit rating from a major international credit rating agency.

Kazakhstan’s gross national product (GNP) relies heavily on oil production, mining and industry. The most significant industries in the Kazakhstan economy are the extraction and production of hydrocarbons (i.e. oil, gas and gas condensates). Its main export commodities in 2006 were mineral products (71.9%), non-precious metals and fabricated metal products (16.1%), chemicals, plastics and rubber (4.2%), food commodities and food staples (2.8%), machinery (1.8%).

Kazakhstan’s real gross domestic product (GDP) has increased in 2006 by 10.6%. This is principally due to the result of systematic reforms (including privatisation and liberalisation of trade and prices) foreign investment, increases in agricultural production and strong commodities prices in recent years. The main sources of Kazakhstan’s GDP are industry (29.5%), trade (12.0%), transportation and telecommunication (11.1%), construction (8.9%), agriculture (5.5%) and other, which includes non production sectors such as medicine, education, culture, defence, state administration and taxes (33.0%). Gold mining and production currently plays only a minor role in the Kazakh economy.

Kazakhstan’s major trading partners in 2006 were Russia (export 9.8%, import 38.3%), Italy (export 18.0%, import 6.0%), China (export 9.4%, import 8.1%), Switzerland (export 17.6%, import 0.4%), France (export 8.8%, import 1.9%) and Germany (export 1.4%, import 7.6%).

You can find out more information on Khazakstan here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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