Kazakhstan A Rich and Varied Landscape very day, increasing numbers of people flat and mostly treeless steppe meets the Western are turning their attention to Kazakhstan. Siberian Plain of Russia. To the west is Kazakhstan’s Its enormous hydrocarbon and mineral 1,894-kilometer Caspian Sea coastline. resources and capacity for ever-increasing Egrain production are attracting business suitors More than 47,000 square kilometers of from across the globe. And economic potential is Kazakhstan’s total area are occupied by water. The only one of the things that make this vast country country boasts of seven rivers measuring over 1,000 so notable. Measuring more than 2.7 million kilometers in length. Primary among them are the square kilometers, Kazakhstan is as large as Syr Darya, Central Asia’s largest river, flowing north Western Europe, more than twice the size of the from Uzbekistan across Kazakhstan to the Aral other four nations of Central Asia combined, and Sea; and the Ural, flowing south from the Russian the ninth largest country in the world. Moreover, its Federation to form Kazakhstan’s giant Ural River rich landscape embodies everything from rocky- Delta before emptying into the Caspian Sea. Other snowcapped mountains to dense pine forests, prominent rivers are the Chui, Emba, Illi, Irtysh, and seemingly endless steppe, and a giant inland sea. Ishim. Largest bodies of water are the Aral Sea, and lakes Alakol, Balkhash, Tengiz, and Zaisan. Upper: Big Alma-Ata Lake, or Almaty At its furthest east-to-west extent, Kazakhstan Lake, in the Bolshaya Almatinka Gorge, is almost 3,000 kilometers wide; at its furthest attracts tourists with its fresh alpine air, north-to-south, 1,500 kilometers. The Tien Shan A Society Making Gains ever-changing color of the lake’s water, and splendid mountain vistas. Lower: mountains flank the country’s southern border with Rural life in Kazakhstan is captured in the People’s Republic of China and the Kyrgyz Kazakhstan’s population was about 15.5 million this portrait of a Kazakh farmer’s wife. Republic. Its eastern border with the People’s in 2007, and claims have been made that it is Republic of China rides a series of mountain ranges, home to more than 100 different nationalities. including the Altay, birthplace of the Turkic people. Though this figure is unconfirmed, the population The vast Kyzlkum Desert straddles its southwestern is relatively heterogeneous, with 53% Kazakh, border with Uzbekistan. To the north, Kazakhstan’s 30% Russian, more than 11% Ukrainian, 30 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources 55°0'E 75°0'E RUSSIAN FEDERATION Petropavlovsk North Kazakhstan Irtyshsk Kostanai Lake Siletiteniz Kokshetau Pavlodar Rudnyi Makinsk 50°0'N Dzhetyghara Akkol Aksu 50°0'N Zhitikara Esil Atbasar Ereimentau Oral Ekibastuz Oskemen Ak-Say Derzhavinsk ASTANA Pavlodar Akmola Semey Zyrianovsk West Aktobe Kostanai Temirtau East Kazakhstan Alga Chromtau Lake Arkalyk Tengiz Karaghandy Kazakhstan Kandygash Karkaralinsk Ayakoz Lake Zaisan Emba Atyrau Shalkar Karazhal Atyrau Aktobe Balkhash Lake Ucharal Alakol Shakhtinsk Aral Karaghandy Lake Balkhash Almaty Ushtobe Baikonyr Taldykorgan Tekeli Fort Shevchenko Kazalinsk South Zhambyl Kyzyl Kapchagay Zharkent Aral Kazakhstan Kapchagaiskoe Aktau Sea Kyzyl Orda Manghystau Res. PEOPLE’S Orda Shu Zhanatas Talgar REPUBLIC Kyzylsay Kentau Almaty Caspian Karatau OF CHINA Sea Turkestan Shymkent Taraz Arys UZBEKISTAN KYRGYZ Lenger 40°0'N 40°0'N Chardak REPUBLIC TURKMENISTAN Chardarinskoe Res. National capital Provincial capital City/town Railway Main road N River Provincial boundary International boundary 200 100 0 200 400 Kazakhstan Kilometers Boundaries are not necessarily authoritative. 55°0'E 75°0'E Uzbek, German, Tatar, and Uygur; other groups, Endowed With Natural such as Azerbaijanis and Belarusians, are also Resources present. People are mostly centered in the country’s northeast and southeast, with Kazakhs predominantly concentrated in the south, and Kazakhstan is resource rich, and thanks to its Russians in urban areas close to the Russian early and vigorous adoption of liberal market and Federation in the north. Kazakhstan’s population trade reform, its oil, gas, and mineral sectors have density of about six people per square kilometer been an investment magnet since shortly after is one of the lowest in the world. It is a bilingual independence. The country’s enormous mineral country, with the Kazakh language recognized deposits make it a world leader in reserves of coal, as the official state language, and Russian as the chromite, lead, and zinc, and its uranium deposits official language of interethnic communication. are estimated to be the second largest in the world. Natural gas reserves are substantial as well. Kazakhstan’s people have much to be proud Primarily located in the Caspian Sea region, they of. The country has met several United Nations are found in associated oil and gas fields, such as Millennium Development Goals and made the giant Karachaganak and Tengiz fields. Apples are Almaty’s namesake, derived excellent progress on others, including access to from the Kazakh word for “apple.” education and the promotion of women’s rights. Petroleum, however, has gained the most Kazakhstan’s estimated gross national income per attention. Since the early 2000s, more than half person of US$5,010 in 2007 is more than twice of the country’s industrial output has consisted as much as any other country in the region. Of of oil, with a large number of other industries concern, however, is that a wealth gap between dependent on it. In 2008, Kazakhstan ranked rural and urban populations exists. Work is among the world’s top 20 oil producers. Most oil also needed to improve health care, quality of deposits are located in the Caspian Sea region, education, and environmental sustainability. with the Kashagan field estimated to contain the Kazakhstan 31 world’s fifth largest oil reserves. Between 2000 however, cattle, pigs, horses, and camels are and 2007, the country enjoyed healthy gross abundant, resulting in a highly developed market domestic product (GDP) growth of 8.5% or more. in dairy, leather, meat, and wool products. Not surprisingly, oil production and hydrocarbon investment drove Kazakhstan’s rapid growth for Kazakhstan’s quality agricultural lands support a years. Mining and quarrying, led by oil as well wide variety of crops. Wheat, two-thirds of which as coal and gas, continue to grow. Since 2005, grows in Kazakhstan’s rainfed north, is the number however, the main growth engine has been the one crop. But though the soil is relatively rich, lack rapidly developing non-oil economy, particularly of water resources makes irrigated water from the construction and services, which employs most Syr Darya essential for other crops. Major irrigated people and accounts for more than half of GDP. crops include cereals, fruits, fodder, potatoes, This is good news because it suggests oil wealth sugar beet, and especially wheat and rice. Cotton has filtered through the economy. That 56% of is grown along large stretches of the Syr Darya, but the population live in urban areas, the highest primarily near the Aral Sea; rice is grown mostly in percentage in the region, reflects Kazakhstan’s the tail of the river in Kyzl Orda. Yields for each of increasing migration from farm regions to the cities these products could increase with improved water by people in search of jobs in construction and management. Better water management would services. also help arrest the environmental damage poor irrigation practices have caused. Dynamic Agriculture Sector The Need for While accounting for only about a tenth of GDP, Environmental Protection Kazakhstan’s agriculture sector remains important, both economically and culturally, employing Kazakhstan’s major ecological systems include Top left: Part of the vast wheat more than 30% of workers, and most rural poor. desert, forest, mountain steppe, and bodies of growing area in northern Kazakhstan. Top right: A view of Astana across Over 75% of the country’s land is agricultural: water. Its diverse altitudinal zones enable a great the Ishim River. Middle: A hydraulic 22.3 million hectares of arable land and variety of flora and fauna to thrive. More than excavator scooping coal into the trains in one of the largest open pit mines of 185 million hectares of pasture—the fifth largest 6,000 species of plants have been counted. the world, operated by Bogatyr Access pastureland in the world. Like other countries And the country has more than 170 species of Komyr in Ekibastuz of Kazakhstan, ready in the region, Kazakhstan’s agricultural roots are mammals and 480 species of birds. Many plants for transporting them. Bottom: A variety of dried fruits and nuts at Almaty’s Green pastoral nomadic. Sheep breeding dominates; and animals, however, are endangered due Bazaar. 32 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources Astana ising bravely from the northern Rsteppe, along the banks of the Ishim River, is Kazakhstan’s new capital, Astana. The city was just a dream in the mid-1990s when Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed moving the capital from the country’s financial and cultural center, Almaty, to the “little known” town of Akmola. The intention was to anchor a new capital in the center of the vast nation, and it has paid off. Since its 1997 inauguration as capital, Astana (as Akmola was renamed) has been asserting itself as a modern, vibrant capital that is host to numerous foreign missions. The city, whose population stood at roughly 600,000 in 2006, features architecture that combines modern design with oriental flavor. Symbol for the city is the Baiterek Tower, 105 meters tall. Its observation deck offers panoramic views of city and surroundings. Astana was awarded the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) title of World City in 1999, and is site for international conferences and exhibitions.