TOEFL Test Centers in Kazakhstan

EDU February 16, 2019

Kazakhstan Overview

Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia and, to a small extent, in Eastern Europe. The capital is called Nursultan. The country stretches from the lowlands on the Caspian Sea in the west to the foothills of the high mountains Tian Shan and Altai in the east. There is a dry continental climate. Deserts and semi-deserts make up over half of the country. The steppe areas in the north on the border with Russia, large parts of the land were converted into arable land in the 1950s. Kazakhstan is a multi-ethnic state. Besides the Kazakhs, who make up over two thirds of the total population, there are also Russians (19%) and smaller groups of Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Tatars, Uyghurs and Germans living in the country. The state language is Kazakh, but most people speak Russian. The predominant religion is Islam.

Already in the first millennium BC. rider nomads populated what is now Kazakhstan. The country was conquered by the Mongols in 1219-21 and formed its own principality from the 15th century. In 1848 the area fell to Russia and in 1936 it became a union republic within the Soviet Union. After achieving independence (1991), President Nursultan Nazarbayev (* 1940) greatly expanded his power. Kazakhstan is extremely rich in natural resources, especially oil, natural gas and coal. The leading industries are petroleum processing and mechanical engineering. In terms of foreign policy, Kazakhstan has very close ties with Russia. It is a member of the CIS and the OSCE. Kazakhstan signed a partnership and cooperation agreement with the EU in 2015.

Country facts

• Official name: Republic of Kazakhstan
• License plate: KZ
• ISO-3166: KZ, KAZ (398)
• Internet domain:.kz
• Currency: 1 Tenge (T) = 100 Tiyn
• Area: 2,724,902 km²
• Population (2018): 18.3 million
• Capital: Nursultan
• Official language (s): Kazakh (state language), Russian
• Form of government: Presidential republic
• Administrative division: 14 provinces, 3 cities with special status, Baikonur district
• Head of State: President Kassym-Shomart Tokayev
• Head of Government: Askar Mamin
• Religion (s) (2009): 70.2% Muslim (Sunni); 26.2% Christians (Orthodox)
• Time zone: Central European Time +3 to +5 hours
• National Day: December 16

Location and infrastructure

• Location (geographical): Central Asia
• Location (coordinates): between 41 ° 05 ‘and 55 ° 20’ north latitude and 46 ° 31 ‘and 87 ° 50’ east longitude
• Climate: In the north steppe climate, in the south desert climate
• Highest mountain: Khan Tengri (6995 m)
• Road network (2017): 81 814 km (paved), 13 600 km (unpaved)
• Railway network (2017): 16 614 km

Population

• Annual population growth (2018): 1%
• Birth rate (2018): 17.5 per 1000 residents.
• Death rate (2018): 8.2 per 1000 residents.
• Average age (2018): 30.9 years
• Average life expectancy (2018): 71.4 years (women 76.3; men 66.2)
• Age structure (2018): 26% younger than 15 years, 7.9% older than 65 years
• Literacy rate (15 year olds and older) (2015): 99.8%
• Mobile phone contracts (pre-paid and post-paid) (2017): 145 per 100 residents
• Internet users (2017): 76 per 100 residents

Economy

• GDP per capita (2017): US $ 8,762
• Total GDP (2017): US $ 159 billion
• GNI per capita (2018): US $ 7,830
• Education expenditure (2016): 3% of GDP
• Military expenditure (2017): 0.8% of GDP
• Unemployment rate (2017): 4.9%

Vegetation

Northern Kazakhstan is a region shaped by southern Siberia and is still located in the more humid forest steppe belt, which turns south into a steppe landscape with drought-resistant grasses, geophytes, herbs, perennials and shrubs. Around the 50th parallel, the wormwood steppe, dominated by salt plants (halophytes), changes to semi-desert, which occupies most of southern Kazakhstan and includes extensive areas of sandy and salt deserts. Closed forest areas can only be found in the extreme north and on the northern slopes of the Tian Shan. To protect against erosion, forest belts made of fast-growing trees were created in the irrigated steppe areas.

Environment and nature protection: The nuclear weapons tests of the Soviet Union at Semei (until 1991) and China (until the 1990s) on the Chinese test site of Lopnor led to radioactive contamination of large areas. The country’s petroleum and heavy industries cause severe environmental damage, particularly through pollution of the soil, groundwater and surface water, and pollutant emissions. Agriculture is seriously damaged by soil erosion (especially in the new land areas). Excessive fertilization and the use of pesticides to grow monocultures like cotton pollute the soil. The excessive abstraction of water from the tributaries and inefficient irrigation measures with extensive soil salinization led to the ecological catastrophe of the Aral Sea.

Kazakhstan has 13 national parks, including the steppe areas near Bajanaul (founded in 1985), the mountainous steppe and semi-desert area Altyn Emel in the Almaty area (founded in 1996) and the northernmost high mountain range of the Tian Shan, Ili-Alatau (founded in 1996).