About Kazakhstan

Facts About Kazakhstan

General

  • Independent from the Soviet Union since 1991
  • 9th largest country (the largest landlocked)
  • 4 times the size of the state of Texas
  • 4,750 miles of border with Russia (57%) and 1,097 miles with China (13%)
  • 1,677 miles of “Western China – Western Europe” highway
  • Time zone: UTC+05:00 (10 hours ahead of New York)
  • Capital: Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) est population 2018: 1,045,000
  • Largest city: Almaty (pop. 1,84 million - est. 2018)
  • The oldest city dates back to 2nd & 3rd centuries BC
  • Celebrated 550th anniversary of Kazakh Khanate (statehood) in 2015
  • Host of Expo 2017 international exhibition in Nur-Sultan (theme: Future Energy)

Political

  • Government Type: Presidential Republic
  • Head of State: President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev
  • The first president of the Republic: President Nursultan Nazarbayev
  • Head of Government: Prime Minister Askar Mamin
  • Bicameral Parliament: the Senate (47 seats) and the Mazhilis (107 seats)
  • Legal system: civil law system

Economic

  • Kazakhstan’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected at 4.0% for 2019, before easing to 3.7% in 2020, according to the World Bank’s latest Kazakhstan Economic Update.
  • International Reserves: $98 billion (45% of GDP)
  • Low unemployment: 4.9% (youth - 3.8%)
  • Inflation: 1.8% (Aug 2015), 7.4% (2014)
  • Foreign trade turnover increased by 25 percent to $69.5 billion in 2017.
  • Exports increased by 30% to $48.3 billion (2017) / Imports increased by 15.5 to $29.3 billion (2017)
  • Major trade partners: EU (49.8%), Russia (19%), China (13.5%), US (2.6%)
  • Foreign Direct Investment inflows since independence exceeded $330 billion in 2019
  • Major exports: energy (78%), mining (8%) and agriculture (3%)
  • Crude oil production: 1.6 million barrels per day (#9 by proved reserves)
  • 12 Special Economic Zones offering tax incentives
  • Government debt: 12% of GDP or $27 billion (42% external)
  • Fitch Ratings gave Kazakhstan’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating at BBB with a Stable Outlook (2019)
  • Budget spending: $25.4 billion (3% deficit)
  • Market capitalization of Kazakhstan Stock Exchange: $44 billion
  • Member of Eurasian Economic Union (Russia, Kazakhstan, Belorussia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan)
  • Member of WTO since 2015
  • Ranked 59th in World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index (2018)
  • Ranked 28th in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (2019)

Demographic & Social

  • Population: 18.7 million (57% urban, 16 per sq. mile – like Canada, av. growth of 1.6% since 2007)
  • Life expectancy: 71.4 years (2018)
  • Median age: 30.9 years (2018)
  • Ethnic diversity (2014): Kazakhs 66.01%, Russians 21.05%, Uzbeks 3.07%, Ukrainians 1.7%, Uighurs 1.44%, Tatars 1.17%, Germans 1.0%, others 4.56%
  • Literacy: 99.7% (#7 by UNESCO’s Education for All Development Index)