Kazakhstan

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Kazakhstan
conventional short form: Kazakhstan
local long form: Qazaqstan Respublikasy
local short form: Qazaqstan
former: Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic

Capital::           Astana
geographic coordinates: 51 10 N, 71 25 E
time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note: Kazakhstan is divided into two time zones

Government type: republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch

Location	Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural (Zhayyq) River in eastern-most Europe
Geographic coordinates	48 00 N, 68 00 E
Map references	Asia
Area	total: 2,724,900 sq km land: 2,699,700 sq km water: 25,200 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly less than four times the size of Texas
Land boundaries	total: 12,185 km border countries: China 1,533 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,224 km, Russia 6,846 km, Turkmenistan 379 km, Uzbekistan 2,203 km
Coastline	0 km (landlocked); note - Kazakhstan borders the Aral Sea, now split into two bodies of water (1,070 km), and the Caspian Sea (1,894 km)
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)
Climate	continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid
Terrain	vast flat steppe extending from the Volga in the west to the Altai Mountains in the east and from the plains of western Siberia in the north to oases and deserts of Central Asia in the south
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Vpadina Kaundy -132 m highest point: Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik Khan-Tengri) 6,995 m
Natural resources	major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium
Land use	arable land: 8.28% permanent crops: 0.05% other: 91.67% (2005)
Irrigated land	35,560 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	109.6 cu km (1997)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 35 cu km/yr (2%/17%/82%) per capita: 2,360 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards	earthquakes in the south; mudslides around Almaty
Environment - current issues	radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with former defense industries and test ranges scattered throughout the country pose health risks for humans and animals; industrial pollution is severe in some cities; because the two main rivers that flowed into the Aral Sea have been diverted for irrigation, it is drying up and leaving behind a harmful layer of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then picked up by the wind and blown into noxious dust storms; pollution in the Caspian Sea; soil pollution from overuse of agricultural chemicals and salination from poor infrastructure and wasteful irrigation practices
Environment - international agreements	party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note	landlocked; Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome; in January 2004, Kazakhstan and Russia extended the lease to 2050