Kazakhstan Fact Sheet
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- Size: About four times the size of Texas.
- Population: About 15 million, with a miniscule growth rate of 0.39%. The government has encouraged its citizens to reproduce more rapidly. Kazakhstan is 53% ethnic Kazakh and 30% ethnic Russian; another 15-17% of the population is made up of Germans, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Koreans and Uyghurs.
- Languages Spoken: Kazakh and Russian.
- Type of Government: While Kazakhstan's government is a republic loosely modeled after the United States, absolute power rests in the hands of its president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, a former Soviet leader who has ruled the country since independence in 1991. Like Nazarbayev, most of Kazakhstan's powerful political leaders and businessmen were in similar positions under the Soviet regime. Kazakhstan ranks 145th out of 180 rankings on the 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index.
- Religion: Kazakhstan's population is only nominally religious. Most Kazakhstanis identify as either Muslim or Russian Orthodox (largely along corresponding ethnic lines) but years of Soviet influence and a historical tradition of secularism mean that few practice either religion seriously. Intermarriage between Russians and Kazakhs is common.
- Gender and Health Issues: Kazakhstan has a reputation of gender equality, and only a small discrepancy between male and female literacy rates (99 and 97 percent respectively) and access to education exists. Abortion is fully legal, and 52% of women of childbearing age use a modern method of contraception. Infant mortality is comparatively low, though five times higher than in the United States. HIV/AIDS prevalence is one-third that of the United States, at 0.2% of the adult population. Life expectancy is 67 years.
- Environment and Resources: The legacy of Soviet exploitation of Kazakhstan's "Virgin Lands" and continuing noncompliance with international industrial safety regulations pose major health and environmental hazards. Radioactive or toxic chemical sites continue to be scattered throughout the country posing serious health risks. Wasteful irrigation practices are posing a serious environmental problem as they are drying up the Aral Sea leaving harmful chemicals behind. Industrial pollution also poses a problem in some cities.
- GDP (purchasing power parity): $184.3 billion
- International Aid Received: $74.2 million
- Receives US Counterterrorism Assistance: Yes
- Death Penalty: In use for ordinary crimes
- Top Industries: Oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite
- Poverty Rate: Kazakhstan has yet to develop an official poverty line, but it is estimated that 19% of Kazakhstanis live in poverty.
- McDonald's Restaurants: None
- Currency: Tenge - about 120 to the dollar