Kazakhstan | History, People, Map, & Facts - Britannica

Kazakhstan, landlocked country of Central Asia. It is bounded on the northwest and north by Russia, on the east by China, and on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea, and Turkmenistan; the Caspian Sea bounds Kazakhstan to the southwest. Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia and the ninth largest in the world. Between its most distant points, Kazakhstan measures about 1,820 miles (2,930 kilometers) east to west and 960 miles north to south. While Kazakhstan was not considered by authorities in the former Soviet Union to be a part of Central Asia, it does have physical and cultural geographic characteristics similar to those of the other Central Asian countries. The capital is Astana (formerly Nur-Sultan, Aqmola, and Tselinograd), in the north-central part of the country. Kazakhstan, formerly a constituent (union) republic of the U.S.S.R., declared independence on December 16, 1991.

Kazakhstan’s great mineral resources and arable lands have long aroused the envy of outsiders, and the resulting exploitation has generated environmental and political problems. The forced settlement of the nomadic Kazakhs in the Soviet period, combined with large-scale Slavic in-migration, strikingly altered the Kazakh way of life and led to considerable settlement and urbanization in Kazakhstan. The Kazakhs’ traditional customs uneasily coexist alongside incursions of the modern world.

Quick Facts See article: flag of Kazakhstan Audio File: National anthem of Kazakhstan Head Of State And Government: President: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, assisted by Prime Minister: Olzhas Bektenov (Show more) Capital: Astana (Show more) Population: (2025 est.) 20,462,000 (Show more) Currency Exchange Rate: 1 USD equals 522.924 Kazakhstani tenge (Show more) Form Of Government: unitary republic with a Parliament consisting of two houses (Senate [501] and House of Representatives [107]) (Show more) Official Languages: Kazakh; Russian2 (Show more) Official Religion: none (Show more) Official Name: Qazaqstan Respūblīkasy (Kazakh); Respublika Kazakhstan (Russian) (Republic of Kazakhstan) (Show more) Total Area (Sq Km): 2,724,900 (Show more) Total Area (Sq Mi): 1,052,084 (Show more) Monetary Unit: tenge (T) (Show more) Population Rank: (2025) 65 (Show more) Population Projection 2030: 20,156,000 (Show more) Density: Persons Per Sq Mi: (2025) 19.4 (Show more) Density: Persons Per Sq Km: (2025) 7.9 (Show more) Urban-Rural Population: Urban: (2024) 62.2% Rural: (2024) 37.8% (Show more) Life Expectancy At Birth: Male: (2023) 71 years Female: (2023) 79.1 years (Show more) Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000): (2023) 218,068 (Show more) Gni Per Capita (U.S.$): (2023) 10,730 (Show more) Literacy: Percentage Of Population Age 10 And Over Literate: Male: (2021) 99.9% Female: (2021) 99.8% (Show more) Also spelled: Kazakstan (Show more) Officially: Republic of Kazakhstan Kazakh: Qazaqstan Respublikasy (Show more)

1. Includes 10 appointed seats.
2. Russian has official equal status per article 7.2 of constitution.

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