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The have competed in in the 1998 and , as well as in the. Kazakhstan girls are a unique mixture of Asian and European, because the country was ruled by the Russians under the Czar and later by the Soviet Union from about the 1860s to 1991. Yes being pretty is very important for a Kazakh woman.

It also has vast mineral resources. The Kazakhs themselves, however, did not write their own music in notation until 1931. Make a few jokes poking fun of your poor Russian or Kazakh language skills. Archived from on 1 January 2016. They also tend to be very caring mothers and so are ideal for having children with. Meanwhile, the and play in the since 1996 and the since 2012. Bringing the whole discussion back to the topic of security: Websites have some anti-automation in place to prevent scammers responsible account actions, but when those sites also create a mobile app, there is an entirely new attack surface for doing kazakhstan dating site sort of thing.

There were several types of works, such as termes, tolgaws, and zhırs. That is a name of a Skythian Qween Warrior.

Notifications - Soviet repression of the traditional elite, along with forced in the late 1920s and 1930s, brought and high fatalities, leading to unrest see also:.

Qazaqstan, IPA: ; : Казахстан, IPA: , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan Kazakh: Қазақстан Республикасы, translit. Qazaqstan Respýblıkasy; Russian: Республика Казахстан, Respublika Kazakhstan , is the world's largest , and the in the world, with an area of 2,724,900 square kilometres 1,052,100 sq mi. It also has vast mineral resources. Kazakhstan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan shares borders with , , , , and , and also adjoins a large part of the. The terrain of Kazakhstan includes flatlands, , , , , , snow-capped , and. Kazakhstan has an estimated 18 million people as of 2014. Given its large land area, its is among the lowest, at less than 6 people per square kilometre 15 people per sq mi. The capital is , where it was moved in 1997 from , the country's largest city. The territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by who trace their ancestry to many such as etc. In the 13th century, the territory joined the under. By the 16th century, the emerged as a distinct group, divided into three ancestor branches occupying specific territories. The began advancing into the in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, they nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the. Following the , and subsequent , the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganised several times. In 1936, it was made the , part of the. Kazakhstan was the last of the to declare independence during the in 1991. The current , , has been leader of the country since then, and is characterised as authoritarian, with a government history of human rights abuses and suppression of political opposition. Kazakhstan has worked to develop its , especially its dominant industry. Kazakhstan's 131 ethnicities include 63% of the population , , , , , , and. Kazakhstan officially allows , but religious leaders who oppose the government are suppressed. The is the , and has equal official status for all levels of administrative and institutional purposes. Kazakhstan is a member of the , , , the , , , , , and. Pastoralism developed during the as the region's climate and terrain are best suited for a nomadic lifestyle. The Kazakh territory was a key constituent of the Eurasian , the ancestor of the terrestrial. Archaeologists believe that humans first i. Central Asia was originally inhabited by the. Kazakh Khanate An old map of , , and. The entered the steppes of modern-day Kazakhstan around the early 11th century, where they later joined with the and established the vast Cuman-Kipchak confederation. While ancient cities Aulie-Ata and had long served as important way-stations along the connecting Asia and Europe, true political consolidation began only with the Mongol rule of the early 13th century. Under the , the largest in world history, administrative districts were established. These eventually came under the rule of the emergent Kazakhstan. Throughout this period, traditional life and a -based economy continued to dominate the. In the 15th century, a distinct identity began to emerge among the tribes, a process which was consolidated by the mid-16th century with the appearance of the , culture, and economy. Nevertheless, the region was the focus of ever-increasing disputes between the native Kazakh and the neighbouring to the south. At its height the Khanate would rule parts of Central Asia and control. By the early 17th century, the Kazakh Khanate was struggling with the impact of tribal rivalries, which had effectively divided the population into the Great, Middle and Little or Small hordes. Political disunion, tribal rivalries, and the diminishing importance of overland trade routes between East and West weakened the Kazakh Khanate. Uzbek rule there lasted two centuries until the Russian arrival. During the 17th century, the Kazakhs fought , a federation of western tribes, including the. The beginning of the 18th century marked the zenith of the Kazakh Khanate. Under the leadership of , the Kazakh won major victories over the Dzungar at the Bulanty River in 1726, and at the Battle of Anrakay in 1729. The Kazakh suffered from the frequent raids against them by the Volga. The used the weakness of Kazakh jüzs after Dzungar and Kalmyk raids and conquered present Southeastern Kazakhstan, including , the formal capital in the first quarter of the 19th century. Also, the ruled before the Russians took dominance. In the late 18th century the Kazakhs took advantage of , which was centred on the Volga area, to raid Russian and settlements. In the 19th century, the began to expand its influence into. The effectively ruled over most of the territory belonging to what is now the Republic of Kazakhstan. Russia built its first outpost, , in 1735. Russia introduced the Russian language in all schools and governmental organisations. Russian efforts to impose its system aroused the resentment by the , and, by the 1860s, some Kazakhs resisted Russia's rule. It had disrupted the traditional nomadic lifestyle and livestock-based economy, and people were suffering from hunger and starvation, with some Kazakh tribes being decimated. The Kazakh national movement, which began in the late 19th century, sought to preserve the native language and identity by resisting the attempts of the Russian Empire to assimilate and stifle them. From the 1890s onward, ever-larger numbers of settlers from the Russian Empire began the territory of present-day Kazakhstan, in particular the province of. The number of settlers rose still further once the from to was completed in 1906. A specially created Migration Department Переселенческое Управление in oversaw and encouraged the migration to expand Russian influence in the area. During the 19th century about 400,000 Russians to Kazakhstan, and about one million Slavs, Germans, Jews, and others immigrated to the region during the first third of the 20th century. The competition for land and water that ensued between the Kazakh and the newcomers caused great resentment against colonial rule during the final years of. The most serious uprising, the , occurred in 1916. The Kazakh attacked and settlers and military garrisons. The revolt resulted in a series of clashes and in brutal massacres committed by both sides. Both sides resisted the communist government until late 1919. On 26 August 1920, the within the RSFSR was established. The Kirghiz ASSR included the territory of the present-day Kazakhstan, but its administrative centre was a mainly Russian-populated town of. In June 1925, the Kirghiz ASSR was renamed the and its administrative centre was transferred to the town of , and in April 1927 to. Soviet repression of the traditional elite, along with forced in the late 1920s and 1930s, brought and high fatalities, leading to unrest see also:. During the 1930s, some members of the Kazakh cultured society were executed — as part of the pursued by the Soviet government in Moscow. On 5 December 1936, the whose territory by then corresponded to that of modern Kazakhstan was detached from the RSFSR and made the , a full of the USSR, one of eleven such republics at the time, along with the. The republic was one of the destinations for exiled and convicted persons, as well as for mass resettlements, or deportations effected by the central USSR authorities during the 1930s and 1940s, such as approximately 400,000 deported from the in September—October 1941, later the , and. The International conference on Primary Health Care in 1978, known as the. The 1941—1945 led to an increase in and in support of the war effort. In 1953, Soviet leader initiated the designed to turn the traditional pasture-lands of Kazakhstan into a major grain-producing region for the Soviet Union. The Virgin Lands policy brought mixed results. However, along with later modernisations under Soviet leader in power 1964—1982 , it accelerated the development of the agricultural sector, which remains the source of livelihood for a large percentage of Kazakhstan's population. Because of the decades of privation, war and resettlement, by 1959 the had become a minority in the country, making up 30% of the population. Ethnic accounted for 43%. In 1947, the USSR government, as part of its , founded an near the north-eastern town of , where the test was conducted in 1949. Hundreds of nuclear tests were conducted until 1989 and had negative ecological and biological consequences. The became a major political force in the late 1980s. In December 1986 mass demonstrations by young ethnic Kazakhs, later called the riot, took place in Almaty to protest the replacement of the of the of the Kazakh SSR with from the. Governmental troops suppressed the unrest, several people were killed, and many demonstrators were jailed. In the waning days of Soviet rule, discontent continued to grow and found expression under Soviet leader 's policy of. Independence The Monument of Independence, Republic Square, Almaty. On 25 October 1990, Kazakhstan declared its on its territory as a republic within the Soviet Union. Following the August 1991 aborted in Moscow, Kazakhstan declared independence on 16 December 1991, thus becoming the last Soviet republic to declare independence. Ten days later, the Soviet Union itself. Kazakhstan's communist-era leader, , became the country's first President. Emphasis was on converting the country's economy to a market economy while political reforms lagged behind achievements in the economy. By 2006, Kazakhstan generated 60% of the GDP of Central Asia, primarily through its oil industry. The government moved the capital in 1997, from , Kazakhstan's largest city, where it had been established under the Soviet Union, to. With an area of 2,700,000 square kilometres 1,000,000 sq mi — equivalent in size to — Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country and largest landlocked country in the world. While it was part of the , Kazakhstan lost some of its territory to China's autonomous region and some to Uzbekistan's autonomous republic. The of part of the Belt in on the map. It shares borders of 6,846 kilometres 4,254 mi with Russia, 2,203 kilometres 1,369 mi with , 1,533 kilometres 953 mi with China, 1,051 kilometres 653 mi with , and 379 kilometres 235 mi with. Major cities include , , , , , and. It lies between latitudes and , and longitudes and. While located primarily in Asia, a small portion of Kazakhstan is also located west of the in Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan's terrain extends west to east from the to the and north to south from the plains of to the oases and deserts of. The plain , with an area of around 804,500 square kilometres 310,600 sq mi , occupies one-third of the country and is the world's largest dry region. The steppe is characterised by large areas of and sandy regions. Major seas, lakes and rivers include the , and , the and the , , , and rivers. The steep canyon slopes, columns and arches rise to heights of between 150 and 300 metres 490 and 980 feet. The inaccessibility of the canyon provided a safe haven for a rare , Fraxinus sogdiana, that survived the and is now also grown in some other areas. Natural resources See also: Kazakhstan has an abundant supply of accessible mineral and fossil fuel resources. According to some estimates, Kazakhstan has the second largest , , , and reserves, the third largest reserves, the fifth largest reserves, and ranks in the top ten for , , and. It is also an exporter of. Perhaps most significant for economic development, Kazakhstan also currently has the 11th largest proven reserves of both petroleum and natural gas. In total, there are 160 deposits with over 2. Oil explorations have shown that the deposits on the are only a small part of a much larger deposit. It is said that 3. Overall the estimate of Kazakhstan's oil deposits is 6. However, there are only 3 within the country, situated in , , and. These are not capable of processing the total crude output so much of it is exported to Russia. According to the US Kazakhstan was producing approximately 1,540,000 barrels 245,000 m 3 of oil per day in 2009. Kazakhstan also possesses large deposits of phosphorite. One of the largest known being the Karatau basin with 650 million tonnes of P2O5 and Chilisai deposit of located in north western Kazakhstan, with a resource of 500—800 million tonnes of 9% ore. Climate Kazakhstan map of Köppen climate classification. Kazakhstan has an 'extreme' , with warm summers and very cold winters. Indeed, Astana is the second coldest capital city in the world after. The regions are subdivided into 177 : аудандар, ay'dandar; : районы, rayony. The districts are further subdivided into rural districts at the lowest level of administration, which include all rural settlements and villages without an associated municipal government. The city of has a special status because it is being leased until 2050 to Russia for the. Each region is headed by an akim regional governor appointed by the president. Kazakhstan's government relocated its capital from Almaty, established under the Soviet Union, to Astana on 10 December 1997. A clickable map of Kazakhstan exhibiting its 14 regions. Cities of republican, regional, and district significance are designated as urban inhabited localiies; all others are designated rural. At the highest level are the cities of Almaty and Astana, which are classified as cities of republican significance on the administrative level equal to that of a region. At the intermediate level are cities of regional significance on the administrative level equal to that of district. Cities of these two levels may be divided into city districts. At the lowest level are cities of district significance, and over two-thousand villages and rural settlements aul on the administrative level equal to that of rural districts. Urban centres Main articles: and Homosexuality has been legal in Kazakhstan since 1997; though it is still socially unaccepted in most parts. Political system Kazakhstan is a ; its only President to date 2018 is. The President may legislation that has been passed by the and is also the of the. The Prime Minister chairs the Cabinet of Ministers and serves as Kazakhstan's head of government. There are three deputy prime ministers and sixteen ministers in the Cabinet. Kazakhstan has a Parliament composed of the the and the. Single-mandate districts popularly elect 107 seats in the Majilis; there also are ten members elected by party-list vote. The Senate has 47 members. Two senators are selected by each of the elected assemblies Maslikhats of Kazakhstan's sixteen principal fourteen regions plus the cities of Astana and Almaty. The President appoints the remaining seven senators. Majilis deputies and the government both have the right of legislative initiative, though the government proposes most legislation considered by the Parliament. Two other parties considered sympathetic to the president, including the agrarian-industrial bloc AIST and the , founded by President Nazarbayev's daughter, won most of the remaining seats. Opposition parties, which were officially registered and competed in the elections, won a single seat during elections. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was monitoring the election, which it said fell short of international standards. Headquarters in On 4 December 2005, Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected in an apparent landslide victory. The electoral commission announced that he had won over 90% of the vote. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE concluded the election did not meet international standards despite some improvements in the administration of the election. On 17 August 2007, elections to the lower house of parliament were held and a coalition led by the ruling Party, which included the , the Civil Party of Kazakhstan, and the , won every seat with 88% of the vote. None of the opposition parties has reached the benchmark 7% level of the seats. Opposition parties made accusations of serious irregularities in the election. In 2010, President Nazarbayev rejected a call from supporters to hold a referendum to keep him in office until 2020. He insisted on presidential elections for a five-year term. In a vote held on 3 April 2011, President Nazarbayev received 95. In March 2011, Nazarbayev outlined the progress made toward democracy by Kazakhstan. As of 2010 , Kazakhstan was reported on the by as an. On 26 April 2015, the 5th presidential election was held in Kazakhstan. Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected with 97. Foreign relations Possible future members Kazakhstan is a member of the , the and the. The nations of Kazakhstan, Russia, , Kyrgyzstan and established the in 2000, to revive earlier efforts to harmonise trade tariffs and to create a free trade zone under a customs union. On 1 December 2007, it was announced that Kazakhstan had been chosen to chair the for the year 2010. Kazakhstan was elected a member of the for the first time on 12 November 2012. Kazakhstan is also a member of the , , , and the OIC. It is an active participant in the program. In 1999, Kazakhstan had applied for observer status at the. Russia currently leases approximately 6,000 square kilometres 2,317 sq mi of territory enclosing the space launch site in south central Kazakhstan, where the first man was launched into space as well as Soviet space shuttle and the well-known space station. On 11 April 2010, Presidents Nazarbayev and met at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D. They pledged to intensify bilateral co-operation to promote nuclear safety and non-proliferation, regional stability in Central Asia, economic prosperity, and universal values. In April 2011, President Obama called President Nazarbayev and discussed many cooperative efforts regarding nuclear security, including securing nuclear material from the BN-350 reactor. They reviewed progress on meeting goals that the two presidents established during their bilateral meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in 2010. Since 2014 the Kazakhstani government has been bidding for a non-permanent member seat on the UN Security Council for 2017—2018. On 28 June 2016 Kazakhstan was elected as a non-permanent member to serve on the UN Security Council for a two-year term. Kazakhstan actively supports UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti, the Western Sahara, and Côte d'Ivoire. In March 2014, the Ministry of Defense chose 20 Kazakhstani military men as observers for the UN peacekeeping missions. The military personnel, ranking from captain to colonel, had to go through a specialised UN training; they had to be fluent in English and skilled in using specialised military vehicles. In 2014, Kazakhstan gave Ukraine humanitarian aid during the conflict with Russian-backed rebels. These units became the core of Kazakhstan's new military. It acquired all the units of the the former 32nd Army and part of the 17th Army Corps, including six land-force divisions, storage bases, the 14th and 35th air-landing brigades, two rocket brigades, two artillery regiments and a large amount of equipment which had been withdrawn from over the Urals after the signing of the. Since the late 20th century, the Kazakhstan Army has focused on expanding the number of its armoured units. Since 1990, armoured units have expanded from 500 to 1,613 in 2005. The Kazakh air force is composed mostly of Soviet-era planes, including 41 , 44 , 37 and 60. A small naval force is maintained on the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan sent 49 military engineers to to assist the. During the second Iraq War, Kazakhstani troops dismantled 4 million mines and other explosives, helped provide medical care to more than 5,000 coalition members and civilians, and purified 718 cubic metres 25,356 cu ft of water. Kazakhstan's UQK was established on 13 June 1992. It includes the Service of Internal Security, Military Counterintelligence, Border Guard, several Commando units, and Foreign Intelligence Barlau. The latter is considered as the most important part of KNB. During the Steppe Eagle exercises, the Kazbat peacekeeping battalion operates within a multinational force under a unified command within multidisciplinary peacekeeping operations, with NATO and the US Military. In December 2013, Kazakhstan announced it will send officers to support United Nations Peacekeeping forces in Haiti, Western Sahara, Ivory Coast and Liberia. Human rights Main article: Kazakhstan's human rights situation is described as poor by independent observers. In 2014, authorities closed newspapers, jailed or fined dozens of people after peaceful but unsanctioned protests, and fined or detained worshipers for practicing religion outside state controls. Government critics, including opposition leader , remained in detention after unfair trials. In mid-2014, Kazakhstan adopted new criminal, criminal executive, criminal procedural, and administrative codes, and a new law on trade unions, which contain articles restricting fundamental freedoms and are incompatible with international standards. Torture remains common in places of detention. The executive branch sharply limited judicial independence. Prosecutors enjoyed a quasi-judicial role and had the authority to suspend court decisions. Corruption was evident at every stage of the judicial process. Although judges were among the most highly paid government employees, lawyers and human rights monitors alleged that judges, prosecutors, and other officials solicited bribes in exchange for favorable rulings in the majority of criminal cases. The of the American Bar Association has programs to train justice sector professionals in Kazakhstan. In an effort to increase transparency in the criminal justice and court system, and improve human rights, Kazakhstan intends to digitize all investigative, prosecutorial and court records by 2018. Buoyed by high world prices, GDP growth figures were between 8. Other major exports of Kazakhstan include wheat, textiles, and livestock. Kazakhstan is a leading exporter of uranium. The country experienced a slowdown in economic growth from 2014 sparked by falling oil prices and the effects of the The country devalued its currency by 19% in February 2014. Another 22% devaluation occurred in August 2015. The government has continued to follow a conservative fiscal policy by controlling budget spending and accumulating oil revenue savings in its Oil Fund — Samruk-Kazyna. The global financial crisis forced Kazakhstan to increase its public borrowing to support the economy. Public debt increased to 13. Between 2012 and 2013, the government achieved an overall fiscal surplus of 4. Since 2002, Kazakhstan has sought to manage strong inflows of foreign currency without sparking inflation. Inflation has not been under strict control, however, registering 6. In March 2002, the granted Kazakhstan status under. This change in status recognised substantive market economy reforms in the areas of currency convertibility, wage rate determination, openness to foreign investment, and government control over the means of production and allocation of resources. In 2009, the government introduced large-scale support measures such as the recapitalisation of banks and support for the real estate and agricultural sectors, as well as for small and medium enterprises SMEs. There has been a reduction in the ratio of debt to GDP. The ratio of total governmental debt to GDP in 2000, was 21. Government revenues grew from 19. In 2000, Kazakhstan adopted a new in an effort to consolidate these gains. On 29 November 2003, the Law on Changes to Tax Code which reduced was adopted. On 7 July 2006, the personal income tax was reduced even further to a flat rate of 5% for personal income in the form of dividends and 10% for other personal income. Kazakhstan furthered its reforms by adopting a new land code on 20 June 2003, and a new customs code on 5 April 2003. Aerial view of structures is the leading economic sector. Production of crude oil and from the amounted to 79. Kazakhstan raised oil and gas condensate exports to 44. Gas production in Kazakhstan in 2003, amounted to 13. Kazakhstan holds about 4 billion tonnes 3. According to industry analysts, expansion of oil production and the development of new will enable the country to produce as much as 3 million barrels 480,000 m 3 per day by 2015, and Kazakhstan would be among the top 10 oil-producing nations in the world. Major oil and gas fields and recoverable are with 7 billion barrels 1. Kazakhstan instituted an ambitious reform program in 1998. There are 11 saving pension funds in the country. The State Accumulating Pension Fund, the only state-owned fund, was in 2006. The country's unified financial regulatory agency oversees and regulates the pension funds. The growing demand of the pension funds for quality investment outlets triggered rapid development of the debt market. Pension fund capital is being invested almost exclusively in corporate and government , including government of Kazakhstan Eurobonds. The government of Kazakhstan is studying a project to create a unified national pension fund and transfer all the accounts from the private pension funds into it. The has introduced deposit insurance in its campaign to strengthen the banking sector. Due to troubling and non-performing bad assets the bank sector yet is at risk to lose stability. Several major foreign banks have branches in Kazakhstan, including , , and. According to the 2010—11 World Economic Forum in Global Competitiveness Report, Kazakhstan was ranked 72nd in the world in economic competitiveness. One year later, the ranked Kazakhstan 50th in most competitive markets. Kazakhstan climbed to 41st on the 2018 Economic Freedom Index published by the Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation. GDP growth in January—September 2013 was 5. From January to September 2014 Kazakhstan's GDP grew at 4%. According to the Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Kairat Kelimbetov, the increase was caused by a trade surplus of 17. The overall inflation rate for 2014 is forecasted at 7. Agriculture Grain fields near accounts for approximately 5% of Kazakhstan's GDP. Agricultural land occupies more than 846,000 square kilometres 327,000 sq mi. The available agricultural land consists of 205,000 square kilometres 79,000 sq mi of arable land and 611,000 square kilometres 236,000 sq mi of and hay land. Its arable land has the second highest availability per inhabitant 1. Chief livestock products are , , , and. The country's major crops include , , , and. Wheat , a major source of , rank among the leading commodities in Kazakhstan's export trade. In 2003 Kazakhstan harvested 17. Kazakhstani agriculture still has many environmental problems from mismanagement during its years in the Soviet Union. Some is produced in the mountains to the east of Almaty. Kazakhstan is thought to be one of the places that the originated, particularly the wild of Malus domestica,. It has no common name in English, but is known in its native Kazakhstan as alma. This tree is still found wild in the mountains of , in southern Kazakhstan, , and in China. Infrastructure aircraft Railways provide 68% of all cargo and passenger traffic to over 57% of the country. There are 15,333 km 9,527 mi in common carrier service, excluding industrial lines. Most cities are connected by railroad; high-speed trains go from the southernmost city to the northernmost city in about 18 hours. Train 22 Kyzylorda — Semipalatinsk, hauled by a Kazakhstan Temir Zholy 2TE10U diesel locomotive. Picture taken near Aynabulak, Kazakhstan. KTZ is the national railway company. KTZ cooperates with French loco manufacturer Alstom in developing Kazakhstan's railway infrastructure. Alstom has more than 600 staff and two joint ventures with KTZ and its subsidiary in Kazakhstan. In July 2017, Alstom opened its first locomotive repairing center in Kazakhstan. It is the only repairing center in Central Asia and the Caucasus. As the Kazakhstani rail system was designed during the era, rail routes were designed ignoring intersoviet borders and to the needs of Soviet planning. This has caused anamolies such as the route from to now passes briefly through Russian territory. It also means that routes might not suit modern-day Kazakhstani needs. The opening of the station coincided with the start of the international exhibition. According to Kazakhstan Railways KTZ , the 120,000m2 station is expected to be used by 54 trains a day and has capacity to handle 35,000 passengers a day. The strategy of transport development in Kazakhstan until 2015 is to build 1,600 km 990 mi of new electrified and 2,700 km 1,700 mi of existing railway stations. Almaty Metro There is a small 8. A second and third metro lines are planned in the future. The second line would intersect with the first line at and stations. In May 2011, the construction of the second phase of the Almaty Metro line 1 began. The general contractor is Almatymetrokurylys. Currently more than 300 m 980 ft of tunnels on the extension project have been excavated. The extension includes five new stations, and will connect the downtown area of Almaty with in the suburbs. Its length will be 8. The construction is divided into 3 phases. The first phase the current phase will be the addition of two stations: Sairan and Moscow, a length of 2. For more details see:. There was a tram system of 10 lines which operated from 1937 to 2015. The system is under construction. It's been a long time coming and the project was abandoned at one point in 2013, but an agreement was signed on 7 May 2015 for the project to go ahead. At its peak it had 6 routes, but in the end it had 4 routes in operation. It had a fleet of 50 working tram cars. There is an 86 km 53 mi tram network, which began service in 1965 with, As of 2012 , 20 regular and 3 special routes. The network has a 60% share of the local public transport market. Its fleet of 115 trams are due to be replaced and in 2012, the city announced plans to purchase 100 new trams. There are 2 tram lines in this city. The Khorgos Gateway dry port is one of Kazakhstan's primary dry ports for handling trans-Eurasian trains, which travel more than 9,000 km 5,600 mi between China and Europe. The Khorgos Gateway dry port is surrounded by Khorgos Eastern Gate SEZ that officially commenced operations in December 2016. In 2009 the blacklisted all Kazakh air carriers with a sole exception of. Since then, Kazakhstan has consistently taken measures to modernize and revamp its air safety oversight. Tourism Kazakhstanis on a beach, Kazakhstan is the and the largest landlocked country. Today, tourism is not a major component of the economy. As of 2014, has accounted for 0. The WEF ranks Kazakhstan 81st in its 2017 report, which is four positions higher compared to the previous period. In 2012, Kazakhstan ranked 51st in the world in terms of number of tourist arrivals. In 2000 total 1. Even for locals, going for holiday abroad may cost only half the price of taking a holiday in Kazakhstan. This initiative aims to establish five tourism clusters in Kazakhstan: city, city, , , and Oblasts. Kazakhstan offers a permanent visa-free regime for up to 90 days to citizens of , , Georgia, , , , Russia and and for up to 30 days to citizens of , , , , , and. Kazakhstan established a visa-free regime for citizens of 45 countries including European Union and OECD member states, the USA, UAE, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Green economy The government has set the goals that a transition to the occur by 2050. The green economy is projected to increase GDP by 3% and create more than 500,000 new jobs. The price of 1 kilowatt-hour for energy produced by wind power plants was set at 22. The price for 1 kilowatt-hour produced by small hydro-power plants is 16. According to the US State Department, Kazakhstan is widely considered to have the best investment climate in the region. In 2002 the country became the first sovereign in the former Soviet Union to receive an investment-grade credit rating from an international credit rating agency. Foreign direct investment FDI plays a more significant role in the national economy than in most other former Soviet republics. President Nazarbayev signed into law tax concessions to promote foreign direct investment which include a 10-year exemption from corporation tax, an 8-year exemption from property tax, and a 10-year freeze on most other taxes. Other incentives include a refund on capital investments of up to 30 percent once a production facility is in operation. The partnership will boost investment and drive forward reforms in the country. One of the factors that attract foreign direct investments is country's political stability. According to the World Bank's report, Kazakhstan is among the top 40% of countries in the world that are considered the most politically stable and free of violence. Kazakhstan also received high ratings in a survey conducted by in 2014. Banking The banking industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan experienced a pronounced boom and bust cycle over 2000s decade. After several years of rapid expansion in the mid-2000s, the banking industry collapsed in 2008. Several large banking groups, including J. Since then, the industry has shrunk and been restructured, with system-wide loans dropping to 39% of GDP in 2011 from 59% in 2007. Although the Russian and Kazakhstani banking systems share several common features, there are also some fundamental differences. Banks in Kazakhstan have experienced a lengthy period of political stability and economic growth. Banking technology and personnel qualifications alike are stronger in Kazakhstan than in Russia. On the negative side, past stability in Kazakhstan arose from the concentration of virtually all political power in the hands of a single individual — the key factor in any assessment of system or country risk. The potential is there for serious disturbances if and when authority passes into new hands. Bond market In October 2014, Kazakhstan introduced its first overseas dollar bonds in 14 years. Housing market The housing market of Kazakhstan has grown since 2010. In 2013, the total housing area in Kazakhstan amounted to 336. The housing stock rose over the year to 32. Between 2012 and 2013, the living area per Kazakh citizen rose from 19. The urban areas concentrate 62. Kazakhstan will be able to reach the UN standards by 2019 or 2020, if in the medium term the housing growth rate remains within 7 percent. The policy embraces all aspects of economic growth, including finances, industry and social welfare, but especially emphasises investments into the development of infrastructure and construction works. Economic competitiveness Kazakhstan achieved its goal of entering the top 50 most competitive countries in 2013, and has maintained its position in the 2014—2015 World Economic Forum that was published at the beginning of September 2014. The Global Competitiveness Index gives a score from 1 to 7 in each of these pillars, and Kazakhstan earned an overall score of 4. Corruption In 2005, the listed Kazakhstan as a corruption hotspot, on a par with , , , and. In 2012, Kazakhstan ranked low in an index of the least corrupt countries and the listed corruption as the biggest problem in doing business in the country. A 2017 OECD report on Kazakhstan indicated that Kazakhstan has reformed laws with regard to the civil service, judiciary, instruments to prevent corruption, access to information, and prosecuting corruption. US officials believed the funds represented bribes paid by American officials to Kazakhstani officials in exchange for oil or prospecting rights in Kazakhstan. Trends in research expenditure in Central Asia, as a percentage of GDP, 2001—2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: 2030 2015 , Figure 14. Public research is largely confined to institutes, with universities making only a token contribution. Research institutes receive their funding from national research councils under the umbrella of the Ministry of Education and Science. Their output, however, tends to be disconnected from market needs. In the business sector, few industrial enterprises conduct research themselves. By 2013, this ratio stood at 0. It will be difficult to reach the target as long as economic growth remains strong. Some 11% of the total was spent on research and development. This compares with about 40—70% of innovation expenditure in developed countries. Training costs represented just 2% of innovation expenditure, a much lower share than in developed countries. In this document, Kazakhstan gives itself 15 years to evolve into a knowledge economy. New sectors are to be created during each five-year plan. The first of these, covering the years 2010—2014, focused on developing industrial capacity in car manufacturing, aircraft engineering and the production of locomotives, passenger and cargo railroad cars. During the second five-year plan to 2019, the goal is to develop export markets for these products. To enable Kazakhstan to enter the world market of geological exploration, the country intends to increase the efficiency of traditional extractive sectors such as oil and gas. It also intends to develop rare earth metals, given their importance for electronics, laser technology, communication and medical equipment. The second five-year plan coincides with the development of the Business 2020 roadmap for small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs , which makes provision for the allocation of grants to SMEs in the regions and for microcredit. The government and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs also plan to develop an effective mechanism to help start-ups. During subsequent five-year plans to 2050, new industries will be established in fields such as mobile, multi-media, nano- and space technologies, robotics, genetic engineering and alternative energy. Food processing enterprises will be developed with an eye to turning the country into a major regional exporter of beef, dairy and other agricultural products. Low-return, water-intensive crop varieties will be replaced with vegetable, oil and fodder products. Experimental agrarian and innovational clusters will be established and drought-resistant developed. The fixes a target of devoting 3% of GDP to research and development by 2050 to allow for the development of new high-tech sectors. Official estimates put the population of Kazakhstan at 16. In 2013, Kazakhstan's population rose to 17,280,000 with a 1. The 2009 population estimate is 6. The decline in population that began after 1989 has been arrested and possibly reversed. Men and women make up 48. Ethnic groups Aya Shalkar, a Kazakh model and actress. Other groups include 1. Some minorities such as , , 1. Some of the largest Soviet existed in the country. Significant Russian immigration also connected with and during the era. In 1989, ethnic Russians were 37. Before 1991 there were about 1 million , mostly descendants of the deported to Kazakhstan during World War II. After the , most of them emigrated to Germany. Most members of the smaller minority have emigrated to Greece. In the late 1930s thousands of in the Soviet Union were. These people are now known as. The 1990s were marked by the emigration of many of the country's and , a process that began in the 1970s. This has made indigenous Kazakhs the largest ethnic group. Additional factors in the increase in the Kazakhstani population are higher birthrates and from China, , and Russia. Population of Kazakhstan according to ethnic group 1926—2009 Ethnic group census 1926 1 census 1970 2 census 1989 3 census 1999 4 census 2009 5 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % 3,627,612 58. The government announced in January 2015 that the will replace as the writing system for the Kazakh language by 2025. Other minority languages spoken in Kazakhstan include , , , , and. English, as well as Turkish, have gained popularity among younger people since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Education across Kazakhstan is conducted in either Kazakh, Russian, or both. According to its Constitution, Kazakhstan is a secular state. Religious freedoms are guaranteed by Article 39 of Kazakhstan's Constitution. After decades of , the coming of independence witnessed a surge in expression of ethnic identity, partly through religion. The free practice of and the establishment of full freedom of religion led to an increase of religious activity. Hundreds of , , and other religious structures were built in the span of a few years, with the number of religious associations rising from 670 in 1990 to 4,170 today. Some figures show that form the majority, while others indicate that most Muslims in the country are following the school. These include ethnic , who constitute about 60% of the population, as well as ethnic , , and. Less than 1% are part of the Sunni school primarily. There are also some Muslims. Unaffiliated mosques are forcefully closed. Other Christian groups include and. There are a total of 258 Orthodox churches, 93 Catholic churches, and over 500 Protestant churches and prayer houses. The Russian Orthodox is recognized as a national holiday in Kazakhstan. Other religious groups include Judaism, the , , , and. According to the 2009 Census data, there are very few Christians outside the Slavic and Germanic ethnic groups: Education Kazakh National University of Arts Education is universal and mandatory through to the and the is 99. On average, these statistics are equal to both women and men Kazakhstan. Education consists of three main phases: forms 1—4 , basic general education forms 5—9 and senior level education forms 10—11 or 12 divided into continued general education and vocational education. Vocational Education usually lasts 3 or 4 years. Primary education is preceded by one year of pre-school education. These levels can be followed in one institution or in different ones e. Recently, several secondary schools, specialised schools, , , and linguistic and technical gymnasiums have been founded. Secondary professional education is offered in special professional or , lyceums or colleges and. At present, there are , and , , higher schools and higher colleges. There are three main levels: basic that provides the fundamentals of the chosen field of study and leads to the award of the ; specialised higher education after which students are awarded the Specialist's Diploma; and scientific-pedagogical higher education which leads to the. With the adoption of the Laws on Education and on Higher Education, a private sector has been established and several private institutions have been licensed. The largest number of student loans come from Almaty, Astana and Kyzylorda. The training and skills development programs in Kazakhstan are also supported by international organisations. The project aims to provide relevant training to unemployed, unproductively self-employed, and current employees in need of training. A Kazakhstan performer demonstrate the long equestrian heritage as part of the gala concert during the opening ceremonies of Central Asian Peacekeeping Battalion. Before the Russian colonisation, the Kazakhs had a highly developed culture based on their nomadic pastoral economy. It initially took hold in the southern parts of and spread northward. The helped the religion take root through zealous missionary work. The further propagated Islam amongst the tribes in the region during the 14th century. Kazakhstan is home to a large number of prominent contributors to literature, science and philosophy: , , , , , , , among many others. Tourism is a rapidly growing industry in Kazakhstan and it is joining the international tourism networking. In 2010, Kazakhstan joined The Region Initiative TRI which is a Tri-regional Umbrella of Tourism related organisations. TRI is functioning as a link between three regions: South Asia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Armenia, Bangladesh, India, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Ukraine are now Partners and Kazakhstan is linked with other South Asian, Eastern European and Central Asian countries in tourism market. Literature Main article: Kazakh literature is defined as 'the body of , both and written, produced in the by the of '. Kazakh literature expands from the current territory of Kazakhstan, also including the era of , Kazakh recognized territory under the and the. There is some overlap with several complementary themes, including the literature of Turkic tribes that inhabited Kazakhstan over the course of the history and literature written by ethnic Kazakhs. According to Chinese written sources of 6th—8th centuries CE, Turkic tribes of Kazakhstan had oral poetry tradition. These came from earlier periods, and were primarily transmitted by : professional storytellers and musical performers. Since at least the 17th century, Kazakh bards could be divided in two main categories: the zhıraws zhiraus, žyraus , who passed on the works of others, usually not creating and adding their own original work; and the akyns , who improvised or created their own poems, stories or songs. There were several types of works, such as termes, tolgaws, and zhırs. Although the origins of such tales are often unknown, most of them were associated with bards of the recent or more distant past, who supposedly created them or passed them on, by the time most Kazakh poetry and prose was first written down in the second half of the 19th century. There are clear stylistic differences between works first created in the 19th century, and works dating from earlier periods but not documented before the 19th century, such as those attributed to such 16th- and 17th-century bards as Er Shoban and Dosmombet Zhıraw also known as Dospambet Žyrau; he appeared to have been literate, and reportedly visited , and even to such 15th-century bards as Shalkiz and Asan Qayghı. Other notable bards include Kaztugan Žyrau, Žiembet Žyrau, Axtamberdy Žyrau, and Buxar Žyrau Kalkamanuly, who was an advisor to , and whose works have been preserved by Mäšhür Žüsip Köpeev. Er Targhın and are two of the most famous examples of Kazakh literature to be recorded in the 19th century. The and Oguz Name a story of ancient Turkic king are the most well-known Turkic heroic legends. Initially created around 9th century CE, they were passed on through generations in oral form. The legendary tales were recorded by Turkish authors in 14—16th centuries C. Abai's major work is The Book of Words : қара сөздері, Qara sözderi , a philosophical treatise and collection of poems where he criticizes Russian colonial policies and encourages other Kazakhs to embrace education and literacy. The literary magazines published between 1911 and 1915 in Arabic script and Qazaq published between 1913 and 1918 played an important role in the development of the intellectual and political life among early 20th-century Kazakhs. Music Main article: The modern state of Kazakhstan is home to the Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of Folk Instruments, the Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kazakh National Opera and the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra. The folk instrument orchestra was named after , a famous composer and dombra player from the 19th century. The Musical-Dramatic Training College, founded in 1931, was the first institute of higher education for music. Two years later, the Orchestra of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments was formed. The Foundation Asyl Mura is archivating and publishing historical recordings of geat samples of Kazakh music both traditional and classical. The leading Conservatoire is in Almaty, the Qurmanghazy Conservatoire. It currently competes with the national conservatoire in Astana, Kazakhstans capital. The latter denotes music executed by academically trained performers who aim at preserving the traditional music for coming generations. As far as can be reconstructed, the music of Kazakhstan from the period before a strong Russian influence consists of Instrumental music and Vocal music. Vocal music, either as part of a ceremony such as a wedding mainly performed by women , or as part of a feast. Here we might divide into subgenres: epic singing, containing not only historical facts, but as well the tribe's genealogy, love songs, didactic verses; and as a special form the composition of two or more singers in public Aitys , of dialogue character and usually unexpectedly frankly in content. The Russian influence on the music life in Kazakhstan can be seen in two spheres: First, the introduction of musical academic institutions such as concert houses with opera stages, conservatories, where the European music was performed and taught, second, by trying to incorporate Kazakh traditional music into these academic structures. Controlled by the and then the , Kazakhstan's folk and classical traditions became connected with and Western European music. Prior to the 20th century, Kazakh folk music was collected and studied by research teams including , and. In the first part of the 19th century, Kazakh music was transcribed in linear. Some composers of this era set Kazakh folk songs to Russian-style. The Kazakhs themselves, however, did not write their own music in notation until 1931. Later, as part of the Soviet Union, Kazakh folk culture was encouraged in a sanitized manner designed to avoid political and social unrest. The result was a bland derivative of real Kazakh folk music. In 1920, , a Russian official, created major works of art music with melodies and other elements of Kazakh folk music. Beginning in 1928 and accelerating in the 1930s, he also adapted traditional Kazakh instruments for use in Russian-style ensembles, such as by increasing the number of and. Soon, these styles of modern orchestral playing became the only way for musicians to officially play; Kazakh folk was turned into patriotic, professional and socialist endeavors. The current situation could be described as the effort to rediscover the traditional music as it had been practised before the heavy influence of European musical styles. Although the quality of the performances and the striving for authenticity cannot be ignored, it is for methodological reasons important to remember that the contemporary musicians performing among traditional folk music are all well trained professionals Rauchan Orazbaeva, Ramazan Stamgazi. Cuisine Main article: In the national cuisine, livestock meat can be cooked in a variety of ways and is usually served with a wide assortment of traditional bread products. Refreshments often include black tea and traditional milk-derived drinks such as , and. A traditional Kazakh dinner involves a multitude of appetisers on the table, followed by a soup and one or two main courses such as and. They also drink their national beverage, which consists of fermented mare's milk. Sport is professional cycling team representing Kazakhstan and sponsored by the state-owned companies from Kazakhstan Kazakhstan consistently performs in Olympic competitions. It is especially successful in. This has brought some attention to the nation, and increased world awareness of its athletes. The is the sport's national governing body. The FFK organises the , , and national teams. Kazakhstan's most famous basketball player was , who played for and the in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his career, he won multiple titles and medals at some of the world's most prestigious basketball competitions, including the , the , the the European Basketball Championship , and the. In 1971 he earned the title and a year later he was awarded the. Since its foundation, it has been competitive at the continental level. Its greatest accomplishment was at the , where it defeated the in its last game to win the bronze medal. At the official , now called FIBA Asia Cup, the Kazakhs' best finish was 4th place in 2007. In the , they were an extra-time in the semi-final from reaching the final for the first time. In 2012, they were even closer when they took it to a penalty shootout. The team won the first. During the Soviet time, Dynamo Alma-Ata won the in 1977 and 1990, and the in 1978. Bandy is developed in 10 of the country's 17 administrative divisions 8 of the 14 regions and 2 of the 3 cities which are situated inside of but are not part of regions. The have competed in in the 1998 and , as well as in the. The is held since 1992. Meanwhile, the and play in the since 1996 and the since 2012. Top Kazakhstani ice hockey players include , Ivan Kulshov and. In the last three Olympic Games, their performance was assessed as one of the best and they had more medals than any country in the world, except and Russia in all three games. In 1996 and 2004, three Kazakhstani boxers in 1996, in 2004 and in 2012 were recognized as the best boxers for their techniques with the , awarded to the best boxer of the tournament. In , Kazakhstan performed well in the in , Australia. Two boxers, and , earned. Another two boxers, and , earned. It should also be noted that , born in , representing , was the Heavyweight Champion after knocking out on 12 August 2006. The reigning ,WBC, IBF and is Kazakh boxer. She holds the record as the longest-reigning WBA female super middleweight champion, and the longest-reigning WBC female super middleweight champion. 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