Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is a state in Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north, China to the east, and Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to the south. The capital is Nur-Sultan, formerly known as Astana. It was moved from Almaty, the country's largest city, in 1997. Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country and the ninth largest country in the world. The country's population is 18.8 million, and the population density is one of the lowest in the world at less than 6 people per square kilometer (15 people per square mile).

The territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic groups and empires. In ancient times, the Scythian nomads inhabited this land, and the Achaemenid Persian Empire expanded into the southern territory of the modern country. Turkic nomads, who trace their ancestry to many Turkic states, such as the First and Second Turkic Khaganates, have inhabited the country throughout its history. In the 13th century, the territory was subordinated to the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan. By the 16th century, the Kazakhs separated into a separate group, divided into three zhuzes. The Russians launched an offensive into the Kazakh steppe in the 18th century, and by the middle of the 19th century they nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the Russian Empire. After the Russian revolution of 1917 and the subsequent civil war, the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganized several times. In 1936 it was incorporated into the Kazakh SSR as part of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Human rights groups describe the Kazakh government as authoritarian and regularly describe the human rights situation in Kazakhstan as bad.

Kazakhstan is the most dominant country in Central Asia economically, producing 60% of the region's GDP, mainly from its oil and gas industry. It also possesses vast mineral resources and is officially a democratic, secular, unitary constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations (UN), WTO, CIS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Eurasian Economic Union, CSTO, OSCE, OIC, CCTS and TURKSOY.