The Republic of Kazakhstan is situated in the central part of the Euro- Asian continent. The area is 2753000 square kilometers. Its territory stretches from West to East for 3000 km and from North to South for 1600 km. In the West, Northwest and North Kazakhstan borders on the Russian Federation. In the South and Southwest are the Republics of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In the Southeast and East, there is China.
Kazakhstan consists of 14 regions, 223 districts. There are 83 cities and 204 townships. The main cities are Astana, Aktobe, Atyrau, Taraz, Pavlodar, Karagandy and Kostanai.
The population of Kazakhstan is 15 million people. People of 120 nationalities live in the country. Kazakh is the state language but Russian is officially used on an equal basis with Kazakh.
In December 1991 a new independent country – The Republic of Kazakhstan – joined the World Community. The 16 th of December is now celebrated as an Independence Day of Kazakhstan. The Republic of Kazakhstan is a unitary country with a presidential form of the Government. The first president of Kazakhstan is N.A.Nazarbayev. He became the first president in April 1990.
Kazakhstan is rich in mineral resourses oil, copper, zinc, gold and silver. Mining, machinery manufacture, the production of petro – chemicals and agriculture are important sectors of the economy. The people of the country grow grain, fruit, cotton, millet, corn.
The Republic of Kazakhstan has played a great role in the history and development of the Central Asia. In 1957, the first satellite was short into space from the Baikonur Space Centre, which lies in the steppeland of Kazakhstan.
The Republic of Kazakhstan is a member of eleven international organizations including United Nation, UNESCO, UNICEF, IMF and others.