Geography
Population
Population
2018: Population growth since 1989 by 12% to 18.3 million
Migration
Digital nomad visa launched in Kazakhstan
On November 1, 2024, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan announced the launch of a new type of Neo Nomad visa intended for foreign specialists working remotely and combining work with travel. The visa regime has been developed taking into account the experience of more than 50 countries that have implemented similar programs. Read more here.
2024: Since 1991, 1.13 million ethnic Kazakhs have arrived in Kazakhstan. Most from Uzbekistan and China
Kazakhstan is pursuing a policy to attract Kazakhs to their historical homeland. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, 10,134 ethnic Kazakhs arrived in the country in the first half of 2024, and since 1991 - 1 million 138.5 thousand.
In the first half of 2024, almost half of the oralmans (or Kazakh қandas) arrived from China, in second place is Uzbekistan, in total they account for more than 80%.
At the same time, immigrants go to the northern regions of Kazakhstan, where a high proportion of Russians and the generally non-Kazakh population (Germans, Tatars, etc.) remain. For the resettlement of oralmans, such labor-deficient regions as Akmola, Kostanay, Pavlodar, East Kazakhstan, North Kazakhstan regions and the Abai region were identified.
The state is pursuing a systematic policy of Kazakhstanization of the country, aiming at potentially disloyal regions.
2021: Net outflow over 4 years
National composition
Russians
Political system
Main article: Politics in Kazakhstan
Zhuzes
Main article: Zhuzy in Kazakhstan
Parliament
Main article: Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Courts
Main article: Courts in Kazakhstan
Armed Forces
2024
An electronic public service was launched in Kazakhstan, allowing men to find out if they are subject to military service
The Ministry of Digital Development of Kazakhstan on November 15, 2024 announced the launch of a new service in the eGov Mobile mobile application. We are talking about providing citizens of the country with access to information about their military duty and conscription status of a citizen. Read more here.
US experts investigate former Soviet Semipalatinsk nuclear test site
Specialists from the United States are investigating the former Soviet Semipalatinsk nuclear test site with great attention since the 1990s, and not at all out of concern for the environment.
The Semipalatinsk test site is of interest as a way to study nuclear weapons from the times of the USSR. Each adit and cavern can tell its own story: what power was the ammunition, according to what scheme it was made, what ammunition continued to be improved and tested, and which were considered "dead-end branches" and abandoned. At the same time, this activity of Americans in 2024 interferes with the reclamation of the landfill.
Turkey intercepts control of military shipbuilding of Kazakhstan
Since Kazakhstan gained independence, Russia, in cooperation with the Zenit Ural Shipbuilding Plant (a leader in the shipbuilding of Kazakhstan), has been the main developer and supplier of warships and boats for the Kazakh Navy.
In 2024, the authorities in Astana actively involve the Turks in the development of their Navy.
In 2023, Astana agreed with the Turkish manufacturer of submarines, frigates and patrol vessels Dearsan Shipyard to build a shipyard for large-tonnage vessels in Kazakhstan.
In the same year, it became known that the Zenit plant concluded an agreement with the administration of military factories and shipyards (ASFAT) of Turkey on the construction of warships for the Kazakh Navy.
At the same time, the Turkish construction company YDA Group offered the Government of Kazakhstan to sell it 85% of the shares of the Zenit plant. This news caused protests from the workers of the plant, who were forced to appeal to the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev with a request not to sell the enterprise. Then this step suspended the sale procedure.
However, on June 25, 2024, the Government of Kazakhstan, as part of the course of economic liberalization, published a decree on the privatization of the Zenit plant, which indicates the actual decision to transfer the enterprise to the hands of a Turkish company.
This decision once again demonstrated how Turkey, a NATO member country, under the supervision of Western allies (primarily Britain) continues to expand the naval influence of the alliance in the Caspian region.
IT system launched in Kazakhstan to determine the suitability of conscripts for military service
In early April 2024, it became known that a specialized IT system was launched in Kazakhstan to determine the suitability of conscripts for military service. We are talking about an electronic database that is integrated with government departments. The project was called the "Digital Military Registration and Enlistment Office." Read more here.
2023
Mereke Kuchekbaev appointed chief of the General Staff
In November 2023, changes in the highest military positions took place in the Kazakh armed forces.
- Mereke Kuchekbaev became the chief of the General Staff
- Yerzhan Irbaev - commander of the regional command "Astana"
- Zhenis Maralov - commander of the regional command "Vostok"
- Kuanyshbek Ushtaev - commander of the regional command "South"
They are all united by the fact that in different years they all underwent training at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Ministry of Defense. At the same time, the commander of the "Western" command, Daulet Ospanov, is a graduate of the Ryazan Higher Command School.
Agreement on the construction of a shipyard in Kazakhstan by the Turkish Dearsan Shipyard
In February 2024, it became known that Dearsan Shipyard is building a shipyard in Kazakhstan. Read more here.
2021: Defence costs - 0.87% of GDP
Economy
Main article: Economy of Kazakhstan
Information Technology
Main article: Kazakhstan IT market
MEDIA
- KazAID (Kazakhstan Agency for International Development) is a USAID structure that trains journalists and develops a network of media acting in the interests of the United States
Media created by 2023 to discredit Russia and promote US interests, including through LGBT propaganda:
- Radio Azattyk (Kazakh branch of Radio Liberty)
- "Voice of America"
- AIRAN (Internet Media)
2024: Agreement on the opening of Euronews representative office in Kazakhstan
During a working trip in August 2024 to Brussels, the Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan Aida Balaeva met with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Euronews Pedro Vargas David. The parties agreed that the representative office of the TV channel will open in Astana. Read more here.
Education
2019: Number of years of education by citizens over 25 - 11.9
Health care
Main article: Health care in Kazakhstan
Religions
Crime
2024: Kazakhstan launches national facial recognition system 1.4 million cameras connected to it
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan announced the launch of a national video monitoring system with face recognition function in Astana and Almaty. The introduction of the system, to which more than 1.3 million cameras are connected, became known on November 20, 2024. Read more here.
2022: Drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan to Russia
Ferghana Valley is a mountainous hard-to-reach area, which is chosen by drug dealers and smugglers. The Batken-Isfana highway runs at the southwestern end: by 2022, all the main skirmishes between the Kyrgyz and Tajiks occur in this section.
Most of the local population (regardless of the country of residence) closely cooperates with various groups. Often this is the only way to somehow survive.
Only the indigenous citizens of the region know this area well - including secret mountain routes used to transport various smuggled goods north to Kazakhstan and Russia.
The drug trafficking route, despite the use of secretive paths in mountainous areas, could not be used without the knowledge and assistance of the authorities.
Border conflicts between Tajik and Kyrgyz military personnel occur almost regularly after the collapse of the USSR. Both countries share more than 900 kilometers of a joint border, but only half are fully demarcated.
As of September 2022, 70 disputed sites remain. Both countries refuse to seek a compromise. And this only applies to controversial areas: conflicts also arise due to interethnic hatred and disputes over water.
The absence of a clear border between states and, as a result, the desire of each of the parties to snatch as "fat" a piece as possible is a stumbling block.
Even a couple of tens of meters in favor of one of the countries will significantly increase the cost of tariffs for "transit travel," that is, a bribe.
Despite statements Talibs about the fight against production drugs in, Afghanistan export volumes after their coming to power by 2022 increased several times.
Habibullo Vohidzoda, director of the drug control agency in Tajikistan, said that since the Taliban came to power, the level of seized narcotic substances from Afghanistan has tripled (three tons against one).
The most active in the cultivation of opiates is the province of Badakhshan, from where the route to Russia originates.
The main and more risky is transit from Afghan Ishkashim through the capital region of Tajikistan, Rawat in the Sogdi region and Kyrgyz Batken and Osh in the direction of Kazakhstan.
Despite the fact that both Tajik and Kyrgyz security forces are already firmly sitting on "subsidies" from smugglers, there is a possibility of seizure of cargo. For this reason, there is another route.
The second route runs through the Vakhan corridor of Afghanistan and the Pamir tract in the Gorno-Badakhshan region (GBAO) of Tajikistan and subsequently the familiar Osh to the territory of Kazakhstan.
However, due to the difficult terrain in the GBAO, a large amount of cargo cannot be carried along this path. It is less cost-effective in contrast to the route through the Fergana Valley.
After entering the Kazakh territory, caravans use the sparsely populated desert regions of the country for invisible movement to the Russian border.
There, in poorly protected areas or also through bribery of certain persons, the goods reach their destination in the Chelyabinsk (Troitsk) or Orenburg (Novotroitsk) regions, and then diverge throughout Russia.
Prisons
2019: The minimum age for children to be jailed is 14
2018: Number of prisoners
History
2023
Opening of the monument to Alexander Nevsky next to the Orthodox church in Alma-Ata
A monument to Prince Alexander Nevsky on horseback and with an icon in his hands in July 2023 was erected near the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The author of the monument is the Russian sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov.
Vladimir Putin called the opening of the monument a big event in the spiritual life of Russia and Kazakhstan. His appeal was read by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.
The event was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District and the 10th anniversary of the agreement on the alliance of the two countries. "Alexander Nevsky is a symbol of fraternal ties in the relationship between the great steppe and Ancient Russia" - such words are contained in the address of the President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, which was read out at the opening ceremony of the monument.
2022: Riots in Alma-Ata and the entry of CSTO forces
As a result of the riots that swept Kazakhstan in early January 2022, about 1,300 enterprises and organizations, more than 100 shopping centers, banks suffered, about 500 police cars were burned, the total economic damage from them could amount to $2-3 billion. Such data were provided by the President of Kazakhstan.
It was later announced that 225 people were killed during the protests in Kazakhstan, of which 19 were security forces. More than 4.5 thousand people were injured, 67 are in hospitals in serious condition.
{{#video: https://www.tadviser.ru/images/2/25/2 5382214283885024951.mp4|100%|auto||Alma-Ata City Cleanup Personnel during January 6, 2022}
1991: All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR
On March 17, 1991, an All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR was held - the only one in the history of the USSR.
The issue of preserving the USSR as an updated Federation of equal sovereign states and republics of the former USSR was discussed.
1965: Building an artificial lake with a nuclear explosion
In the USSR, there was a so-called program "Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy" during which Soviet scientists considered the possibility of using atomic bombs to solve industrial and other non-military tasks, for example, laying water channels, mining, minerals destroying glaciers and other purposes.
The program began with a project to create an artificial lake Chagan in the Semipalatinsk region in Kazakhstan. Subsequently, it was called Atomic Lake.
1828: The first wave of Uyghur migration to the Semirechensk region
The first wave of Uyghur migration from China to Central Asia occurred in the late 1920s, when, after the Qing government suppressed the Jahangir Khoja uprising in Kashgar (1826-1828), Kashgar Uyghurs (or Kashgarliks) fled persecution in search of a better life in the Ferghana and Semirechensk regions.
15th century: The formation of zhuzov after the collapse of the Golden Horde
Main article: Zhuzy in Kazakhstan
The history of the formation of zhuzes takes its origins, according to a number of experts, long before the appearance of the Mongol-Tatar state education. However, the most developed and accepted in scientific circles remains the version according to which Kazakh tribes took shape as independent khanates after the collapse of the Golden Horde in the 15th century. Then Kerey and Zhanibek acted as founders of disparate tribal associations, nevertheless having an almost homogeneous ethnic and cultural composition. Although, of course, close diplomatic, economic contacts and military cooperation remained between these regions in the conditions of devastating nomadic raids of neighboring tribes.
As an additional factor that influenced the formation of tribal clans (the so-called zhuzes), natural and geographical circumstances also played: The elder Zhuz was formed in the southern part of Kazakhstan, including the legendary Semirechye (disputes about the list of rivers included in this complex still do not subside), the Middle Zhuz extends in the Central and Northern parts of the country, and the Younger occupies the Western territory. Due to the fact that very few sources describing that time have reached us, even the origin of the word "Zhuz" is still not known for certain: some ethnographers tend to believe that it originates from the Arabic "branch," others think that it came from the words "horde," "ulus" or "khanate."