PEOPLE
The majority of Kazakhstanis are ethnic Kazakh; other ethnic groups include Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek, German, and Uyghur. Religions are Sunni Muslim, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, and other. Kazakhstan is a bilingual country. The Kazakh language has the status of the "state" language, while Russian is declared the "official" language. Russian is used routinely in business; 64.4% of the population speaks the Kazakh language. Education is universal and mandatory through the secondary level, and the literacy rate is 98.4%.
Nomadic
tribes have been living in the region that is now Kazakhstan since
the first century BC. From the fourth century AD through the beginning
of the 13th century, the territory of Kazakhstan was ruled by
a series of nomadic nations. Following the Mongolian invasion
in the early 13th century, administrative districts were established
under the Mongol Empire, which eventually became the territories
of the Kazakh Khanate. The major medieval cities of Taraz and
Turkestan were founded along the northern route of the Great Silk
Road during this period.
Traditional
nomadic life on the vast steppe and semi-desert lands was characterized
by a constant search for new pasture to support the livestock-based
economy. The Kazakhs emerged from a mixture of tribes living in
the region in about the 15th century and by the middle of the
16th century had developed a common language, culture, and economy.
In the early 1600s, the Kazakh Khanate separated into the Great,
Middle and Little (or Small) Hordes--confederations based on extended
family networks. Political disunion, competition among the hordes,
and a lack of an internal market weakened the Kazakh Khanate.
The beginning of the 18th century marked the zenith of the Kazakh
Khanate. The following 150 years saw the gradual colonization
of the Kazakh-controlled territories by tsarist Russia.
The process
of colonization was a combination of voluntary integration into
the Russian Empire and outright seizure. The Little Horde and
part of the Middle Horde signed treaties of protection with Russia
in the 1730s and 1740s. Major parts of the northeast and central
Kazakh territories were incorporated into the Russian Empire by
1840. With the Russian seizure of territories belonging to the
Senior Horde in the 1860s, the tsars effectively ruled over most
of the territory belonging to what is now the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Russian
Empire introduced a system of administration and built military
garrisons in its effort to establish a presence in Central Asia
in the so-called "Great Game" between it and Great Britain.
Russian efforts to impose its system aroused the resentment of
the Kazakh people, and by the 1860s, most Kazakhs resisted Russia's
annexation largely because of the disruption it wrought upon the
traditional nomadic lifestyle and livestock-based economy. The
Kazakh national movement, which began in the late 1800s, sought
to preserve the Kazakh language and identity. There were uprisings
against colonial rule during the final years of tsarist Russia,
with the most serious occurring in 1916.
Although
there was a brief period of autonomy during the tumultuous period
following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Kazakhs eventually
succumbed to Soviet rule. In 1920, the area of present-day Kazakhstan
became an autonomous republic within Russia and, in 1936, a Soviet
republic.
Soviet
repression of the traditional elites, along with forced collectivization
in late 1920s-1930s, brought about mass hunger and led to unrest.
Soviet rule, however, took hold, and a communist apparatus steadily
worked to fully integrate Kazakhstan into the Soviet system. Kazakhstan
experienced population inflows of thousands exiled from other
parts of the Soviet Union during the 1930s and later became home
for hundreds of thousands evacuated from the Second World War
battlefields. The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) contributed
five national divisions to the Soviet Union's World War II effort.
The period
of the Second World War marked an increase in industrialization
and increased mineral extraction in support of the war effort.
At the time of Soviet leader Josif Stalin's death, however, Kazakhstan
still had an overwhelmingly agricultural-based economy. In 1953,
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev initiated the ambitious "Virgin
Lands" program to turn the traditional pasturelands of Kazakhstan
into a major grain-producing region for the Soviet Union. The
Virgin Lands policy, along with later modernizations under Soviet
leader Leonid Brezhnev, sped up the development of the agricultural
sector, which to this day remains the source of livelihood for
a large percentage of Kazakhstan's population.
Growing
tensions within Soviet society led to a demand for political and
economic reforms, which came to a head in the 1980s. In December
1986, mass demonstrations by young ethnic Kazakhs took place in
Almaty to protest the methods of the communist system. Soviet
troops suppressed the unrest, and dozens of demonstrators were
jailed. In the waning days of Soviet rule, discontent continued
to grow and find expression under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's
policy of glasnost. Caught up in the groundswell of Soviet republics
seeking greater autonomy, Kazakhstan declared its sovereignty
as a republic within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)
in October 1990. Following the August 1991 abortive coup attempt
in Moscow and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union,
Kazakhstan declared independence on December 16, 1991.
The years
following independence have been marked by significant reforms
to the Soviet command-economy and political monopoly on power.
Under Nursultan Nazarbayev, who initially came to power in 1989
as the head of the Kazakh Communist Party and was eventually elected
President in 1991, Kazakhstan has made significant progress toward
developing a market economy, for which it was recognized by the
United States in 2002. The country has enjoyed significant economic
growth since 2000, partly due to its large oil, gas, and mineral
reserves.
Nationality: Kazakhstani.
Nationality: Kazakhstani.
Population (January 2008 est.): 15.6 million--down from 16.2 million in 1989; second most-populated country in Central Asia. Large-scale emigration of ethnic Russians, Germans, and Ukrainians accounts for most of the population decrease since 1989.
Population growth rate (2007 est.): 1.08%.
Population distribution: 52.8 % of population lives in urban areas. The largest cities include Astana (capital) with a population of 602,480, Almaty (former capital) 1.3 million, Karaganda 453,400, Shymkent 545,400, Taraz 340,000, Ust-Kamenogorsk 310,000, Pavlodar 300,000.
Population density: 14.5 people per sq. mi. (U.S. density, 2000: 79.6 people per sq. mi.).
Ethnic groups (2002): Kazakh 55.8%, Russian 28.3%, Ukrainian 3.3%, Uzbek 2.6%, German 1.8%, Uyghur 1.5%, other 5.0%.
Religion: Sunni Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%.
Language: Kazakhstan is a bilingual country. Kazakh language has the status of the "state" language, while Russian is declared the "official" language. Russian is used routinely in business; 64.4% of population speaks the Kazakh language.
Health (2007 est.): Infant mortality rate--27.4/1,000. Life expectancy--67.22 years (male 61.9 yrs.; female 72.84 yrs.). Health care (2005 est.)--30.3 doctors and 68.2 hospital beds per 10,000 persons.
Education: Mandatory universal secondary education. School system consists of kindergarten, primary school (grades 1-4), secondary school (grades 5-9), and high school (grades 10-11). Literacy rate--98.4%.
Work force (2007 est., 8.16 million): Industry and construction--18.1%; agriculture and fishing--32.9%; services--49%.
