MOVING TO KAZAKHSTAN

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KEY FACTS

Official Name: Republic of Kazakhstan

Capital City: Astana

Type of Government: Republic

Official Languages: Kazakh (Qazaq, state language); Russian (official) used in business and interethnic communication.

Area: 2,717,300 sq. km/1,049,150 sq. mi

Population: 15.4 million

Religion: Muslim 47%; Russian Orthodox 44%; Protestant 2%; other 7%

Currency: Tenge (KZT)

Number of Time Zones: 1

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) plus 4 to 6 hours; Eastern Standard Time (EST) plus 9 to 11 hours. Kazakhstan observes Daylight Saving Time from late March to late October.

Weights and Measures: Metric system

Country Domain: .kz

Country Tel Code: 7

AT A GLANCE

The people of Kazakhstan base their lives on a cultural heritage that has survived many years of suppression. There is a strong emphasis on hospitality, generosity, and a deep-seated respect for their elderly, as well as a long-standing pride in their country’s music and poetry.

Government

The Kazakhstan constitution, which was adopted by referendum in 1995, places considerable power with the president. He is elected by universal suffrage, and appoints the prime minister and the cabinet. He may legislate by decree, dissolve parliament, dismiss the government, call referenda, and veto laws passed by the legislature. He must also approve changes to the constitution.

The bicameral legislature consists of a Senate and the Majilis. The Senate has 39 members, 7 members of whom are appointed by the president, with the remaining 40 members being selected by the local district governments. The Majilis has a total of 77 members, with 67 members elected by popular vote and 10 more selected from the winning party’s lists. The legislature has little actual power.

The judiciary is under the control of the president and the executive branch. Judges at all levels are appointed by the president making it difficult to prosecute governmental corruption.

Politics

Kazakhstan is an independent state, formerly a Soviet republic. However, like 12 of the other 15 other former republics – save Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – it is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Thus, ties to Russia continue to be close. This relationship is particularly critical, because Kazakhstan’s oil is presently exported through pipelines across Russian territory.

Economy

To encourage foreign investment, the government has initiated a program of economic reform and privatization.

The currency has stabilized, inflation reduced dramatically while the GDP increased, and state control over the economy is gradually being lifted. The government still has considerable economic control, however, and reforms to the legal system are also needed to bring it up to international standards.

Resources

Kazakhstan has vast natural resources with some of the largest known oil and natural gas reserves, including three of the world’s most extensive oil fields in the region of the Caspian Sea. These reserves have attracted international oil exploration and refining companies.

In addition, international mining companies, communications companies, and a variety of consumer products companies have established operations in Kazakhstan. The country also has considerable agricultural potential with its extensive steppe land, which is conducive to both grazing of livestock and grain production.

Kazakhstan today

Most expatriates with families and children live in Almaty, the largest and most cosmopolitan city, while others are assigned to Astana, the capital. Although Astana is the political hub of the country, Almaty is said to offer more of the facilities and amenities that many expatriates prefer.

Visitors will find the Kazakhstanis hospitable and accustomed to interacting with foreigners as they have done for centuries having been located on the trade route between Europe and Asia.

UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE

The population of Kazakhstan is just over 15 million. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there was no growth in population, due mainly to emigration of various ethnic groups. Kazakhstan is one of the least densely populated countries in the world; about 50 percent of the population lives in urban areas.

The citizens of Kazakhstan are known as “Kazakhstanis,” not “Kazakhs”; Kazakhs, which can also be spelled “Kazaks”, are one of the major ethnic groups in the country.

Ethnic makeup

Because of its past history of colonization and forced settlement, Kazakhstan is made up of a number of different ethnic groups.

Kazakhs and Russians form the two largest ethnic groups with 53 and 30 percent of the population, respectively. Russians tend to live in urban areas and in the northern part of the country. Other groups with significant numbers are Ukrainians, four percent, and Germans and Uzbeks, each with around 2.5 percent. The remaining seven percent includes various other ethnic groups.

Cultural traditions

Arts and crafts relating to the nomadic life of the original settlers form an important basis of the cultural traditions. Among these arts are carpets and rugs, jewelry, and decorative clothing and accessories.

Music expressing life on the steppes and aitys, debates between leaders set to music, remain an important expression of the culture.

One of the most important literary figures was Abay Kunanbayev, who lived in the late 19th century. A Kazakh poet, educator, and composer, Kunanbayev also admired Russian culture and championed friendship and understanding between the two cultures.

Religions

The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and there is no government interference with worship. There is no official religion, and there are no religious public holidays.

Religious affiliation is divided mainly along ethnic lines. Approximately 47 percent of the population, mainly Kazakhs, are Muslim; 44 percent, mainly Slavs and other Europeans, are Russian Orthodox. The remaining 9 percent are primarily Protestant and Jewish.

Languages

Kazakh – which, like the ethnic group name, can also be spelled “Kazak” – is a Turkic language related to Turkish. It is the official language of Kazakhstan and is spoken by some 40 percent of the population. Kazakh is written in the Cyrillic alphabet and includes all the Russian letters and several additional characters.

Russian is considered the language of interethnic communication and is spoken by two-thirds of the population. It is the language most commonly used for business and for all types of transactions and communication in urban daily life. Russian is also written in Cyrillic.

Some English is spoken by those accustomed to dealing with foreigners.

Travelers to Kazakhstan will find a Russian-English dictionary and Russian phrase book helpful for communication.

Kazakhstani attitudes

Toward work

Kazakhstan has a highly-educated labor force. In general, Kazakhstanis are flexible and welcome change, although some older workers show characteristics of the Soviet work ethic. The younger Kazakhstanis, especially those who have studied or worked in North America or Western Europe, seem to appreciate the free market system, although they may not understand all its aspects.

Kazakhstan suffers from considerable underemployment, with compulsory part-time and leave of absence common. Safety consciousness and work safety conditions in the industrial sector are substandard.

Toward hierarchy

Foreigners will find considerable bureaucracy in government, but less hierarchy in business. In its place, foreigners may find cohesive groups with cultural similarity or family ties. In general, if the person in charge is Russian or Kazakh, many of the employees will also be Russian or Kazakh, respectively.

Toward women

Men usually are polite and attentive to women and perform small courtesies for them.
Most women are employed outside the home and also have responsibility for child care and for the maintenance of the home. Women tend to be overly represented in low-paying and menial jobs.

There are no legal restrictions on the participation of women in politics and government, but traditional attitudes limit the number of women who hold high office or participate actively in political affairs.

CITIES

Astana

In the mid-1950s, Astana was designated the center of the Virgin Lands project, which was planned to turn the steppe into productive wheat fields. Astana is still the center of an important grain-producing area. Since December 1997, it has also been the the official capital, which was moved from Almaty. Once a dreary provincial town, Astana now has a parliament building, government headquarters, foreign ministry and congress hall, all built by Turkish contractors.

President Nazarbayev was responsible for the decision to move the capital to Astana, which he considered more centrally located and a better transportation hub. Astana is also less prone to earthquakes than Almaty, which lies on a seismic fault and has experienced several devastating earthquakes. Nazarbayev’s contention was that the change would stimulate development in the region, which had been in decline since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Originally, the name for the new capital was Akmola, which means “White Tomb” in Kazakh. When foreign journalists voiced their disapproval of this connotation, the name was changed to Astana, which in Kazakh simply means “capital.”

Astana, home to approximately 300,000 in 1997, almost doubled its population to nearly 600,000 people by 2004 and currently is home to nearly 640,000. The surge was due to relocating public employees, as well as private employees seeking business opportunities.

Aktau

Aktau was developed as a “Soviet Model” city in 1963. Aktau means “white mountain” in Kazakh, named because of the vast flat steppes that surround the city. It is a good distance from other cities with limited transportation between them.

Aktau is also a port on the Caspian Sea, and with its sandy beaches, has become popular with tourists. Home to about 188,000 residents, it is near the Tenghiz oil field in Western Kazakhstan and a center of the uranium industry.

Almaty

Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan with a population of 1.6 million. It is the commercial and cultural capital, and until 1997 was also the political capital. The capital was then relocated to Astana, although Almaty continues to be accorded special status and in all probability will remain the business center.

Almaty was founded in 1854 as a Russian frontier fort on the site of an ancient Silk Road oasis called Almaty. The Russians settled the area with immigrants and for a period used it as a place of exile. During World War II, Russian war industry was relocated here, and many different ethnic groups migrated to the factories or were forcibly resettled in Almaty.

Almaty is the most cosmopolitan city in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, and attracts many international businesspeople and their families. It is located in the extreme southeastern part of Kazakhstan, at the foot of the Tien Shan Mountains. Its streets form a grid pattern, its architecture is low-rise, and its urban pattern is relieved with parks and open space.

Atyrau

Atyrau is a city of 180,000 on the Ural River and an important port for the Caspian Sea. It is located near major oil deposits in western Kazakhstan and is known as “Oil City.” Most of the population, some 80 percent, are Kazakhs.

Atyrau was founded by a Russian trader in the 17th century. Its original source of wealth was caviar from the sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. Today, the industry has declined due to falling numbers of sturgeon fish, which are caught for their prized beluga caviar.

CLIMATE

Much of Kazakhstan has a typical continental climate with extreme variations in temperature. Summers are hot, with temperatures sometimes above 40 C/104 F, and winters can be bitterly cold, with temperatures as low as -40 C/-40 F.

The air is dry, and windstorms are common. Rainfall is minimal and occurs mostly in May and June, and October and November.

Information provided in association with Living Abroad