Anis H. Bajrektarevic is a Professor and a Chairperson for International Law and Global

kAzAkHSTAN AT A gLANCE
Official name: 
Republic of Kazakhstan
Capital: 
Astana (Astana became capital in 1997—for-
mer capital was Almaty)
Largest city: 
Almaty
government type: 
Republic; authoritarian presidential
rule, with little power outside the executive branch
Independence: 
16 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National legislature: 
based on Islamic law and Roman
law, has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch: 
Bicameral Parliament
Head of state: 
President Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV
(elected President December 1, 1991), elected again in
2005, and elected again in 2010 and made “leader for
life.”
geographic location: 
Central Asia, south of Russia and
northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural
River in eastern-most Europe
Area: 
2,717,300 sq. km (1 million square miles)
Natural resources: 
major deposits of petroleum, natu-
ral gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel,
cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold,
uranium
Population: 
17, 400,000 (July 2013 est.)
Languages: 
Kazakh (state language) 64.4%, Russian
(official, used in everyday business, designated the “lan-
guage of interethnic communication) 95% (2001 est.)
Ethnic groups:
Kazakh 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian
3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur
1.4%, other 4.9% (1999 census)
Religions: 
Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protes-
tant 2%, other 7%
Life expectancy: 
62 years (men), 73 years (women)
(UN)
Internet domain: 
.kz
International dialing code:
+7
gNI per capita: 
U.S. $11,380 (World Bank, 2013 est.)