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 KazakstanFormal Name: Republic of Kazakstan.Short Form: Kazakstan.Term for Citizens: Kazakstani(s).Capital: Almaty, scheduled to move to Aqmola 1998.Date of Independence: December 16, 1991. GeographySize: Approximately 2,717,300 square kilometers.Topography: Substantial variation according to region; Altay and Tian Shan ranges in east and northeast, about 12 percent of territory, reach elevation of nearly 7,000 meters; more than three-quarters of territory desert or semidesert, with elevations below sea level along Caspian Sea coast in far west. Climate: Continental and very dry except in eastern moun-tains, where snowfall heavy; wide temperature variation between wiSocietyPopulation: By 1994 estimate, 17,268,000; annual growth rate 1.1 percent in 1994; population density 6.2 persons per square kilometer in 1994.Ethnic Groups: In 1994, Kazaks 45 percent, Russians 36 per-cent, Ukrainians 5 percent, Germans 4 percent, Tatars and Uzbeks 2 percent each. Languages: Official state language a contentious issue; 1995 constitution stipulates Kazak and Russian as state languages. Russian primary language in business, science, and academia. Non-Kazak population exerts pressure against requirements for use of Kazak.Religion: In 1994, some 47 percent Muslim (Sunni branch), 44 percent Russian Orthodox, 2 percent Protestant (mainly Bap-tist), with smaller numbers of Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, and Jewish believers.Education and Literacy: Literacy in 1989 was 97.5 percent. Education, fully supported by state funds, hampered by shortage of facilities and materials and low pay for teachers; major program to restructure Soviet system in progress mid-1990s; primary language of instruction Russian at all levels.Health: Soviet-era free health system declined drastically in early 1990s, mainly because of low funding. Drugs and materials in short supply, doctors underpaid and leaving medicine, child health care especially poor. Infant mortality and contagious diseases rising, mid-1990s. EconomyGross National Product (GNP): Estimated 1993 at US$26.5 billion, or US$1,530 per capita. In 1994 estimated growth rate -25.4 percent. In early 1990s, growth hindered by Soviet-era specialization and centralization, slow privatization.Agriculture: Large-scale misallocation of land in Soviet Virgin Lands program, emphasizing cultivation over livestock, con-tinues to distort land use. Main crops wheat, cotton, and rice; main livestock products meat and milk. State farms continue to dominate, 1996; land privatization minimal.Industry and Mining: Outmoded heavy industry infrastructure inherited from Soviet era, specializing in chemicals, machinery, oil refining, and metallurgy; coal, iron ore, manganese, phosphates, and various other minerals mined. Some light industry. Industrial productivity hampered by lost markets and enterprise debt.Exports: Mainly raw materials: metals, oil and petroleum products, chemicals, worth US$3.08 billion in 1994; share of bartered goods, substantial in early 1990s, smaller in 1995 and mainly with Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) partners. Cash sales to CIS partners increased substantially in 1995, partially replacing barter. Export structure shifting steadily to non-CIS partners, mid-1990s, as Western oil sales increase; non-CIS expansion needed to balance imports for industrial restructuring. Imports: In 1994, worth US$3.49 billion, mainly energy products, machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and food. Industrial machinery and technology imports will increase, energy products decrease, in late 1990s. Trade deficits with both CIS and non-CIS groups, 1994. Main trading partners Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Italy, and China.Exchange Rate: Tenge introduced November 1993 when Kazakstan left ruble zone. Exchange rate sixty-four to US$1, January 1996.Inflation: Hyperinflation, 1993 and 1994, brought under better control with tightened loan policy; estimated 1995 annual rate 190 percent. Fiscal Policy: Centralized system; fundamental streamlining of tax code, 1995, emphasizing taxation of individuals over taxaTransportation and TelecommunicationsHighways: In 1994, about 189,000 kilometers of roads, of which 108,000 kilometers gravel or paved. Road transport declining element of economic infrastructure; maintenance and truck fleet inadequate to expand service.Railroads: Three railroad companies provide about 90 percent of national freight haulage, but infrastructure and equipment supply unreliable. In 1993, system had 14,148 kilometers of track, of which 3,050 kilometers electrified, concentrated in north, mainly connecting with Russian system.Ports: On Caspian Sea, Aqtau, Atyrau, and Fort Shevchenko, with limited commercial value.Pipelines: In 1992, some 3,480 kilometers for natural gas, 2,850 kilometers for crude oil, and 1,500 kilometers for refined products. Systems mainly connected with Russian lines to north; new lines in planning stage, 1996, with Western aid, to connect with Europe and other international destinations. Telecommunications: Limited service, inadequate to planned economic expansion. In 1994, seventeen of 100 urban citizens had telephones, heavily concentrated in Almaty. Most equip-ment outmoded, overburdened. All international connections through Moscow. Radio and television broadcasting govern-ment controlled; satellite television broadcasts from other countries; sixty-one domestic radio stations, one domestic tele-vision network, 1996.
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