INDEPENDENT ISLAMIC STATES

Kazakhstan

Official Name: Republic of Kazakhstan (KZ)

Capital   : Astana

Important Cities: Almaty (Alma Ata), Shymkent, Terez, Karaganda and Ust Kamenogorsk.

Area: 2,724,900 km²

Population        : 19,100,000 (2021)[1]
Average Human Lifespan: 66 years.

Ethnicity: Kazakh 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Uyghur 1.4%, other 6.6%.
Language: During the Soviet era, the official language in Kazakhstan was Russian. The Soviet governments, claiming that the Kazakh language was not the language of education, tried to adopt it as a language spoken only in villages and succeeded in this. Although schools providing education in Kazakh Turkish were opened during the Soviet period, the graduates of these schools were mostly employed in kolkhozes and villages. In the first paragraph of Article 7 of the constitution adopted on 28 January 1993, it is stated that the official language of the state is Kazakh, but in the second paragraph, it is emphasised that Kazakh and Russian will be used equally in the administrative units of the state. The reason for this is that the Kazakh language has been forgotten and the Russian population in Kazakhstan is high. Since 1999, all official correspondence has been carried out in the Kazakh language.

Religion: The main religions are Islam 70% and Christianity 26%. More than 3,500 religious organisations operate in Kazakhstan, 85% of which are registered. Of the 2302 temples, 1,587 are mosques, 228 are Orthodox churches, 69 are Catholic churches, 40 are Protestant churches, 10 are synagogues and 7 are other religious places. In the years since independence, the number of religious organisations has increased about 5 times and 30 new religions and denominations have emerged.
Geographical Situation: It is surrounded by the Russian Federation to the north, the People's Republic of China to the east, the republics of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to the south, the Caspian Sea to the west and the Republic of Turkmenistan to the southwest.

Leaving aside the mountainous areas in the east and southeast, most of Kazakhstan consists of plains and undulating plateaus. The southeastern part of the country is bordered by the Tien Shan (Tianjin) mountains and the eastern part by the Altai and God mountains. Kazakhstan has a distinct continental climate; the temperature difference between winter and summer seasons is large. Precipitation is not abundant and decreases from north to south. Average annual precipitation varies between 300 and 200 mm; nine-tenths of the territory receives less than 300 millimetres of precipitation. The Irtysh, Ishim and Tobol rivers of Kazakhstan, which is a country rich in rivers, flow into the Arctic Sea, the Ural and Emba into the Caspian Sea, and the Siriderya into the Aral and Ili Balkhash lakes; most of the small rivers are lost in the deserts. Kazakhstan is generally dominated by steppes and the landscape becomes semi-desert from north to south. The lengths of the rivers are often covered with shrubs; these sometimes turn into woodlands in the form of large islands and dense forests on the slopes of high hills. The southern parts of the country constitute the desert area of Central Asia. In the valleys of large rivers such as Siriderya, dense woods and bushes are sometimes found. In general, forests are sparse and consist mainly of pine trees at higher elevations.

Mode of Government: The parliament consists of two parts, the senate and the assembly. The term of senatorship is six years. The term of parliamentary deputies is five years. The president appoints the president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly. In 1997, the administrative division was reorganised and the number of states was reduced from nineteen to fourteen. The provinces are governed by governors appointed by the president upon the proposal of the prime minister. Although the governor is the sole responsible for the administration, the members of the council elected by the people have the authority to make a proposal to the president for the dismissal of the governor. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, villages are subordinated to districts, districts to provinces and provinces to states (oblus). There are also provinces with special status directly subordinate to the centre. The government is responsible to the president. The president appoints as prime minister a person agreed upon by both houses of parliament. Legislative power is exercised by the senate wing of parliament.

Administrative Divisions: 14 regions and 3 cities; Almaty, Almaty city, Aqmola (Astana), Aqtobe, Astana, Atyrau, Batys Qazaqstan (Oral), Bayqongyr, Mangghystau (Aqtau; formerly Shevchenko), Ongtustik Qazaqstan (Shymkent), Pavlodar, Qaraghandy, Qostanay, Qyzylorda, Shyghys Qazaqstan (Oskemen; formerly Ust'-Kamenogorsk), Soltustik Qazaqstan (Petropavl), Zhambyl (Taraz; formerly Dzhambul)
Political Parties: There are 300 political organisations and nine political parties registered in Kazakhstan.

History: The lands within the borders of today's Kazakhstan constitute the crossing point of various tribes and tribes throughout history. The fact that this geographical area started to be known by the name of a Turkish tribe called Kazakh is closely related to the developments after the Seljuk domination.

     Russian Tsar Nicholas I issued an edict on 22 June 1854, declaring that all Kazakh lands were under Russian rule and Kazakhs were subject to Russian laws. However, some tribal beys refused Russian rule and continued their struggle.

     The oppressive rule of the Russians and the settlement of Russian immigrants caused the awakening of national consciousness in the Kazakhs after a while. The uprising that started in 1916 spread to the whole country in a short time. The Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and the new principles brought by it brought the uprising to a new stage. Elections were held in the country and nationalists won the elections on all sides. In early 1917, the General Kazakh Congress convened in Ak-Tübe, Ural and Orenburg and took decisions to organise the country as a modern country. In line with these decisions, the Alash Party was founded. Later, the name of the government formed was Alash Orda. While the civil war was going on in Russia, Kazakhstan declared its autonomy (December 1917). After the end of the civil war, Red Army troops invaded Kazakhstan in 1919 and established the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 20 August 1920 instead of autonomous Kazakhstan. Some territories were added to this republic in 1924 during the formation of new Soviet Republics, thus the present borders of Kazakhstan were determined.

     After the Russians took Kazakhstan completely under their rule, they implemented a great assimilation policy here. People's freedom of worship was abolished, mosques were closed. Muslim people were forced to attend atheist conferences and atheism was introduced as a subject in schools. Between 1948 and 1975, 126 anti-religious books were translated into Kazakh Turkish. The Russian administration was not satisfied with this and tried to increase the differences between the Turkish dialects and turn each of them into a separate language. The Cyrillic alphabet was adopted; after World War I, Russian started to be used as the language of education and science. On the other hand, literary works that would reflect the national culture were banned. Instead, writers and poets were supported for the development of proletarian and kolkhoz literature in Turkic dialects.

Islamism in the country: 70% of the population is  Muslim, 26% is  Christian, 0.2% is  Buddhist, 0.1% other religions (mostly  Jewish), 3% has no religion, 0.5% chose not to answer.According to the Constitution of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan is a secular state.

      Religious freedoms are guaranteed by Article 39 of the Constitution of Kazakhstan. Article 39 states that 'Human rights and freedoms may not be restricted in any way'. Article 14 prohibits 'discrimination on religious grounds' and Article 19 ensures that everyone has the 'right to determine and not to declare their ethnic, party or religious affiliation'. The Constitutional Council has in the past upheld these rights, ruling that a draft law limiting the right of some people to practise their religion was unconstitutional.

The Hazret Sultan Mosque, is the largest mosque in Kazakhstan. The largest religion in Kazakhstan is Islam. Hundreds of mosques, churches and other places of worship have been built in a few years, and the number of religious associations has increased from 670 in 1990 to 4,170 today. Some figures show that Muslims of no sect make up the majority, while others show that most of the country's Muslims are of the sect of  Hanafism followed by  Sunnah. These include ethnic Kazakhs, who make up about 60% of the population, as well as ethnic Uzbeks, Uyghurs and Tatars. less than 1% are part of the Sunni  Shafi'i sect (mainly Chechens). There are also some  Ahmadi Muslims. There are a total of 2,300 mosques in Kazakhstan, all of which are affiliated to the 'Spiritual Association of Muslims of Kazakhstan', which is headed by a head  mufti  Eid al-Adha is also recognised as a holiday throughout the country. 

Economy: Known as a country of agriculture and animal husbandry, the steppes in the north and the highlands in the south of Kazakhstan are the most favourable places for animal husbandry. Especially irrigated agriculture is gradually developing (cotton and rice production), and fruit growing is also carried out to meet the needs of the people. In transportation, in addition to the railways left from the Russians, land and waterways are used; airways, which have become operational in recent years, are also important. Although not as much as agriculture and animal husbandry in Kazakhstan's economy, the industrial sector also has a say. Machinery and textile in Karaganda. Copper casting and iron and steel industries are developed around Balkhash and foodstuff industries are developed in various parts.

     The territory of the country is rich in underground wealth. Coal is mined in the Karaganda region and oil in the Ural-Emba basin. There are mines such as copper, lead, zinc, iron, manganese, tin, nickel, tungsten, molybdenum, antimony, arsenic, bauxite in various parts of the country and a significant part of them are operated; salt production from lakes is also important.

Currency: Tenge

National Income per Capita: 9,828 USD[2]

Foreign Trade: Exports: $35.55 billion (2006)
Export Products:oil 40%, machinery, chemical products, grain, wool, meat, coal
Export Partners: Russia 12.4%, Germany 12%, China 11.2%, Italy 8.8%, France 8.6%, Romania 5.1%, USA 4.5% (2005)
Imports:$22 billion (2006)
Import Products: Machinery and parts, building materials, oil and gas, vehicles
Import Partners:Russia 35.7%, China 21.3%, Germany 7.1% (2005)
Industry: Oil, coal, iron, manganese, chromium, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphate, sulphur, iron and steel, tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, building materials. Since during the Soviet Union the Republic of Kazakhstan was used only as a source of raw materials for Russia, the production industry, as opposed to the extraction industry, never developed in Kazakhstan. In 1993 and 1994, as a result of the privatisation policy, important state-owned economic facilities were handed over to private individuals, paving the way for the creation of monopolies.
Energy: Electricity generation:63.26 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity consumption:58.3 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity exports:4.9 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity imports:4.37 billion kWh (2004)
Transport: (Railways: 13,700; Highways: 90,018; Waterways: 4,000 km
Pipelines: Condensate 658 km; natural gas 11,019 km; crude oil 10,338 km; petroleum products 1,095 km; Ports: Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev), Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk)

Health: Health care in Kazakhstan is provided by a network of primary, secondary and tertiary health services. Health facilities are largely represented by the Ministry of Health.

Education: The literacy rate has reached 98 per cent.

Natural Resources: Oil, natural gas, coal, iron, manganese, chromium, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium.
International Organisations and Institutions of which it is a Member: OIC[3] (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), ASDB (Asian Development Bank), CCC (Customs Cooperation Council), CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), EAPC.

[1]   www.ticaret.gov.tr (October-2021 Access)

[2]   www.ticaret.gov.tr(October-2021 Access)

[3]   oci-oic.org