Kazakhstan

Fast Facts

Location: Central Asia

Capital: Nur-Sultan (previously named Astana)

Population: 19.25 million (2022)

Government Type: Unitary Republic

Language(s): Kazakh, Russian

Climate: Continental (long hot summers, long cold winters)

GDP: USD $190.81 billion

Human Development Index Ranking: 0.825 (High-Moderate, 2019)

Overview

Kazakhstan is arguably the most major player located entirely within Central Asia (Russia heavily influences the region, but is not a “Central Asian nation” per se). It is the largest country by landmass in the region (and 9th largest in the world), holds the highest GDP, and is extremely rich in natural resources. It is this last point that plays an especially significant role in modern Kazakhstan, as it influences both domestic and foreign policy. Exploitation of these resources has caused political and economic issues, and an uneasy co-existence between local traditions and modern life. But life for the average person in Kazakhstan is slowly improving. The HDI ranking from 2000 to 2019 objectively rose, with the nationwide average ranking rising from 0.69 to 0.83 (with 1 being the highest) during this 20-year period, and the average life expectancy has steadily risen since the fall of the USSR. It certainly seems that life in Kazakhstan is slowly improving for the average person - but a number of roadblocks still remain.

History

Credit: Joel Heard

Modern day Kazakhstan has been inhabited since the Stone Age, as the Central Asian region is perfect for the practice of nomadic pastoralism. For centuries, the local populations (many of whom, such as the Scythians, cannot be directly linked to modern Kazakhs) lived as nomadic cultures heavily reliant on their animals. True political consolidation, however, did not occur until the early 13th century, with the invasion of the Mongol Empire establishing administrative districts that remained in place after the Empire’s collapse. By the 15th and 16th centuries, a unique Kazakh identity had formed around culture, language, and currency, as well as the establishment of a Kazakh nation under Kasym Khan. This empire would spend the next several centuries fighting off the Oirats, a Western Mongol confederation led by the exceptionally aggressive Dzungars (a threat eventually eliminated by the Manchurian Chinese). In the 1800s, Russian imperial influence had all but dominated Central Asia in a period known as the “Great Game”, in which the British and Russian empires competed for strategic dominance in the region. After the Bolshevik Revolution and establishment of the USSR, Kazakhstan’s new political system was established as an autonomous region in 1920, and Soviet republic in 1936. Soviet repression of Kazakh culture, intellectuals, and elites -as well as the collectivisation of agriculture - led to famine and mass emigration. Nuclear weaponry was also tested on Kazakh soil, causing major ecological and public health damage. Following the collapse of the USSR, Kazakhstan declared its own independence in 1990, fully achieving it in 1991. Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first post-Soviet president, initially followed a moderate line of democratisation - but became increasingly authoritarian over the following years. It was not until 2019 that he resigned, after three decades in power.

Economy

Kazakhstan’s economy is, as previously mentioned, heavily focused on natural resources. Oil, and oil related products, account for a staggering 73% of the national GDP - an extremely high proportion that leaves the national economy highly vulnerable to market shocks. However, much of that financial growth has been responsibly re-invested, with transportation and logistics infrastructure being generated to link Kazakhstan to Russia, western China, Europe, and the rest of Central Asia (a combined population of nearly 1 billion people). But the positive effects of these infrastructure projects have yet to be fully realised. The drop in oil prices in the mid-2010’s led to a severe decline in national GDP, with growth falling by approximately USD $100 billion in just three years. Furthermore, economic growth is hindered by widespread systemic corruption, with the Council of Europe reporting that corruption rates in Kazakhstan are “a serious concern, and more transparency [is] needed.”. When wealth is stored offshore - rather than in national banks, where it generates interest - it greatly impacts a national economy’s capacity for growth. But the news is not entirely negative - Kazakhstan has weathered the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a GDP growth rate jumping back up to 4% in 2021, and a predicted 3.2% in 2022. With financially sustainable and responsible investments, a divestment away from natural resources, and an earnest campaign to tackle corruption, Kazakhstan has the potential for enormous economic capacity.

January 2022: What Happened, and Why

A protestor is detained during civil unrest in January, 2022. Credit: Vladimir Tretyakov/AP via Al Jazeera

On January 2nd, 2022, protests erupted in the oil hub town of Zhanaozen, after the government lifted a price cap on petroleum, causing the nationwide price of gas to almost double - after thousands of people converted their cars to petroleum usage as it was cheaper than other fuels prior to the price cap lifting. But these protests came to be about far more than fuel - widespread anger at the “monopoly” that Nursultan Nazarbayev and his allies had built in the post Soviet era, including over political choice and civil freedoms, also played a central part. Even after his resignation from a thirty year rule as president, Nazarbayev retained power as chairman of the national Security Council (until his successor, President Tokayev, forced his resignation days later).

Unfortunately, the situation did not remain peaceful - even after Nazarbayev’s dismissal. Authorities were accused of responding to the protests with excessive force, with 225 dead and over 10,000 detained. After several days of violent clashes, Tokayev appealed to the CSTO - the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a military organisation and successor to the Warsaw Pact established after the end of the Cold War - for support. Merely four days after protests began, 2000 troops from Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan arrived in Kazakhstan to stabilise the situation. As soon as January 10th, it was assumed that the situation had been stabilised in Kazakhstan, though, as the Centre for Eastern Studies writes, “the embers may still smoulder for some time”.

Trivia

-Nearly every element on the periodic table can naturally be found in Kazakhstan, with over 99 discovered there.

-Kazakhstan is considered to be the birthplace of apples, with the Malus sieversii variant being identified as the progenitor of all mass-produced apples today.
-Archaeologists believe that the first horses to be tamed in human history were done so in modern day Kazakhstan.

-The largest and oldest space launch facility - the Baikonur Cosmodrome - is located in Kazakhstan, and is today both a museum and an operational facility under the operations of the Russian government.