Antigua and Barbuda (2002) | Kazakhstan (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | 6 parishes and 2 dependencies*; Barbuda*, Redonda*, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, Saint Philip | 14 provinces (oblystar, singular - oblys) and 3 cities* (qala, singular - qalasy); Almaty Oblysy, Almaty Qalasy*, Aqmola Oblysy (Astana), Aqtobe Oblysy, Astana Qalasy*, Atyrau Oblysy, Batys Qazaqstan Oblysy (Oral), Bayqongyr Qalasy*, Mangghystau Oblysy (Aqtau), Ongtustik Qazaqstan Oblysy (Shymkent), Pavlodar Oblysy, Qaraghandy Oblysy, Qostanay Oblysy, Qyzylorda Oblysy, Shyghys Qazaqstan Oblysy (Oskemen), Soltustik Qazaqstan Oblysy (Petropavlovsk), Zhambyl Oblysy (Taraz)
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); in 1995, the Governments of Kazakhstan and Russia entered into an agreement whereby Russia would lease for a period of 20 years an area of 6,000 sq km enclosing the Baykonur space launch facilities and the city of Bayqongyr (Baykonur, formerly Leninsk); in 2004, a new agreement extended the lease to 2050 |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 28% (male 9,618; female 9,293)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 22,695; female 22,682) 65 years and over: 4.7% (male 1,289; female 1,871) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 22.5% (male 1,758,782/female 1,683,249)
15-64 years: 69.2% (male 5,169,314/female 5,407,661) 65 years and over: 8.3% (male 446,549/female 819,374) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, fruits, vegetables, bananas, coconuts, cucumbers, mangoes, sugarcane; livestock | grain (mostly spring wheat), cotton; livestock |
Airports | 3 (2001) | 97 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 65
over 3,047 m: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 27 1,524 to 2,437 m: 17 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 8 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 32
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 12 (2007) |
Area | total: 443 sq km (Antigua 280 sq km; Barbuda 161 sq km)
land: 442 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Redonda, 1.6 sq km |
total: 2,717,300 sq km
land: 2,669,800 sq km water: 47,500 sq km |
Area - comparative | 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly less than four times the size of Texas |
Background | The Siboney were the first to inhabit the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 B.C., but Arawak and Carib Indians populated the islands when Columbus landed on his second voyage in 1493. Early settlements by the Spanish and French were succeeded by the English who formed a colony in 1667. Slavery, established to run the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834. The islands became an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1981. | Native Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated into the region in the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation. The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1936. During the 1950s and 1960s agricultural "Virgin Lands" program, Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate Kazakhstan's northern pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly Russians, but also some other deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-Kazakhs to outnumber natives. Independence in 1991 caused many of these newcomers to emigrate. Kazakhstan's economy is larger than those of all the other Central Asian states combined, largely due to the country's vast natural resources and a recent history of political stability. Current issues include: developing a cohesive national identity; expanding the development of the country's vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets; achieving a sustainable economic growth; diversifying the economy outside the oil, gas, and mining sectors; enhancing Kazakhstan's competitiveness; and strengthening relations with neighboring states and other foreign powers. |
Birth rate | 18.84 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 16.23 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $123.7 million
expenditures: $145.9 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $18.66 billion
expenditures: $18.02 billion (2006 est.) |
Capital | Saint John's | name: Astana
geographic coordinates: 51 10 N, 71 25 E time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Kazakhstan is divided into three time zones |
Climate | tropical marine; little seasonal temperature variation | continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid |
Coastline | 153 km | 0 km (landlocked); note - Kazakhstan borders the Aral Sea, now split into two bodies of water (1,070 km), and the Caspian Sea (1,894 km) |
Constitution | 1 November 1981 | first post-independence constitution adopted 28 January 1993; new constitution adopted by national referendum 30 August 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Antigua and Barbuda |
conventional long form: Republic of Kazakhstan
conventional short form: Kazakhstan local long form: Qazaqstan Respublikasy local short form: Qazaqstan former: Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) | - |
Death rate | 5.75 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 9.4 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $231 million (1999) | $73.45 billion (2006 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Antigua and Barbuda (embassy closed 30 June 1994); the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Antigua and Barbuda | chief of mission: Ambassador John M. ORDWAY
embassy: Ak Bulak 4, Str. 23-22, Building #3, Astana 010010 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [7] (7172) 70-21-00 FAX: [7] (7172) 34-08-90 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Lionel Alexander HURST
chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 362-5211 FAX: [1] (202) 362-5225 consulate(s) general: Miami |
chief of mission: Ambassador Yerlan IDRISOV
chancery: 1401 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 232-5488 FAX: [1] (202) 232-5845 consulate(s): New York |
Disputes - international | none | Kyrgyzstan has yet to ratify the 2001 boundary delimitation with Kazakhstan; field demarcation of the boundaries with Turkmenistan commenced in 2005, and with Uzbekistan in 2004; demarcation is scheduled to get underway with Russia in 2007; demarcation with China was completed in 2002; creation of a seabed boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea remains under discussion; equidistant seabed treaties have been ratified with Azerbaijan and Russia in the Caspian Sea, but no resolution has been made on dividing the water column among any of the littoral states |
Economic aid - recipient | $2.3 million (1995) | $229.2 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | Tourism continues to dominate the economy, accounting for more than half of GDP. Weak tourist arrival numbers since early 2000 have slowed the economy, however, and pressed the government into a tight fiscal corner. The dual-island nation's agricultural production is focused on the domestic market and constrained by a limited water supply and a labor shortage stemming from the lure of higher wages in tourism and construction work. Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for export with major products being bedding, handicrafts, and electronic components. Prospects for economic growth in the medium term will continue to depend on income growth in the industrialized world, especially in the US, which accounts for about one-third of all tourist arrivals. | Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources and also on a growing machine-building sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors, agricultural machinery, and some defense items. The breakup of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse in demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products resulted in a short-term contraction of the economy, with the steepest annual decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97, the pace of the government program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 - 8% or more per year in 2002-06 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good harvests, and foreign investment. The opening of the Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raised export capacity. Kazakhstan in 2006 completed the Atasu-Alashankou portion of an oil pipeline to China that is planned to extend from the country's Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border in future construction. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector by developing light industry. The policy aims to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. The government has engaged in several disputes with foreign oil companies over the terms of production agreements; tensions continue. Upward pressure on the local currency continued in 2006 due to massive oil-related foreign-exchange inflows. Aided by strong growth and foreign exchange earnings, Kazakhstan aspires to become a regional financial center and has created a banking system comparable to those in Central Europe. |
Electricity - consumption | 93 million kWh (2000) | 57.99 billion kWh (2005 est.) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 3.978 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 4.552 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 100 million kWh (2000) | 64.23 billion kWh (2005 est.) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Boggy Peak 402 m |
lowest point: Vpadina Kaundy -132 m
highest point: Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik Khan-Tengri) 6,995 m |
Environment - current issues | water management - a major concern because of limited natural fresh water resources - is further hampered by the clearing of trees to increase crop production, causing rainfall to run off quickly | radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with former defense industries and test ranges scattered throughout the country pose health risks for humans and animals; industrial pollution is severe in some cities; because the two main rivers which flowed into the Aral Sea have been diverted for irrigation, it is drying up and leaving behind a harmful layer of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then picked up by the wind and blown into noxious dust storms; pollution in the Caspian Sea; soil pollution from overuse of agricultural chemicals and salination from poor infrastructure and wasteful irrigation practices |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | black, British, Portuguese, Lebanese, Syrian | Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9% (1999 census) |
Exchange rates | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7000 (fixed rate since 1976) | tenge per US dollar - 126.09 (2006), 132.88 (2005), 136.04 (2004), 149.58 (2003), 153.28 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General James B. CARLISLE (since NA 1993)
head of government: Prime Minister Lester Bryant BIRD (since 8 March 1994); Deputy Prime Minister Robin YEARWOOD cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general chosen by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general |
chief of state: President Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV (chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 22 February 1990, elected president 1 December 1991)
head of government: Prime Minister Karim MASIMOV (since 10 January 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Umirzak SHUKEYEV (since 27 August 2007) and Yerbol ORYNBAYEV (since 29 October 2007) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (no term limits); election last held 4 December 2005 (next to be held in 2012); prime minister and first deputy prime minister appointed by the president election results: Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV reelected president; percent of vote - Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV 91.1%, Zharmakhan A. TUYAKBAI 6.6%, Alikhan M. BAIMENOV 1.6% note: President NAZARBAYEV arranged a referendum in 1995 that extended his term of office and expanded his presidential powers: only he can initiate constitutional amendments, appoint and dismiss the government, dissolve Parliament, call referenda at his discretion, and appoint administrative heads of regions and cities |
Exports | $40 million (2000 est.) | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum products 48%, manufactures 23%, machinery and transport equipment 17%, food and live animals 4%, other 8% | oil and oil products 58%, ferrous metals 24%, chemicals 5%, machinery 3%, grain, wool, meat, coal (2001) |
Exports - partners | OECS 26%, Barbados 15%, Guyana 4%, Trinidad and Tobago 2%, US 0.3% | Germany 12.4%, Russia 11.6%, China 11%, Italy 10.5%, France 7.5%, Romania 5% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | red, with an inverted isosceles triangle based on the top edge of the flag; the triangle contains three horizontal bands of black (top), light blue, and white, with a yellow rising sun in the black band | sky blue background representing the endless sky and a gold sun with 32 rays soaring above a golden steppe eagle in the center; on the hoist side is a "national ornamentation" in gold |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $674 million (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 4%
industry: 19% services: 77% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 5.7%
industry: 39.8% services: 54.4% (2006 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $10,000 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2000 est.) | 10.6% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 03 N, 61 48 W | 48 00 N, 68 00 E |
Geography - note | Antigua has a deeply indented shoreline with many natural harbors and beaches; Barbuda has a very large western harbor | landlocked; Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome; in January 2004, Kazakhstan and Russia extended the lease to 2050 |
Heliports | - | 5 (2007) |
Highways | total: 1,165 km
paved: 384 km unpaved: 781 km note: it is assumed that the main roads are paved; the secondary roads are assumed to be unpaved (1995) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 26.5% (2004 est.) |
Illicit drugs | considered a minor transshipment point for narcotics bound for the US and Europe; more significant as an offshore financial center | significant illicit cultivation of cannabis for CIS markets, as well as limited cultivation of opium poppy and ephedra (for the drug ephedrine); limited government eradication of illicit crops; transit point for Southwest Asian narcotics bound for Russia and the rest of Europe; significant consumer of opiates |
Imports | $357 million (2000 est.) | 113,600 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, oil | machinery and equipment 41%, metal products 28%, foodstuffs 8% (2001) |
Imports - partners | US 27%, UK 16%, Canada 4%, OECS 3% | Russia 36.4%, China 19.3%, Germany 7.4% (2006) |
Independence | 1 November 1981 (from UK) | 16 December 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 6% (1997 est.) | 7.7% (2006 est.) |
Industries | tourism, construction, light manufacturing (clothing, alcohol, household appliances) | oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel; tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, construction materials |
Infant mortality rate | 21.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 27.41 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 31.94 deaths/1,000 live births female: 22.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0.4% (2000 est.) | 8.6% (2006 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM (observer), OAS, OECS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO | AsDB, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 16 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 35,560 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based in Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the Court of Summary Jurisdiction) | Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (7 members) |
Labor force | 30,000 | 8.029 million (2006 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | commerce and services 82%, agriculture 11%, industry 7% (1983) (1983) | agriculture: 20%
industry: 30% services: 50% (2002 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 12,012 km
border countries: China 1,533 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,051 km, Russia 6,846 km, Turkmenistan 379 km, Uzbekistan 2,203 km |
Land use | arable land: 18.18%
permanent crops: 0% other: 81.82% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 8.28%
permanent crops: 0.05% other: 91.67% (2005) |
Languages | English (official), local dialects | Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001 est.) |
Legal system | based on English common law | based on Islamic law and Roman law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (17-member body appointed by the governor general) and the House of Representatives (17 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 9 March 1999 (next to be held prior to March 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - ALP 53.2%, UPP 45.5%, independent 1.3%; seats by party - ALP 12, UPP 4, independent 1 |
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 7 members are appointed by the president; other members are elected by local assemblies; to serve six-year terms) and the Mazhilis (107 seats; 9 out of the 107 Mazhilis members are elected from the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, which represents the country's ethnic minorities; members are popularly elected to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - (indirect) last held December 2005; next to be held in 2011; Mazhilis - last held 18 August 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Mazhilis - percent of vote by party - Nur-Otan 88.1%, NSDP 4.6%, Ak Zhol 3.3%, Auyl 1.6%, Communist People's Party 1.3%, Patriots Party .8% Ruhaniyat .4%; seats by party - Nur-Otan 98; note - parties must achieve a threshold of 7% of the electorate to qualify for seats in the Mazhilis |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 71.02 years
male: 68.72 years female: 73.45 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 67.22 years
male: 61.9 years female: 72.84 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
total population: 89% male: 90% female: 88% (1960 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.5% male: 99.8% female: 99.3% (1999 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east-southeast of Puerto Rico | Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Asia |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 762 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,541,940 GRT/5,894,553 DWT
ships by type: bulk 20, cargo 469, chemical tanker 9, combination bulk 4, container 202, liquefied gas 7, multi-functional large-load carrier 6, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 9, roll on/roll off 35 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Australia 1, Bangladesh 2, Belgium 3, Colombia 1, Cuba 1, Estonia 1, Germany 747, Greece 1, Iceland 8, Latvia 1, Lebanon 2, Lithuania 1, Netherlands 22, New Zealand 2, Portugal 1, Slovenia 6, South Africa 1, Sweden 2, United Kingdom 1, United States 7 (2002 est.) |
total: 5 ships (1000 GRT or over) 30,011 GRT/49,223 DWT
by type: petroleum tanker 4, refrigerated cargo 1 (2007) |
Military branches | Royal Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force, Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police Force (including the Coast Guard) | Ground Forces, Naval Force, Air and Air Defense Forces, Republican Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 0.9% (Ministry of Defense expenditures) (FY02) |
National holiday | Independence Day (National Day), 1 November (1981) | Independence Day, 16 December (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Antiguan(s), Barbudan(s)
adjective: Antiguan, Barbudan |
noun: Kazakhstani(s)
adjective: Kazakhstani |
Natural hazards | hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October); periodic droughts | earthquakes in the south, mudslides around Almaty |
Natural resources | NEGL; pleasant climate fosters tourism | major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium |
Net migration rate | -6.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -3.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | condensate 658 km; gas 11,019 km; oil 10,338 km; refined products 1,095 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | Antigua Labor Party or ALP [Lester Bryant BIRD]; Barbuda People's Movement or BPM [Thomas H. FRANK]; United Progressive Party or UPP [Baldwin SPENCER] (a coalition of three opposition parties - United National Democratic Party or UNDP, Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement or ACLM, and Progressive Labor Movement or PLM) | Adilet (Justice) [Maksut NARIKBAYEV, Zeynulla ALSHIMBAYEV, Bakhytbek AKHMETZHAN, Yerkin ONGARBAYEV, Tolegan SYDYKOV] (formerly Democratic Party of Kazakhstan); Agrarian and Industrial Union of Workers Block or AIST (Agrarian Party and Civic Party); Ak Zhol Party (Bright Path) [Alikhan BAIMENOV]; Auyl (Village) [Gani KALIYEV]; Communist Party of Kazakhstan or KPK [Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN]; Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan [Vladislav KOSAREV]; National Social Democratic Party (NSDP)[Zharmakhan TUYAKBAY]; Nur-Otan [Bakhytzhan ZHUMAGULOV] (the Agrarian, Asar, and Civic parties merged with Otan); Patriots' Party [Gani KASYMOV]; Rukhaniyat (Spirituality) [Altynshash ZHAGANOVA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Antigua Trades and Labor Union or ATLU [William ROBINSON]; People's Democratic Movement or PDM [Hugh MARSHALL] | Adil-Soz [Tamara KALEYEVA]; Almaty Helsinki Group [Ninel FOKINA]; Confederation of Free Trade Unions [Sergei BELKIN]; For a Just Kazakhstan [Bolat ABILOV]; For Fair Elections [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS, Sabit ZHUSUPOV, Sergey DUVANOV, Ibrash NUSUPBAYEV]; Kazakhstan International Bureau on Human Rights [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS, executive director]; Pan-National Social Democratic Party of Kazakhstan [Zharmakhan TUYAKBAI]; Pensioners Movement or Pokoleniye [Irina SAVOSTINA, chairwoman]; Republican Network of International Monitors [Dos KUSHIM]; Transparency International [Sergei ZLOTNIKOV] |
Population | 67,448 (July 2002 est.) | 15,284,929 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 19% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.69% (2002 est.) | 0.352% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Saint John's | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 4, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 60, FM 17, shortwave 9 (1998) |
Radios | 36,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 77 km
narrow gauge: 64 km 0.760-m gauge; 13 km 0.610-m gauge (used almost exclusively for handling sugarcane) (2001 est.) |
total: 13,700 km
broad gauge: 13,700 km 1.520-m gauge (3,700 km electrified) (2006) |
Religions | Christian, (predominantly Anglican with other Protestant, and some Roman Catholic) | Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.045 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.956 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.545 male(s)/female total population: 0.932 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: good automatic telephone system international: 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Saba (Netherlands Antilles) and Guadeloupe |
general assessment: inherited an outdated telecommunications network from the Soviet era requiring modernization
domestic: intercity by landline and microwave radio relay; number of fixed-line connections is gradually increasing and fixed-line teledensity is about 20 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular usage is increasing rapidly and subscriptions now exceed 50 per 100 international: country code - 7; international traffic with other former Soviet republics and China carried by landline and microwave radio relay and with other countries by satellite and by the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat |
Telephones - main lines in use | 28,000 (1996) | 2.928 million (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,300 (1996) | 7.83 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | 12 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998) |
Terrain | mostly low-lying limestone and coral islands, with some higher volcanic areas | extends from the Volga to the Altai Mountains and from the plains in western Siberia to oases and desert in Central Asia |
Total fertility rate | 2.29 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.89 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 7% (2000 est.) | 7.4% (2006 est.) |
Waterways | none | 4,000 km (on the Ertis ((Irtysh)) River (80%) and Syr Darya ((Syrdariya)) River) (2006) |