Belize (2008) | Kazakhstan (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 6 districts; Belize, Cayo, Corozal, Orange Walk, Stann Creek, Toledo | 14 oblystar (singular - oblysy) and 3 cities (qala, singular - qalasy)*; Almaty, Almaty*, 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)
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 (Baykonyr, formerly Leninsk) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 38.9% (male 58,459/female 56,183)
15-64 years: 57.5% (male 85,686/female 83,717) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 4,979/female 5,361) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
26.73% (male 2,271,866; female 2,200,078) 15-64 years: 66.03% (male 5,358,535; female 5,688,550) 65 years and over: 7.24% (male 412,761; female 799,513) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, cacao, citrus, sugar; fish, cultured shrimp; lumber; garments | grain (mostly spring wheat), cotton; wool, livestock |
Airports | 44 (2007) | 449 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
total:
28 over 3,047 m: 6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 14 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 40
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 27 (2007) |
total:
421 over 3,047 m: 11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 18 1,524 to 2,437 m: 45 914 to 1,523 m: 101 under 914 m: 246 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 22,966 sq km
land: 22,806 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total:
2,717,300 sq km land: 2,669,800 sq km water: 47,500 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Massachusetts | slightly less than four times the size of Texas |
Background | Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation until 1992. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy. Current concerns include an unsustainable foreign debt, high unemployment, growing involvement in the South American drug trade, growing urban crime, and increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS. | 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 has caused many of these newcomers to emigrate. Current issues include: developing a cohesive national identity; expanding the development of the country's vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets; and continuing to strengthen relations with neighboring states and other foreign powers. |
Birth rate | 28.34 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 17.3 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $328.5 million
expenditures: $365 million (2007 est.) |
revenues:
$3.1 billion expenditures: $3.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
Capital | name: Belmopan
geographic coordinates: 17 15 N, 88 46 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Astana; note - the government moved from Almaty to Astana in December 1998 |
Climate | tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November); dry season (February to May) | continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid |
Coastline | 386 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 | 21 September 1981 | adopted by national referendum 30 August 1995; first post-independence constitution was adopted 28 January 1993 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Belize former: British Honduras |
conventional long form:
Republic of Kazakhstan conventional short form: Kazakhstan local long form: Qazaqstan Respublikasy local short form: none former: Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | - | tenge (KZT) |
Death rate | 5.76 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 10.61 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.2 billion (June 2005 est.) | $12.5 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Robert J. DIETER
embassy: Floral Park Road, Belmopan City, Cayo District mailing address: P.O. Box 497, Belmopan City, Cayo District, Belize telephone: [501] 822-4011 FAX: [501] 822-4012 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Richard H. JONES embassy: 99/97A Furmanova Street, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan 480091 mailing address: American Embassy Almaty, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7030 telephone: [7] (3272) 63-39-21, 50-76-23, 50-76-27 (emergency number) FAX: [7] (3272) 63-38-83, 50-76-24 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
chancery: 2535 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-9636 FAX: [1] (202) 332-6888 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Kanat SAUDABAYEV chancery: 1401 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 232-5488 FAX: [1] (202) 232-5845 consulate(s): New York |
Disputes - international | annual ministerial meetings under the OAS-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures continue to address Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and Caribbean Sea; the Line of Adjacency created under the 2002 Differendum serves in lieu of the contiguous international boundary to control squatting in the sparsely inhabited rain forests of Belize's border region; Honduras claims Belizean-administered Sapodilla Cays in its constitution but agreed to a joint ecological park under the Differendum | Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan |
Economic aid - recipient | $12.91 million (2005) | $409.6 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | In this small, essentially private-enterprise economy, tourism is the number one foreign exchange earner followed by exports of marine products, citrus, cane sugar, bananas, and garments. The government's expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, initiated in September 1998, led to sturdy GDP growth averaging nearly 4% in 1999-2007. Oil discoveries in 2006 bolstered the economic growth in 2006 and 2007. Major concerns continue to be the sizable trade deficit and unsustainable foreign debt. In February 2007, the government restructured nearly all of its public external commercial debt, which will reduce interest payments and create the liquidity relief needed for an increase in public spending in the run-up to the March 2008 elections. A key short-term objective remains the reduction of poverty with the help of international donors. | Kazakhstan, the second largest of the former Soviet republics in territory, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also is a large agricultural - livestock and grain - producer. 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 of 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. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium agreement to build a new pipeline from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oil field to the Black Sea increases prospects for substantially larger oil exports in several years. Kazakhstan's economy again turned downward in 1998 with a 2% decline in GDP due to slumping oil prices and the August financial crisis in Russia. The recovery of international oil prices in 1999, combined with a well-timed tenge devaluation and a bumper grain harvest, pulled the economy out of recession in 2000. Astana has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector by developing light industry. |
Electricity - consumption | 162.8 million kWh (2005) | 44.132 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 200 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 3.077 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 200 million kWh (2007 est.) | 44.36 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
87.12% hydro: 12.65% nuclear: 0.23% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Victoria Peak 1,160 m |
lowest point:
Vpadina Kaundy -132 m highest point: Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik Khan-Tengri) 6,995 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; water pollution from sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff; solid and sewage waste disposal | radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with its former defense industries and test ranges are found throughout the country and 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, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | mestizo 48.7%, Creole 24.9%, Maya 10.6%, Garifuna 6.1%, other 9.7% | Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Uighur 1.4%, other 6.6% (1999 census) |
Exchange rates | Belizean dollars per US dollar - 2 (2007), 2 (2006), 2 (2005), 2 (2004), 2 (2003) | tenge per US dollar - 145.09 (January 2001), 142.13 (2000), 119.52 (1999), 78.30 (1998), 75.44 (1997), 67.30 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Colville YOUNG, Sr. (since 17 November 1993)
head of government: Prime Minister Dean BARROW (since 8 February 2008); Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar VEGA (since 12 February 2008) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; 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; prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister |
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 Kazymzhomart TOKAYEV (since 2 October 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 10 January 1999, a year before it was previously scheduled (next to be held NA 2006); note - President NAZARBAYEV's previous term had been extended to 2000 by a nationwide referendum held 30 April 1995; prime minister and first deputy prime minister appointed by the president election results: Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV reelected president; percent of vote - Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV 81.7%, Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN 12.1%, Gani KASYMOV 4.7%, other 1.5% note: President NAZARBAYEV expanded his presidential powers by decree: 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 | 1,960 bbl/day (2006) | $8.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood | oil 40%, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery, chemicals, grain, wool, meat, coal |
Exports - partners | US 33.9%, UK 33.6%, Cote d'Ivoire 3.7% (2006) | EU 23%, Russia 20%, China 8% (1999) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | blue with a narrow red stripe along the top and the bottom edges; centered is a large white disk bearing the coat of arms; the coat of arms features a shield flanked by two workers in front of a mahogany tree with the related motto SUB UMBRA FLOREO (I Flourish in the Shade) on a scroll at the bottom, all encircled by a green garland | 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 - $85.6 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 21.3%
industry: 13.7% services: 65% (2007 est.) |
agriculture:
10% industry: 30% services: 60% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3% (2007 est.) | 10.5% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 15 N, 88 45 W | 48 00 N, 68 00 E |
Geography - note | only country in Central America without a coastline on the North Pacific Ocean | landlocked; Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome |
Highways | - | total:
NA km paved: 150,000 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather) (2000) unpaved: NA km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
2.7% highest 10%: 26.3% (1996) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer of cannabis, primarily for local consumption; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trafficking and offshore sector | significant illicit cultivation of cannabis and limited cultivation of opium poppy and ephedra (for the drug ephedrone); limited government eradication program; cannabis consumed largely in the CIS; used as transshipment point for illicit drugs to Russia, North America, and Western Europe from Southwest Asia; developing heroin addiction problem |
Imports | 6,754 bbl/day (2004) | $6.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods; fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; food, beverages, tobacco | machinery and parts, industrial materials, oil and gas, vehicles |
Imports - partners | US 35.7%, Mexico 13%, Cuba 7.7%, Guatemala 7.2%, China 4.3% (2006) | Russia 37%, US, Uzbekistan, Turkey, UK, Germany, Ukraine, South Korea (1999) |
Independence | 21 September 1981 (from UK) | 16 December 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.5% (2007 est.) | 14.9% (2000 est.) |
Industries | garment production, food processing, tourism, construction, oil | oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel, nonferrous metal, tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, construction materials |
Infant mortality rate | total: 24.38 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 27.43 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
59.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.8% (2007 est.) | 13.4% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | NA |
Irrigated land | 30 sq km (2003) | 22,000 sq km (1996 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister) | Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (7 members) |
Labor force | 113,000
note: shortage of skilled labor and all types of technical personnel (2006 est.) |
8.8 million (1997) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 22.5%
industry: 15.2% services: 62.3% (2005 est.) |
industry 27%, agriculture 23%, services 50% (1996) |
Land boundaries | total: 516 km
border countries: Guatemala 266 km, Mexico 250 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: 3.05%
permanent crops: 1.39% other: 95.56% (2005) |
arable land:
12% permanent crops: 11% permanent pastures: 57% forests and woodland: 4% other: 16% (1996 est.) |
Languages | Spanish 46%, Creole 32.9%, Mayan dialects 8.9%, English 3.9% (official), Garifuna 3.4% (Carib), German 3.3%, other 1.4%, unknown 0.2% (2000 census) | Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 40%, Russian (official, used in everyday business) 66% |
Legal system | English law | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (12 seats; members appointed by the governor general - 6 on the advice of the prime minister, 3 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and 1 each on the advice of the Belize Council of Churches and Evangelical Association of Churches, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Belize Better Business Bureau, and the National Trade Union Congress and the Civil Society Steering Committee; to serve five-year terms) and the House of Representatives (31 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 6 February 2008 (next to be held in 2013) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UDP 25, PUP 6 |
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 7 senators are appointed by the president; other members are popularly elected, two from each of the former oblasts and the former capital of Almaty, to serve six-year terms) and the Majilis (67 seats; the addition of 10 "Party List" seats brings the total to 77; members are popularly elected to serve five-year terms); note - with the oblasts being reduced to 14, the Senate will eventually be reduced to 37; a number of Senate seats come up for reelection every two years
elections: Senate - (indirect) last held 17 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2001); Majilis - last held 10 and 24 October and 26 December 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; 16 seats up for election in 1999, candidates nominated by local councils; Majilis - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Otan 23, Civic Party 13, Communist Party 3, Agrarian Party 3, People's Cooperative Party 1, independents 34; note - most independent candidates are affiliated with parastatal enterprises and other pro-government institutions |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 68.25 years
male: 66.44 years female: 70.16 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
63.29 years male: 57.87 years female: 68.97 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.9% male: 76.7% female: 77.1% (2000 census) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 96% (1989 est.) |
Location | Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Mexico | Central Asia, northwest of China |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Commonwealth of Independent States |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm in the north, 3 nm in the south; note - from the mouth of the Sarstoon River to Ranguana Cay, Belize's territorial sea is 3 nm; according to Belize's Maritime Areas Act, 1992, the purpose of this limitation is to provide a framework for negotiating a definitive agreement on territorial differences with Guatemala
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 261 ships (1000 GRT or over) 940,852 GRT/1,275,111 DWT
by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 36, cargo 190, chemical tanker 5, container 5, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 8, roll on/roll off 6, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 217 (China 107, Croatia 1, Cyprus 1, Estonia 1, Hong Kong 5, Iceland 1, Italy 4, Japan 2, South Korea 4, Latvia 14, Norway 3, Peru 1, Philippines 1, Russia 39, Singapore 3, Spain 2, Turkey 11, Ukraine 10, UAE 4, US 3) (2007) |
- |
Military branches | Belize Defense Force (BDF): Army, Maritime Wing, Air Wing, and Volunteer Guard | General Purpose Forces (Army), Air Force, Border Guards, Navy, Republican Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $322 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (2006) | 1.5% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
4,509,179 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
3,598,859 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
163,628 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 21 September (1981) | Republic Day, 25 October (1990) |
Nationality | noun: Belizean(s)
adjective: Belizean |
noun:
Kazakhstani(s) adjective: Kazakhstani |
Natural hazards | frequent, devastating hurricanes (June to November) and coastal flooding (especially in south) | earthquakes in the south, mudslides around Almaty |
Natural resources | arable land potential, timber, fish, hydropower | major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -6.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 2,850 km; refined products 1,500 km; natural gas 3,480 km (1992) |
Political parties and leaders | National Alliance for Belizean Rights or NABR; National Reform Party or NRP [Cornelius DUECK]; People's National Party or PNP [Wil MAHEIA]; People's United Party or PUP [Said MUSA]; United Democratic Party or UDP [Dean BARROW]; Vision Inspired by the People or VIP [Paul MORGAN]; We the People Reform Movement or WTP [Hipolito BAUTISTA] | Agrarian Party [Romin MADENOV]; Alash [Soverkazhy AKATAYEV]; AZAMAT Movement [Petr SVOIK, Murat AUEZOV, and Galym ABILSIITOV, cochairmen]; Civic Party [Azat PERUASHEV, first secretary]; Communist Party or KPK [Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN, first secretary]; Forum of Democratic Forces [Nurbulat MASANOV, Deputy Chairman of the Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan (RNPK); Amirzhan KOSANOV, RNPK activist; Seidakhmet KUTTYKADAM, Orleu Movement; cochairmen]; Labor and Worker's Movement [Madel ISMAILOV, chairman]; Orleu Movement [Seidakhmet KUTTYKADAM]; Otan [Sergei TERESCHENKO, chairman]; Pensioners Movement or Pokoleniye [Irina SAVOSTINA, chairwoman]; People's Congress of Kazakhstan of NKK [Olzhas SULEIMENOV, chairman]; People's Cooperative Party [Umirzak SARSENOV]; People's Unity Party or PUP [Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV]; Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan or RNPK [Akezhan KAZHEGELDIN] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Society for the Promotion of Education and Research or SPEAR [Gustavo PERERA]; Association of Concerned Belizeans or ACB [David VASQUEZ]; National Trade Union Congress of Belize or NTUC/B [Rene GOMEZ] | Kazakhstan International Bureau on Human Rights [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS, executive director] |
Population | 294,385 (July 2007 est.) | 16,731,303 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 33.5% (2002 est.) | 35% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.258% (2007 est.) | 0.03% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev), Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 16, shortwave 0 (2006) | AM 60, FM 17, shortwave 9 (1998) |
Radios | - | 6.47 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
14,400 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines broad gauge: 14,400 km 1.520-m gauge (3,299 km electrified) (1997) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 49.6%, Protestant 27% (Pentecostal 7.4%, Anglican 5.3%, Seventh-Day Adventist 5.2%, Mennonite 4.1%, Methodist 3.5%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.5%), other 14%, none 9.4% (2000) | Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.041 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.024 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.929 male(s)/female total population: 1.027 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.52 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: above-average system; fixed-line teledensity of 12 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of about 40 per 100 persons
domestic: trunk network depends primarily on microwave radio relay international: country code - 501; landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth station - 8 (Intelsat - 2, unknown - 6) (2007) |
general assessment:
service is poor; equipment antiquated domestic: intercity by landline and microwave radio relay; mobile cellular systems are available in most of Kazakhstan international: international traffic with other former Soviet republics and China carried by landline and microwave radio relay; 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 | 33,900 (2006) | 1.818 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 118,300 (2006) | 11,202 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 5 (2006) | 12 (plus nine repeaters) (1998) |
Terrain | flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south | 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 | 3.52 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 2.07 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 9.4% (2006) | 13.7% (1998 est.) |
Waterways | 825 km (navigable only by small craft) (2007) | 3,900 km
note: on the Syrdariya (Syr Darya) and Ertis (Irtysh) rivers |