* Where is KAZAKHSTAN Located? [Kazakhstan Map]

Where is KAZAKHSTAN located on the map?

Kazakhstan, in the long form of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country located mainly in north of Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe (west of the Ural River). The Far West of the country is generally not considered to be geographically part of Central Asia but of Europe (according to a generally accepted convention, the European continent stops at the Ural Mountains and then at the river of the same name) Kazakhstan is thus situated on two continents (although the European part is desert and very sparsely populated).

Kazakhstan is a former republic of the USSR and located in Central Asia . It is bound by Russia to the north, the Caspian Sea to the west and southwest, China to the southeast and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to the south.

Total length of the borders: 12,012 km, of which:

• 6,846 km of border between Kazakhstan and Russia;
• 2,203 km border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan;
• 1,533 km of border between Kazakhstan and China;
• 1,051 km border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan;
• 379 km border between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
• Kazakhstan is bordered by two closed seas:
• The Caspian Sea (1,894 km of coastline);
• The Aral Sea, now separated into three parts (1,070 km of coastline): the northern part (Little Northern Aral Sea) seems saved from drying up, the southern part (Great Sea) split in two the western part is drying up very quickly and without a viable solution in the long term.
• Highest point: Khan Tengri at 7,010 meters.

The mountains that rise to the east and south-east of the country are the Altai, Sauyr, Tarbagatai, Jungar Alatau, Tian Mountains. In the west of the country, the Mangystau peninsula hosts the lowest cavity, the Karagiye cave, 132 meters below sea level, the highest point in the country, located on the south-eastern ridge, is Mount Khan Tengri (6,995 meters).

Where is the country of KAZAKHSTAN situated?

The area of Kazakhstan is 2,717,300 km². Located between Siberia and the Turanian depression, the country is a highland gateway – rising to more than 4,500 meters – that connects the Ural Mountains with the Altai mountains and the western Tian Shan. For thousands of years, it has been a pathway for the nomadic peoples of Central Asia.

According to the 2009 census, the religions of Kazakhstan, which since the Constitution of January 28, 1993 is a secular republic, are predominantly Sunni Islam (70.2%) and predominantly Orthodox Christianity (26.2%). Buddhism (0.1%), Judaism with 5300 people and others (0.2%). Those without religion are 2.8% and those who did not wish to answer, 0.5% 14.

The predominantly Sunni Islam, with 70.2% of the population, is practiced by Kazakhs as well as minorities such as Tatars, Bashkirs, Uzbeks or Uyghurs. The first contacts with Islam took place from 714. In the twelfth century, the Sufi Ahmed Yasavi played a major role in the development of Islam in the region. The tengrism has disappeared leaving a few features, such as the name Tengri competing with Allah for God. Orthodoxy is practiced by Russians, and some Ukrainians and Byelorussians.

Since the independence of the country, a relative renaissance of religions has emerged. A large number of mosques but also churches were built. Religions tend for some to fill the ideological vacuum left by the disappearance of communist dogma; they are also a means of asserting one’s cultural belonging: the return to Islam is an element of the assertion of Kazakh identity and the practice of Christianity (orthodox or catholic) offers a point of regroupment to the Slav populations whose number continues to decline due to emigration.

There are small groups of 3000 to 5000 Zoroastrians present in the south-west of the country.

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Where KAZAKHSTAN is in the World?