Kazakhstan - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Kazakhstan. World's largest landlocked country and one of only two landlocked countries in the world that extends into two continents (the other is Azerbaijan); Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baikonur Cosmodrome; in 2004, Kazakhstan and Russia extended the lease to 2050. Mother's mean age at first birth is 28.9 years (2019 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 13 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Geographical data of Kazakhstan
Location Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural (Oral) River in easternmost Europe
Geographic coordinates 48 00 N, 68 00 E
Map references Asia
Tarrain vast flat steppe extending from the Volga in the west to the Altai Mountains in the east and from the plains of western Siberia in the north to oases and deserts of Central Asia in the south
Natural Resources major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium
Natural Hazards earthquakes in the south; mudslides around Almaty
Irrigated Land 17,794 sq km (2022)
Major rivers (by length in km) Syr Darya river mouth (shared with Kyrgyzstan [s], Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan) - 3,078 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Major aquifers
Land Boundaries 13,364 km
Border Countries China 1,765 km; Kyrgyzstan 1,212 km; Russia 7,644 km; Turkmenistan 413 km; Uzbekistan 2,330 km
Coastline 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)
Climate continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid
Area
Total Area
Land Area 2,699,700 sq km
Water Area 25,200 sq km
comparative Area slightly less than four times the size of Texas
Maritime Claims
Elevations
Highest point Pik Khan-Tengri 7,010 m
note - the northern most 7,000 meter peak in the World
Lowest point Qauyndy Oyysy -132 m
Mean elevation 387 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 79.4% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 11% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 0% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 68.3% (2022 est.)
Forest 1.3% (2022 est.)
Other 19.3% (2022 est.)
Population Distribution

Most of the country displays a low population density, particularly the interior; population clusters appear in urban agglomerations in the far northern and southern portions of the country

People and Society

In Kazakhstan, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Kazakh 71%, Russian 14.9%, Uzbek 3.3%, Ukrainian 1.9%, Uyghurs 1.5%, German 1.1%, Tatar 1.1%, other 4.9%, unspecified 0.3% (2023 est.)

Population
Pop growth rate 0.86% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 17.2 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 8.1 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure 3.9% of GDP (2021)
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density 6.1 beds/1,000 population (2014)
Total fertility rate 2.58 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 1.25 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate 53% (2018)
Est married women (ages 15-49) 61.8% (2023 est.)
Literacy age 15 and over can read and write
Education expenditures 4.5% of GDP (2020 est.)
Net Migration rate -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality Kazakhstani | Kazakhstani(s)
Languages
Religions Muslim 69.3%, Christian 17.2% (Orthodox 17%, other 0.2%), Buddhism 0.1%, other 0.1%, non-believers 2.3%, unspecified 11% (2021 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 27.6% (male 2,883,200/female 2,712,772)
15-64 years 62.8% (male 6,233,881/female 6,486,019)
65 years and over 9.6% (2024 est.) (male 700,091/female 1,244,043)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 60
Youth dependency ratio 47.2
Elderly dependency ratio 12.7
Potential support ratio 7.9 (2021 est.)
Median Age
Total 31.9 years (2024 est.)
Male 30 years
Female 33.8 years
Urbanization
Urban population 58.2% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 1.19% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 1.987 million Almaty, 1.291 million NUR-SULTAN (capital), 1.155 million Shimkent (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.07 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.56 male(s)/female
Total population 0.94 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 8.9 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 7 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 73.3 years (2024 est.)
Male 69 years
Female 77.9 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 100% of population
Improved: rural rural: 93.8% of population
Improved: total total: 97.4% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 6.2% of population
Unimproved: total total: 2.6% of population (2020 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 99.9% of population
Improved: rural rural: 99.9% of population
Improved: total total: 99.9% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 0.1% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 0.1% of population
Unimproved: total total: 0.1% of population (2020 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 3.73 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 2.52 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 0.16 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 1.05 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 23.2% (2020 est.)
Male 39.6% (2020 est.)
Female 6.7% (2020 est.)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Kazakhstan

Want to know more about Kazakhstan? Check all different factbooks for Kazakhstan below.

Kazakhstan is found in Central Asia