The Administrative and Territorial Division and Topography of the Country

Republic of Kazakhstan is the largest Central Asian country in the center of Eurasia, through territory of which ancient historical caravan ways pass, connecting Europe and Asia.

The territory of Kazakhstan (total area is 2 million 724,900 square km) spreads from the estuary of the river of Volga and eastern shore of the Caspian Sea to the mountains of Altai and Northern Tian-Shan in the east. In the south the country borders on Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and in the north – on Russia. In the east Kazakhstan borders on China. The total length of the border from the west to the east is 3,000 km; from the north to the south – 1,700 km. Kazakhstan ranks the eighth country in the world by its area, the second after the Russian Federation among the CIS countries and former Soviet Republics.

60 % of the total area is covered by plains, 30% – by low hills, 10% - by mountains. The most part of the plain area of Kazakhstan is covered by deserts and semi-deserts. Steppes and forest steppes are located in the north of the country. The mountain areas are characterised by clearly distinguished vertical zones of landscapes, which end with high-altitude glaciers and perpetual snows. The lowest point of the Republic of Kazakhstan is Karagiye depression (Mangyshlak peninsula), located 132 m below sea level. In the south and south-east on the border with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan Tien-Shan mountains rise, having the highest peak of 6,995 m. The highest absolute marks of the mountain chains are from 6,995 m (Terskei Alatau) to 3,9991 (Jetysuisk Alatau).

In Kazakhstan there are 7 thousand rivers with length of over 10 km, 155 rivers with length of over 100 km and 7 rivers have length of over 1,000 km. The longest among them is the river of Irtysh (1,700 km on the territory of Kazakhstan). There are 48,262 lakes in the country with the total area of 45, 000 square km (without the Caspian and Aral Seas), of which 3,014 lakes have area of over 1 square km (40,800 square km). The largest lake is being Balkhash (with area of 106-112 km, depth of 5-6 km).

The Republic of Kazakhstan is divided into 14 administrative oblasts and 197 administrative rayons. There are 84 cities, 198 settlements, 2,456 aul rural areas and 7,071 villages. As of July 1, 1997 the total number of populated areas in the Republic was 7,353.

Historically people settled in oases – in the valleys of large rivers, along the banks of lakes and along the periphery of the territory. The modern settlement in the Republic formed in the result of industrialisation processes with the beginning of exploration of mineral and raw material resources and creation of number of cities, being the industrial centres on the territory of the Central Kazakhstan.

Since December 1997 the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan is being city of Astana with population of 313,000 people, which is located in the geographical centre of the country at a distance of 1,318 km from Almaty. During the period from 1929 till December 1997 the capital of the Republic was city of Almaty, founded in 1854. At present it is the largest scientific and cultural centre of the country with population of 1 million 130,100 people and unofficial status of the “southern capital” with area of 17,800 hectares (data of the Statistics Committee as of January 1, 1999).

In 1998 the population of the Republic was 15 million 671,800. In 1999 the population was 14 million 952,700 people including 8 million 367,100 people living in cities (56%) and 6 million 585,600 people living in villages (44%). The large number of urban population reflects the dominating role of industry in the economy. The urban population grows relatively quickly. In the last years the population of the 33 largest cities grew by 27%.

A considerable length of the territory and a central position of the country on the continent of Euro-Asia between China, Western Europe, Near East and Middle East determine a need to look for special ways and solutions not only for foreign economic, but also ecological environmental strategic planning of the republic. Kazakhstan, occupying an internal continental position has a huge potential for developing railway and pipeline transport; it is a coastal Caspian state but it has no direct outlet to the world ocean.