traditional, history, people of kazakhstan

There are some hospitals in Kazakhstan where it is possible to get good health care, but many more are in poor repair, without heat or electricity, lacking basic drugs and medical supplies, and staffed by underqualified and severely underpaid doctors and nurses.

 Doctors are still trained under the Soviet system of specialties, with very few general practitioners. Doctors also rely heavily on symptomatic diagnosis, as they do not have access to the latest machines and testing devices; often simple blood tests cannot be done. Nevertheless, doctors are trusted and respected.
People also rely heavily on home remedies such as hot teas, honey, vodka and Banya (a very hot version of a sauna used mainly for cleaning purposes, but also for sweating out diseases and impurities).
S ECULAR C ELEBRATIONS
Some of the principal secular celebrations are 8 March, Women's Day, a very important day in Kazakhstan and celebrated by all. Women are honored on this day and showered with flowers and entertained with skits and jokes by their male coworkers and family members. Narooz, KazakhstanGirl New Year—a holiday mainly celebrated by Kazakhs on 22 March, but also observed by Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Iranians. It occurs on summer solstice. Kazakhs cook traditional foods, have horse races, and set up many yurts.

Victory Day on 9 May commemorates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Day of the Republic, 25 October, was the day independence was declared. This day is a day of Kazakh nationalism, with many speeches, songs, and performances in Kazakh. Independence Day is celebrated on 16 December—this date was chosen to remember the riots in Almaty on 16 December 1986. The riots were the first display of Kazakh nationalism and solidarity. Independence day is celebrated much like the Day of the Republic.
T HE A RTS AND H UMANITIES

Support for the Arts. Under the Soviet Union, funding and support of the arts were available for those who enrolled in specialized schools for artists, dancers, and musicians. However today, government money for arts, besides what is provided through public schools and municipals houses of culture, has virtually dried up. Many artisans are supported through NGOs such as Aid to Artisans and the Talent Support Fund.

Literature. Students study both Kazakh and Russian literature. Great Russian and Kazakh writers such as Tolstoy, Pushkin, and Abai are well known in Kazakhstan. A high societal value is put on those who have read the famous works and can quote and discuss them.

Performance Arts. Despite funding cutbacks, plays, dance performances, art museums, and the upkeep of historical museums are very important to the people of Kazakhstan. There are beautiful theaters in the larger cities, and almost every town has a house of culture where plays, art classes, concerts, and dance performances can take place. Many cultures in Kazakhstan have a strong tradition of instrument playing, traditional dancing, and theatrical performances.
T HE S TATE OF THE P HYSICAL AND S OCIAL S CIENCES

The Soviet Union had, and its now independent republics have, some very well respected science universities in the world. Higher education is very specialized in Kazakhstan, with many universities or programs focusing on specialized fields of physics, technology, engineering, math, philosophy, and politics. Many famous academics have come from this part of the world, and education in these fields has remained important, although funding for them has slowed with the economic downturn in the region.
B IBLIOGRAPHY
  
Identification.   The Kazakh steppeland, north of the Tien Shan Mountains, south of Russian Siberia, west of the Caspian Sea, and east of China, has been inhabited since the Stone Age. It is a land rich in natural resources, with recent oil discoveries putting it among the world leaders in potential oil reserves. The newly independent Republic of Kazakhstan ranks ninth in the world in geographic size (roughly the size of Western Europe) and is the largest country in the world without an ocean port.



The capital of Kazakhstan was moved in 1996 to Astana, in the north-central part of the country far from any of Kazakhstan's borders. The former capital, Almaty, is still the largest city and most important financial and cultural center. It is located at the base of the Tien Shan Mountains in the far southeast near both China and Kyrgyzstan.

The move of the capital was very controversial among many in Kazakhstan. There are three main theories as to why the move was made. The first theory contends that the move was for geopolitical, strategic reasons. Since Almaty is near the borders with China and Kyrgyzstan (which is a friend but too close to the Islamic insurgent movements of Tajikistan and Afghanistan), this theory maintains that the new, central location provides the government with a capital city well separated from its neighbors. A second theory asserts that the capital was moved because Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev wanted to create a beautiful new capital with new roads, buildings, and an airport. The final theory holds that the Kazakh government wanted to repatriate the north with Kazakhs. Moving the capital to the north would move jobs (mostly held by Kazakhs) and people there, changing the demographics and lessening the likelihood of the area revolting or of Russia trying to reclaim it.

Demography. The population of Kazakhstan was estimated to be 16,824,825 in July 1999. A census taken just after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 indicated a population of more than 17 million. The decreasing nature of Kazakhstan's population (-.09 percent in 1999) is due, in part, to low birth-rates and mass emigration by non-Kazakhs, mainly Russians and Germans (Kazakhstan's net migration rate was -7.73 migrants per 1,000 people in 1999). Given the emigration, Kazakhstan's ethnic make up is ever-changing. For 1999 the best estimates were Kazakhs 46 percent, Russians 34.7 percent, Ukrainians 4.9 percent, Germans 3.1 percent, Uzbeks 2.3 percent, Tartar 1.9 percent, and others 7.1 percent. Many observers predict that continued emigration by non-Kazakhs and encouraged higher birthrates of Kazakhs by the government will lead to Kazakhs increasing their numbers relative to other ethnicities in Kazakhstan.

Linguistic Affiliation. Language is one of the most contentious issues in Kazakhstan. While many countries have used a common language to unite disparate ethnic communities, Kazakhstan has not been able to do so. Kazakh, the official state language of Kazakhstan, is a Turkic language spoken by only 40 percent of the people. Russian, which is spoken by virtually everyone, is the official language and is the interethnic means of communications among Russians, Kazakhs, Koreans, and others.

The move to nationalize Kazakhstan through the use of Kazakh has presented two main problems. During Soviet times, when Russian was the only real language of importance, Kazakh failed to keep up with the changing vocabulary of the twentieth century. In addition, Russian is still very important in the region. Knowledge of Russian allows Kazakhstan to communicate with the fourteen other former Soviet republics as well as with many people in their own country.

Symbolism. Kazakhs are historically a nomadic people, and thus many of their cultural symbols reflect nomadic life. The horse is probably the most central part of Kazakh culture. Kazakhs love horses, riding them for transportation in the villages, using them for farming, racing them for fun, and eating them for celebrations. Many Kazakhs own horses and keep pictures of them in their houses or offices. Also a product of their formally nomadic lives is the yurt, a Central Asian dwelling resembling a tepee, which was transportable and utilitarian on the harsh Central Asian steppe. These small white homes are still found in some parts of Kazakhstan, but for the most part they are used in celebrations and for murals and tourist crafts.

Also central to Kazakh symbolism are Muslim symbols. Kazakhs are Muslim by history, and even after seventy years of Soviet atheism, they incorporate Islamic symbols in their everyday life. The traditionally Muslim star and crescent can be widely seen, as can small Muslim caps and some traditionally Muslim robes and headscarves in the villages.
The Kazakhs, a Turkic people ethnically tied to the Uighur (We-goor) people of western China and similar in appearance to Mongolians, emerged in 1991 from over sixty years of life behind the Iron Curtain. Kazakhstan, which officially became a full Soviet socialist republic in 1936, was an important but often neglected place during Soviet times. It was to Kazakhstan that Joseph Stalin exiled thousands of prisoners to some of his most brutal gulags. It was also to Kazakhstan that he repatriated millions of people of all different ethnicities, in an effort to "collectivize" the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was also the site of the Soviet nuclear test programs and Nikita Khrushchev's ill-conceived "Virgin Lands" program. These seventy years seem to have had a profound and long-lasting effect on these formerly nomadic people.

The process of shedding the Soviet Union and starting anew as the democratic Republic of Kazakhstan is made difficult by the fact that a large percentage of Kazakhstan is not Kazakh. Russians still make up 34.7 percent of the population, and other non-Kazakhs such as Ukrainians, Koreans, Turks, Chechnians, and Tatars, make up another 17 percent. Many of the non-Kazakh people of Kazakhstan have met attempts by the Kazakh government to make Kazakh the central, dominant culture of Kazakhstan with great disdain and quiet, nonviolent resistance. The picture is further complicated by the fact that many Kazakhs and non-Kazakhs are struggling (out of work and living below the poverty level). Democracy and independence have been hard sells to a people who grew accustomed to the comforts and security of Soviet life.

Location and Geography. Kazakhstan, approximately 1 million square miles (2,717,300 square kilometers) in size, is in Central Asia, along the historic Silk Road that connected Europe with China more than two thousand years ago. Five nations border current-day Kazakhstan: China to the east; Russia to the north; the Caspian Sea to the west; and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan to the south. A pair of beautiful mountain ranges, the Altay and the Tien Shan, with peaks nearly as high as 22,966 feet (7,000 meters), runs along Kazakhstan's southeastern border. The area north and west of this is the vast Kazakh steppe. Life on the steppe is harsh, with extreme temperatures and intense winds. The lands leading up to the Caspian Sea in the west are below sea level and rich in oil. The historic Aral Sea is on Kazakhstan's southern border with Uzbekistan. In recent years the sea has severely decreased in size and even split into two smaller seas due to environmental mismanagement. The climate of Kazakhstan is extremely variable. The very south experiences hot summers, with temperatures routinely over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The very north, which is technically southern Siberia, has extreme winters, with lows of well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius), with strong winds, making the temperature feel like -50 to -60 degrees Fahrenheit
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
(-46 to -51 degrees Celsius). There are beautiful parts of Kazakhstan, with lakes and mountains that would rival many tourist destinations in the world. There are also parts of Kazakhstan that are flat and barren, making it seem at times like a forsaken place.
Kazakhs are also very proud of their mountains, rare animals such as snow leopards, eagles, and falcons (a large eagle appears on the Kazakh flag under a rising sun), and their national instrument, the dombra, a two-stringed instrument with a thin neck and potbelly base, resembling a guitar.

The symbols of Soviet Kazakhstan still exist and are important to some people. At its peak there was hardly a town that did not have a statue of Lenin; a street named after the revolution; or a large hammer, sickle, and Soviet red star on many of its houses and public buildings. Much like the attempt to assert the Kazakh language, the increased use of Kazakh symbols on money, in schools, on television, and in national holidays has been tempered by those who do not wish to part with the Soviet symbols of the past.
H ISTORY AND E THNIC R ELATIONS

Emergence of the Nation. Humans have inhabited the Central Asian steppe since the Stone Age. Dramatic seasonal variations coupled with movements, conflicts, and alliances of Turkic and Mongol tribes caused the people of Central Asia often to be on the move.

In the eighth century a confederation of Turkish tribes, the Qarluqs, established the first state in Kazakhstan in what is now eastern Kazakhstan. Islam was introduced to the area in the eighth and ninth centuries, when Arabs conquered what is now southern Kazakhstan. The Oghuz Turks controlled western Kazakhstan until the eleventh century.

The eleventh through the eighteenth centuries saw periodic control over Kazakhstan by Arabs, Turks, and Mongols. The people of Kazakhstan consider themselves great warriors and still honor many of the war heroes of this time period.



In 1986 the Soviet Union and the world got a glimpse of how intact Kazakh nationalism remained. Riots broke out on 16 December in reaction to the Russian Gennady Kolbin being named head of the Kazakh Communist Party machine. Kazakhstan had been changed by the Soviet Union; its people looked and acted differently and its language had partially been neglected, but the Kazakh people were still proud of their history and their heritage.

In 1991, then Kazakh Communist Party leader Nursultan Nazarbayev declared independence for Kazakhstan. He had stayed faithful to Moscow the longest and supported Mikhail Gorbachev's efforts to keep the Union intact. The years since 1991 have seen many changes in Kazakhstan and its people. Democracy is attempting to take root in a land that hasn't known democracy at any time in its three thousand-year history. Nomadism, tribal warfare, Mongol dynasties, foreign domination, and Soviet communism have been all the Kazakh land has known.

National Identity. Several factors that are unique to Kazakhstan, its land, and its history, unite its people. Kazakhstanis are proud of the nation's abundant natural resources, agricultural potential, and natural beauty. They are also united in their shared history as a neglected republic during the Soviet years. While they toiled under Soviet rule, producing much of the agricultural and industrial product for the Soviet Union, the rest of the Union looked upon Kazakhstan as a barren place.

A very structured and uniform educational system exists in Kazakhstan. All ethnicities, whether urban or rural, study a similar curriculum. Thus, students throughout the country share the same education.

Ethnic Relations. According to many people of Kazakhstan, during the Soviet years they wanted for very little. Everyone had jobs, everyone had a house or an apartment, and food was abundant. The Kazakhs were part of a powerful union that challenged the United States and the other powers of the world. They lived in a socialist system that based its success on the hard work of its people. But to say that everything was equal and that there were no underlying tensions, especially between Russians and Kazakhs, would be untrue. Since the very days of Russian influence in Central Asia, many Kazakhs have met their presence with contempt and skepticism. This was furthered during the Soviet years when Russian language, Russian culture, and the power in Moscow took very prominent places in Kazakhstan. While tensions between the two groups were often subtle and barely visible, they erupted violently during the 16 December, 1986 riots over Russian control of the Kazakh Communist Party. The day of 16 December is a very important and proud one in recent Kazakh history, as evidence of their nationalism and unity as a people (in 1991, when independence was declared, 16 December was symbolically chosen as Independence Day).

Interior of a yurt, a mobile dwelling used by nomadic Kazakhs.
Interior of a yurt, a mobile dwelling used by nomadic Kazakhs.

The latent tensions of 150 years of Russian influence in Kazakhstan, coupled with the increasingly more visible disapproval by Kazakhs of Russian domination, set the stage for the difficult first years of post-Soviet life. Kazakh nationalism has been unpopular with many non-Kazakhs, especially the Russians, and thousands have left as a result. Streets and schools have been renamed, statues of Lenin taken down, the national anthem and flag changed, old Soviet holidays forgotten, and new Kazakh holidays promoted. Ethnic tensions have been further strained by an economy and a political system that has produced extreme haves and have-nots. The guarantee of work, an apartment, free health care, and higher education that kept tensions low for seventy years have been replaced by unemployment, decaying health care, and expensive higher education.
U RBANISM , A RCHITECTURE, AND THE U SE OF S PACE

The yurt is the main architectural remnant from the Kazakh nomadic years. The yurt is a round, transportable dwelling not unlike the Native American tepee (the yurt being shorter and flatter than the tepee). The yurt was very useful to the nomadic Kazakhs, who needed a sturdy dwelling to protect them from the elements of the harsh plains, and its inhabitants would sit and sleep in them on thick mats on the floor. Very few Kazakhs live in yurts today, but sitting on the floor is still very common in many Kazakh homes, many preferring it to sitting in chairs or at a regular table. Yurts are widely used in national celebrations and in Kazakh arts and poetry as reminders of the Kazakhs' nomadic past.

Russian settlers in Kazakhstan also had an effect on Kazakhstani architecture. Small A-frame houses, Russian orthodox churches, and many new wooden buildings went up as Russians settled the area in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Very few of these building have survived the times besides some churches, which have been restored and protected.

The twentieth century and the Soviet Union brought many architectural changes to Kazakhstan. Hard work and unity were two central themes of the socialist years in Kazakhstan, and the architecture from this period is a large reflection of that. Most of the buildings built during this period were big and utilitarian. Hospitals, schools, post offices, banks, and government buildings went up from Moscow to Almaty in basically the same shape, size, and color. The materials used were usually just as rough, with concrete and brick being the most common.

Large Soviet apartment blocks went up in all of the cities across Kazakhstan. Arranged in small microdistricts, these buildings were usually five or six stories high and had three to four apartments of one, two, or three bedrooms each per floor.

The villages and collective farms of Kazakhstan were of a different kind of Soviet architecture. Small two- to three-room, one-story houses, usually painted white and light blue (the light blue is thought to keep away evil spirits), adorn the countryside in Kazakhstan. The government built all houses, and there was no individualizing, excessive decorating, or architectural innovation. Very few, if any, houses were allowed to be more than one story high. A big house or an elaborate apartment was thought to be gaudy and very bourgeois.

While work and utilitarianism had definite effects on Kazakhstan's architecture, so did the belief in unity and the rights of the people. Public space was very important to the Soviets; in fact, nothing was privately owned, including one's home. Large collective farms were formed, transforming small villages into working communities, all with the same goal. Large squares and parks were built in almost every town and city. Everything belonged to the people, through the Communist apparatus in Moscow.

Times have certainly changed, as has the architecture in these post-Soviet days of independence. The old buildings, and the people who designed and built them, still exist. Some parts of Kazakhstan are in good repair and upkeep, while other parts look like an old amusement park that hasn't been used in years. In some cases cranes and forklifts stand in the exact places they were in when independence was declared and government money ran out. Rusted and covered in weeds and grass, much of the Soviet architecture and the people occupying it are in desperate need of help. This picture is further complicated and contrasted by the introduction of new buildings and new wealth by some people in Kazakhstan.

Oil money, foreign investments, and a new management style have created a whole new style in Kazakhstan. Almaty and Astana both have five-star high-rise hotels. The big cities have casinos, Turkish fast food restaurants, and American steak houses; modern bowling alleys and movie theaters are opening up amid old and decaying Soviet buildings. Private homes are also changing; sometimes next to or between old Soviet-style one-story austere houses, new two- and three-story houses with two-car garages and large, fenced-in yards are being built.
F OOD AND E CONOMY

Food in Kazakh culture is a very big part of their heritage, a way of respecting guests and of celebrating. When sitting down to eat with a Kazakh family one can be sure of two things: There will be more than enough food to eat, and there will be meat, possibly of different types.

Food in Daily Life. In daily life Kazakhs eat some of their own national dishes, but have borrowed some from the Russians, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, and Turks that they live among. Daily meals for Kazakhs usually are very hearty, always including bread and usually another starch such as noodles or potatoes and then a meat. One common dish is pilaf, which is often associated with the Uzbeks. It is a rice dish usually made with carrots, mutton, and a lot of oil. Soups, including Russian borscht, also are very common. Soups in Kazakhstan can be made of almost anything. Borscht is usually red (beet-based) or brown (meat-based), with cabbage, meat, sometimes potatoes, and usually a large dollop of sour cream. Pelimnin, a Russian dish that is made by filling small dough pockets with meat and onions, is very popular with all nationalities in Kazakhstan and is served quite often as a daily meal.

A more traditional Central Asian dish, although not conclusively Kazakh, is manti, a large dough pocket filled with meat, onions, and sometimes pumpkin.
What might be called the modern-day history of Kazakhstan started in the eighteenth century, when the three main hordes (groups) of Kazakh nomads (who had begun to distinguish themselves linguistically and culturally from the Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, and Turkmen) started seeking Russian protection from Oryat raiders from the Xhinjian area of western China.

In 1854 the Russian garrison town of Verny (modern-day Almaty) was founded. It was not long before Russian incursions into Central Asia became much more frequent. By the end of the nineteenth century the Russians had a firm foothold in the area and were starting to exert their influence on the nomadic Kazakhs, setting the stage for the twentieth century transformation of the region by the Soviets.

The Soviet Union's interaction with Kazakhstan started just after the 1917 October Revolution, with Lenin granting the peoples of Central Asia the right to self-determination. This did not last long, and during the 1920s Moscow and the Red Army put down Muslim revolts throughout Central Asia after the Russian civil war. Centuries of nomadic tribal wars among Turks, Mongols, and Arabs were being replaced by a new kind of domination: the military might of the Red Army and the propagandistic Soviet machine of Stalin's Kremlin.

In 1924 Kazakhstan was given union republic status, and in 1936 full Soviet socialist republic status—a status that did not change until Kazakhstan was the last Soviet republic to break from Moscow and declare independence, on 16 December 1991.

The years between 1924 and 1991 were truly transformative for the people and land of Kazakhstan. Factories were built, schools reorganized, borders closed, and life changed in almost every facet. Soviet years were a time of immigration into Kazakhstan. Stalin's collectivization campaign after World War II brought people from the Caucasus, southern Russia, and the Baltic to Kazakhstan. Khrushchev's "Virgin Land" campaign in 1954 made much of Kazakhstan into farmland, run by huge collective farms, largely made up of the Russian and Ukrainian settlers brought in to run them.

Soviet wars were also very difficult for this region. World War II and the war in Afghanistan in the late 1970s killed many young Kazakh men and women. Kazakhstan was integral to the Soviet Union for its oil and minerals, fertile farmlands, tough warriorlike heritage, and its vast, wide-open lands suitable for nuclear testing.
Bread (commonly loaves or a flat, round bread called leipioskka ) and seasonal fruits and vegetables are served with almost every meal. Kazakhstan is known for its apples, and the Soviets are known for their love of potatoes (for both eating and making vodka).

Shashlik, marinated meat roasted over a small flame and served on a stick, is of great popularity in this region. The style of meat, which locals claim originated in the Caucasus is not often eaten on a daily basis at home but is eaten quite often at roadside cafés and corner shashlik stands. High quality shashlik in large quantities is served at home on special occasions or if an animal is slaughtered.

With their daily meals, Kazakhs drink fruit juices, milk, soft drinks, beer, water, and tea. Tea is an integral part of life in Kazakhstan. Many people sit down and drink tea at least six or seven times a day. Every guest is always offered tea, if not forced to stay and drink some. Tea is almost always consumed hot, as people in Kazakhstan think that drinking cold beverages will make one sick. Soft drinks, beer, and other drinks are drunk cold but never too cold, for fear of sickness.

Two children peruse movies advertisements in Alma Ata.
Two children peruse movies advertisements in Alma Ata.

Tea drinking habits vary between Russians and Kazakhs. Russians drink their tea in teacups filled to the brim with hot tea. Kazakhs drink their tea in small wide-mouthed saucers called kasirs that they never fill more than halfway (usually only a quarter full). The intent is that the tea should never get cold, and the passing of the empty cup by a guest or a family member to the woman pouring tea serves as a way to keep them interacting, a way of showing respect. Kazakhs take tea drinking very seriously, and the ritualistic brewing, drinking, passing, and refilling of teacups take on a real rhythm and beauty when observed.



Vodka is consumed at all ceremonies. It is usually consumed in large quantities, and can be homemade or bought from a store (although usually only Russians make it at home). Toasts almost always precede a drink of vodka, and are given not only at special events but also at small, informal gatherings. Vodka permeates Kazakh and non-Kazakh culture and is central to all important meals and functions.

Basic Economy. Because of the richness of its land and resourcefulness of its people, the Kazakh basic economy is not very dependent on foreign trade and imports. The degree to which this is true varies greatly between the cities and towns, and the villages of the countryside. Almost every rural Kazakh has a garden, sheep and chickens, and some have horses. There are many meals in rural Kazakhstan where everything people eat and drink is homemade and from the person's garden or livestock. People in this region have been taught to be very resourceful and careful with what little they have. Most men can fix their own cars, houses, and farm equipment; women can cultivate, cook, sew, or mend almost everything they use in daily life. In fact, many rural dwellers make a living of growing foods or handmaking goods for sale in the local markets or in the cities.

For other goods, Kazakhs rely on a local market, where they buy clothes, electronics or other goods, mostly from Russia, Turkey, China, and South Korea. Urban Kazakhs rely much on grocery stores and now even big shopping malls in some cities for their goods and services.

Land Tenure and Property. Most people in Kazakhstan now own a house or an apartment for which they paid very little. Houses and property built and subsidized by the former Soviet government were very cheap and available to all during the Soviet years. With the collapse of the USSR most people retained the property that they had during Soviet years. New houses have been built and new property developed, and these are bought and sold in much the same way property is in any Western country. Most apartments are bought outright, but slowly the concept of developing an area and renting out the apartments and stores is becoming more popular. The area may face a real crisis as the houses and apartments that remain from the Soviet era need to be torn down or rebuilt, as people do not have much money for property or building supplies.

Commercial Activities. Seventy years of living in a land without imports or major foreign trade made the people of Kazakhstan rely heavily on their Soviet neighbors and on producing for themselves. In local markets, all types of goods and services are for sale, from produce to clothes, cars, and livestock. Kazakh carpets and handicrafts are probably some of the most famous exports from Kazakhstan. In addition, mineral and oil exports bring in much-needed revenue.

Major Industries. The major industries of Kazakhstan are oil, coal, ore, lead, zinc, gold, silver, metals, construction materials, and small motors. Kazakhstan produces 40 percent of the world's chrome ore, second only to South Africa. Besides the major fossil fuels and important minerals extraction, which is being supported by both foreign investment and the Kazakh government, much of the major industrial production in Kazakhstan has slowed or stopped. An industrial growth rate of -2.1 percent in 1998 was very frustrating to a country and people with such a rich land but with such a poor infrastructure and rate of capital investment.

Trade. Kazakhstan trades oil, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, chemicals, grains, wool, meat, and coal on the international market mostly with Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, the Netherlands, China, Italy, and Germany. For the years between 1990-1997, 28 percent of working males were active in agriculture; 37 percent in industry; and 35 percent in services. During that same time period, 15 percent of working women were engaged in agriculture; 25 percent in industry; and 60 percent in services.

Division of Labor. Liberal arts colleges have only existed in Kazakhstan since independence in 1991. Until that time all institutes of higher education trained workers for a specific skill and to fill a specific role in the economy. This is still very much the case with high school seniors deciding among careers such as banking, engineering, computer science, or teaching.

A system of education, qualifications, work experience, and job performance is for the most part in place once a graduate enters the workforce. In recent years there have been widespread complaints of nepotism and other unfair hiring and promotion practices, often involving positions of importance. This has lead to cynicism and pessimism regarding fairness in the job market.
S OCIAL S TRATIFICATION

Class and Castes. Some would argue that there is no bigger problem in Kazakhstan than rising social stratification at all levels. Kazakh capitalism has been a free-for-all, with a few people grabbing almost all of the power regardless of who suffers.

The terms "New Kazakh" or "New Russian" have been used to describe the nouveau riche in Kazakhstan, who often flaunt their wealth. This is in contrast to the vast number of unemployed or underpaid. A culture of haves and have-nots is dangerous for a country composed of many different ethnic groups used to having basic needs met regardless of who they were or where they came from. Poverty and accusations of unfair treatment have raised the stakes in tensions between Kazakhs and non-Kazakhs, whose interactions until recently have been peaceful.

Symbols of Social Stratification. The symbols of stratification in Kazakhstan are much like they are in many developing countries. The rich drive expensive cars, dress in fashionable clothes, and throw lavish parties. The poor drive old Soviet cars or take a bus, wear cheap clothes imported from China or Turkey, and save for months just to afford a birthday party or a wedding.
P OLITICAL L IFE

Government. American legal and constitutional experts helped the Kazakhstani government write their constitution and form their government in1995. The system is a strong presidential one, with the president having the power to dissolve the parliament if his prime minister is rejected twice or if there is a vote of no confidence. The president also is the only person who can suggest constitutional amendments and make political appointments. There are some forms of checks and balances provided by a bicameral legislature called the Kenges. The Majlis, or lower house, has sixty-seven deputies
In villages, women are responsible for the domestic chores.
In villages, women are responsible for the domestic chores.
and the upper house, the Senate, has forty-seven senators. The powers of the legislature are severely limited; most glaringly, they don't even have the power to initiate legislation. The legal system is based on the civil law system. There is a Supreme Court of forty-four members and a Constitutional Court of seven members. While much of the control is centered in Astana with the president, legislature, and courts, there are fourteen provinces or states, called oblasts in Russian, with governors and certain rights.

Leadership and Political Officials. The president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was the top Communist leader of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic when the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991. After independence, Nazarbayev was easily elected president in November 1991. In March 1995 he dissolved parliament, saying that the 1994 parliamentary elections were invalid. A March 1995 referendum extended the president's term until 2000, solidifying Nazarbayev's control and raising serious doubts among Kazakhstani people and international observers as to the state of Kazakhstani democracy.

Multiparty, representative democracy has tried to take hold in Kazakhstan but has been met by opposition from Nazarbayev's government. The main opposition parties are the Communist Party, Agrarian Party, Civic Party, Republican People's Party, and the Orleu, or progress movement. A number of smaller parties have formed and disbanded over the years. The opposition parties have accused Nazarbayev and his Republican Party of limiting any real power of the opposition by putting obstacles and loopholes in their way, if not actually rigging the elections.

The most notable example of suppression of political opposition has been the case of Akezhan Kazhageldin, who was Nazarbayev's prime minister from 1994 to 1997. In 1999 Kazhageldin was banned from running in the 1999 presidential elections. He and his wife were charged with tax evasion (the conviction of a crime under the Kazakhstani constitution prevents a potential candidate from running for office) and arrested in September 1999 at the Moscow airport after arriving from London. Sharp criticism by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) over how the arrest was set up and carried out allowed Kazhageldin to return to London. The end result was that he was still not registered for the October election, and Nazarbayev won easily, with more than 80 percent of the vote. The OSCE and the United States criticized the election as unfair and poorly administered.

Social Problems and Control. In urban areas, robberies and theft are common. Murder, suicide, and other violent crimes are on the rise. The system for dealing with crime in Kazakhstan is based, in theory, on a rule of law and enforced by the police and the courts. Local and state police and local and national courts are set up much as they are in the United States and much of the rest of the Western world. The problem is the lack of checks and controls on this system. There are so many police and so many different units (remnants of the Soviet apparatus still exist, such as intelligence gatherers, visa and registration officers, and corruption and anitgovernmental affairs divisions, as well regular police and border controls) that it is often that jurisdiction is unclear. The strong sense of community, with neighbors looking out for each other, acts as a deterrent against crime. Civic education and responsible citizenry is emphasized in schools, and the schools work closely with local communities in this area.

The drug trade from Afghanistan and long, hard-to-patrol borders have given rise to organized crime, putting a strain on Kazakhstan's police and border patrol.

White-collar crime, such as embezzlement, tax fraud, and abuse of power and privilege are almost daily events, which seem to be tacitly accepted.
Kazakhs are both very traditional and superstitious and thus have a multitude of food and drink taboos. As Muslims, Kazakhs do not eat pork. This is a general rule, followed much more closely in the villages than in the more secular cities. Kazakhs also have great respect for bread. It should never be wasted or thrown away and should always be placed on the table right side up. Kazakhs will often forbid you to leave their house unless you have eaten at least some of their bread, even if it is just a small crumb.

A national habit is eating with one's hands. This is naturally more common in the villages, where traditions are more evident, but it is not uncommon to see Kazakhs in cities eat with their hands. In fact, the Kazakh national dish beshbarmak means "five fingers" in Kazakh.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. Kazakhs have always held guests in high regard. Certain traditional Kazakh foods are usually served only on special occasions such as parties, holidays, weddings, and funerals. The most notable of these is beshbarmak, most traditionally made of horse meat. It is essentially boiled meat on the bone served over noodles and covered in a meat broth called souppa. The host, usually a man, takes the various pieces of meat and gives them out in an order of respect usually based on seniority or distance traveled. Each different piece of the horse (or goat, sheep or cow, never chicken or pig) symbolizes a different attribute such as wisdom, youth, or strength. Beshbarmak is always served in large quantities and usually piping hot.



Another national food that is present at all celebrations is bausak, a deep-fried bread with nothing in the middle and usually in the shape of a triangle or a circle. The bread is eaten with the meal, not as dessert, and is usually strewn all over the traditional Kazakh table, which is called destrakan (the word refers more to a table full of traditional food than to an actual table). Bausak is strewn all over the table so that no part of the table is showing. Kazakhs like to have every inch of service area covered with food, sometimes with more food than will fit on the table, as a way of showing respect and prosperity.

A fermented horse's milk called kumis in KazakhstanGirl is also occasionally drunk at ceremonial occasions. This traditional milk dates back to the nomadic days, and many people in Central Asia think that the intoxicating beverage is therapeutic.
Military Activity. The military of the Soviet Union was very strong and well-trained. The armies of the post-Soviet republics are much weaker and less supported by the government. The available Kazakhstani military manpower of males between ages fifteen and forty-nine was estimated at 4.5 million in 1999, with about 3.5 million of those available being fit for service. All males over age eighteen must serve in the military for two years. Exemptions are made for those in school and the disabled. The 1998 fiscal year expenditures on the military were $232.4 million (U.S.)—1 percent of the GDP of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is in a semiprecarious location. It has a friendly, although weakened, neighbor to the north in Russia. Recent complaints by Russians in Kazakhstan have begun to resonate in Moscow, putting some strain on relations that are for the most part friendly. Kazakhstan has a historical fear of China and thus watches its border with that country closely, but the most unstable areas for Kazakhstan involve its neighbors to the south. Movements in Afghanistan have spread to the failed state of Tajikistan, forming a center of Islamic fundamentalism not far to Kazakhstan's south. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have already dealt with attacks from rebel groups in Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan has significantly increased its military presence on its borders with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The region does not seem to be one that will readily go to war, while memories of the war in Afghanistan in the late 1970s are fresh in most people's minds.
S OCIAL W ELFARE AND C HANGE P ROGRAMS

There is a government-sponsored program of pension and disability benefits. There is also support for single mothers with multiple children. The problem is that there is very little money for these programs. Pension levels have not kept up with inflation, and pensions are rarely paid on time, with those elderly, disabled, or unemployed often going months without payment.
N ONGOVERNMENTAL O RGANIZATIONS AND O THER A SSOCIATIONS

Kazakhstan and the rest of the former Soviet Union have seen a massive infusion of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international aid programs. The passage of the Freedom Support Act by the United States' Congress has provided millions of dollars for direct U.S. governmental involvement in Kazakhstan and much-needed money for NGOs to operate there. The Peace Corps, United Nations Volunteers, and many other aid and educational organizations have been working hard in Kazakhstan. The groups are well received by the people and, for the most part, allowed to do their work by the Kazakhstani government.
G ENDER R OLES AND S TATUSES

Division of Labor by Gender. There is a large distinction between work and the home in Kazakhstani society. Women occupy very important roles in the Kazakhstani workforce. Women are, for example, school principals, bank presidents, teachers, accountants, police officers, secretaries, and government workers and make up almost half of the workforce. This may be a carryover from Soviet times when women were very important parts of a system that depended on every citizen to work and contribute.

Women are often the best students in a school and more qualified than men for many of the jobs in Kazakhstan. However, often women have not been promoted to the top positions in national government and the private sector. With alcoholism on the rise, especially among men, and educational performance among men often lower than average, women may play an even more significant role in the future Kazakhstani economy.

The Relative Status of Women and Men. Kazakh culture is traditionally a patriarchal one, with much respect being given to men, especially elderly men. Symbols in the culture often represent power and warriorlike behavior, often associated with men. This can be seen in many KazakhstanGirl households. In villages and small towns women always prepare the food, pour the tea, and clean the dishes. Men will often lounge on large pillows or stand outside and smoke while women prepare food or clean up after a meal. Men do work around the house, but it is usually with the horses, garden, or car. There are many marriage and courtship customs that further assert the male as dominant in Kazakh society.
M ARRIAGE , F AMILY, AND K INSHIP

Marriage. Marriage in Kazakhstan is similar to that in the United States and Europe. The reasons and even the process of marriage in Kazakhstan are also very similar. While years ago it was common for women to marry very young, times have changed; education has become much more important for both genders, and marriages for people in their mid-twenties are becoming more common. Marriages are not arranged by the parents but are usually formed through dating and courtship. Interracial marriage is rare but tolerated.

Three aspects of traditional Kazakh culture still occasionally affect marriage today in Kazakhstan. Marriage is forbidden to any couple related over the past seven generations. In addition, the male should be older than the female. Finally, the nomadic tradition of stealing a bride is still practiced, although rarely, by some Kazakhs.

Families of the bride and groom are usually heavily involved in the process of the wedding and subsequent marriage. The families meet before the wedding, and exchange gifts and dowries. Kazakh weddings are three-day events.

Divorce is not uncommon, especially in the urban centers. It is viewed in Kazakhstan as it is in other parts of the world—it is never ideal but some marriages were not meant to last. There are no formal rules for who gets what when a marriage ends, but women usually keep the children.



Kin Groups. Kin groups are central to the life of almost every KazakhstanGirl life. Who you are, who your family is, and where you are from are very important. Dating back hundreds of years to the times when the Kazakhs were divided into three distinct hordes or large tribes, it has been important to know about your kin groups. Extended families are large support networks, and relatives from far away can be expected to help financially in times of crisis.
S OCIALIZATION

Infant Care. Childbirth in Kazakhstan occurs in a hospital under the care of a doctor whenever possible. Every district in the country has a hospital, and medical care is free; patients only pay for drugs and specialized tests and care. Mothers usually stay in the hospital with their infants for a few days after birth. Some KazakhstanGirl practice a custom of not letting anyone besides close family members see a newborn for the first forty days of life; then the family holds a small party and presents the baby to extended family and friends. Babies are well cared for and cherished by all cultures in Kazakhstan. Independence and access to markets have brought improved access to infant care products.

Child Rearing and Education. Generally children go to kindergarten at ages four or five in Kazakhstan. First grade and formal schooling start at age six, when many Kazakhs have large parties celebrating the event.

Children in Kazakhstan are assigned to classes of about twenty-five students in the first grade; the class remains together through the eleventh grade. The class has the same teacher from the first through the fourth grade and then a different teacher from the fifth through the eleventh grade. These teachers become like second mothers or fathers to the students in that class, with discipline being an important factor. Homework is extensive and grades difficult, and students are very grade-conscious.

Kazakhstani schools stress the basics: literature, math, geography, history, grammar, and foreign languages. Workdays are held where students clean the school and the town. Classes on citizenship and army training are required. After school, arts and dance performances are very popular.

Higher Education. Many high school students—often as high as 75 percent—go on to attend some form of schooling after graduation. Liberal arts schools, many run by foreigners, are opening in the bigger cities. Technical schools and state universities are widespread and very popular. A tendency still exists to pigeonhole students by making them choose a profession before they enter school—a Soviet remnant that preached that every citizen had a specific role in society and the sooner he or she realized it and learned the trade the better. Unfortunately this practice is less flexible in the ever-changing Kazakhstani economy, leaving many young people underqualified for many of the emerging jobs.
E TIQUETTE

Etiquette and cultural norms related to acceptable and unacceptable behavior vary between urban and rural Kazakhs. As a rule, rural Kazakhs tend to follow the cultural norms more strictly.

Kazakh men always shake hands with someone they know when they see each other for the first time in a day. Usually the younger man initiates this, and shows respect by extending both hands and shaking the older man's hand.

Both Kazakhs and non-KazakhstanGirl remove their shoes when inside a house. Guests always remove their shoes at the door and often put on a pair of slippers provided by the host or hostess. Central Asian streets often can be very dusty or muddy, so wearing shoes indoors is a serious social offense.

Greetings are also very structured in Kazakhstan. In Kazakh culture, elder women and men are greeted with certain phrases showing respect. A Russian system of patronymics is still widely used.

Kazakhs can be superstitious, and whistling inside a house is unacceptable in almost all Kazakh homes. It is believed that whistling inside will make the owner of the house poor.

In general smoking by women is not accepted, especially in rural areas, and women who are seen walking and smoking at the same time are considered prostitutes.

Kazakhs, and many other people from the former Soviet Union, often don't smile at people in public except to those they know. Kazakhs rarely form lines when boarding crowded buses.

Many people in Kazakhstan treat foreigners with a visible degree of skepticism. With the work of the Peace Corps and many other international groups and companies, the image of a foreigner as a spy is starting to fade. Nevertheless Kazakhstani people will often stare at foreigners as they walk by.

Public affection between friends is very common. Women and girls often hold hands as they walk; boys wrestle and often hook arms or walk with their arms around each other. Kissing cheeks and embracing is perfectly acceptable between good friends.
R ELIGION

Religious Beliefs. Religion in Kazakhstan is in a time of change. Arabs brought Islam to the region in the ninth century, and more than a thousand years later, Russian Orthodoxy was introduced by Russian settlers from the north. For all intents and purposes no religion was practiced for the seventy years of Soviet influence over the region; religious participation was banned, and many churches and mosques were destroyed—religious traditions were lost in the name of Soviet atheism. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, 47 percent of the people profess to be Muslim (mainly Sunni branch) and 44 percent Russian Orthodox. However, few people practice religion in any formal way, but Kazakhs have incorporated religion into some parts of their everyday life; for example, they cover their faces in a short prayer when they pass graveyards where someone they know is buried, and they often say prayers after meals. Sayings such as "God willing" and "this is from God" are very common in everyday speech.

There are virtually no visible tensions between Muslims and Christians in Kazakhstan. Religion was such a nonfactor for so many years, and continues to occupy so little of everyday life, that it is simply not an issue of importance between Russians and KazakhstanGirl.

Religious Practitioners. Most town mosques are cared for and staffed by a mullah, who conducts religious services at the mosque as well as funerals, weddings, and blessings. Russian Orthodox churches are in many parts of Kazakhstan, especially in the north and in large cities. Orthodox priests perform services and baptize children much as in the West.

Death and the Afterlife. Both Kazakhs and non-KazakhstanGirl believe that the deceased go to a heaven after they die. Funerals and burials reflect this, as
A farm on the steppe grasslands near Kul'Sary, Kazakhstan. Many rural Kazakhs acquire the food they eat from their own land.

great care is taken in preparing bodies and coffins for burial. Funerals in this part of the world are very intense, with wailing being a sign of respect and love for the dead.

Funerals are usually held in the home of the deceased with people coming from afar to pay their respects. Russians and Kazakhs are usually buried in separate sections of the graveyard. If the means are available, a Kazakh can be buried in a mausoleum.
M EDICINE AND H EALTH C ARE


Domestic Unit. Households vary greatly in Kazakhstan. Some couples have only one or two children, while other families have eight or nine. Kazakhs tend to have more children than Russians. Men exercise most of the symbolic authority in both Kazakh and non-Kazakh households. But there are many very strong women and powerful matriarchs who wield all practical control.
When beshbarmak is made of sheep, the head of the sheep also will be boiled, fully intact, and served to the most honored guest. That guest then takes a bit of meat for himself or herself and distributes other parts of the head to other people at the table.
Domestic units in Kazakhstan are very rarely just a mother, father, and their children. The practice of grandparents and extended family living

Oil refineries next to train tracks near Kul'Sary, Kazakhstan. Oil is one of the major industries in Kazakhstan.
within one household is very common. KazakhstanGirl especially make very little distinctions among cousins, second cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Kazakhs also still largely adhere to an old custom of care for the elderly. The youngest son in Kazakh families is expected to stay at home until his parents die. He may take a wife and have a family of his own, but he is expected to care for his parents into their old age.
  

KazakhstanGirl and kazakhstanBoy

 I asked her to marry me and she said yes. however, she is concerned because her mother was told by a friend that if she married an American and became a China  citizen,I met a girl and we fell madly in love with each other. that KazakhStanBoy would not allow her to come back for 5 or 6 years. She will not be my wife if this is true!

I need help to verify if indeed KazakhStan would not allow her to come back for that period of time!

We plan to marry here, and then save and both go to  and marry again in a traditional Japanese ceremony!
FROM:http://kazakhstangirl.blogspot.com/2010/08/kazakhstangirl-and-kazakhstanboy.html

A few information about Kazakhstan

December 16th 1991 is the official date that Kazakhstan declared its independency. Many of the groups moved to Kazakhstan by Stalin now had the oportunity to return to their home countries. Also many Russians returned to their home country and Kazakhstan was facing a dramatic decline in population. About 2 million people left the country in just a few years, which equals about 15% of the total population.
Stalin used it as a remote place to hide millions of  Kazakh people from other parts of the country: Koreans, Germans and Jews. The area of Semipaletinsk in the north-east was used for the nuclear bomb testings and all space rockets were launched from Baykonur. Where the Americans needed the sea for a proper landing of their space capsules, the Sovjets managed to land on the Kazakh steppes from the beginning.

Kazakhstan is the second largest republic of the former Soviet Union. Although it is thinly populated, it has played an important role in Soviet history.

FROM:http://kazakhstangirl.blogspot.com/2010/08/few-information-about-kazakhstan.html

KazakhGirl's idea for President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev

1. The Strategic Plan 2020 - Kazakhstan's path to leadership

We are to:


1. prepare the economy to post-crisis development;
2. achieve sustainable economic growth due to forced industrialization and infrastructure development;
3. actively invest in the future for improving the competitiveness of the human capital;
4. provide Kazakhstani people with qualitative social, housing and communal services;
5. strengthen the international harmony, national security and further develop international relations.



2. Period of crisis - the time for right decisions

The world economic and financial crisis affected the economic growth rate, but did not stop our development. The total economic potential provided us stability in difficult crisis battles over three last years.

We protected the country's financial system, saved the major banks.

We didn't leave small and medium businesses in the lurch.

We obtained an unprecedented growth of 'Kazakh girls' in the government purchases of national and transnational companies.

We provided an unprecedented assistance to the agro-industrial complex.

The State assumed all costs for the completion of the equity building.

Due to the successful implementation of the "Roadmap 2009" program, 862 project on reconstruction of municipal housing have been implemented in the regions of the country, 737 kilometers of power lines, 1029 kilometers of water networks, 284 kilometers of heating pipes, roads, hundreds of schools and hospitals, cultural and sports facilities were repaired.

We have made such an important job at the first time, which has come down to every village. People are grateful to us - we did a good job.

Everything was done under my control, efficiently and publicly.

We have avoided a recession, because we knew what had to be done and did it quickly.

Great Nehru once said: "Success often falls to one's lot who act boldly.' And we acted boldly.

In 2009, the economic growth amounted to 1.1 percent, in industry to 1.7 percent. We entered a 'breakout group' of the countries with positive growth rates.

The gross international reserves and assets of the National Fund have already exceeded 50 milliard dollars, and have increased more than 25 times over the past ten years.

It is important to note that we have lost some money last year, and today the volume of the Fund is more than in December last year.

Thanks to the Fund, we not took only the anti-crisis measures, but also refunded the important assets to the state. These include the Ekibastuz State District Power Station-1, the "Bogatyr" section, our shares in Kashagan, Mangistaumunaigas and all three oil refineries.

The unemployment rate amounted to 6.3 percent, which is below than in the pre-crisis times.

Through the effectively implemented 'Employment Strategy' in the country, more than 400 thousand jobs were created.

We survived. Now we start to implement the Development Strategy untill 2020.

3.      Implementation of the "Strategic Plan 2010" is an important milestone of country's development.

Since the adoption of the "Kazakhstan -2030" Strategy in 1997, we have made a long-term agenda, the main objectives and priorities of the country, which then got a logical development in the Strategic Plan until 2010.

We began to live as we planned and achieved the following results.

In 2008, we doubled the GDP volume, two years earlier than it was planned and effectively meet social engagements of the state.

Average monthly wages increased in five times, and the average size of pensions in three times.

Population coverage with incomes, below the minimum of subsistence, decreased in four times (from 50 per cent to 12 per cent).

The basic health indicators were improved.

The life expectancy increased from 65 to 68 years. A maternal mortality decreased in two times and the fertility increased in 1.5 times.

During ten years, 652 schools and 463 health facilities have been built.

Today, we have the medical centers of the latest world standards - the National Center for Mothers and Children and the Institute of Neurosurgery.

This year, we introduced the Cardiosurgical Center. The health service of Kazakhstani people is being improved in all regions.

Due to this, we will save thousands of lives of our citizens!

Taking into account our achievements, the UN included Kazakhstan in the category of countries with high human development in its 2009 report.

This is an indisputable evidence of our increased prosperity! During a decade, 350 thousand families were owners of housing-it is about 1.2 million people, and a total of 32 thousand kilometers of roads were build and repaired - it is one-third of all roads in Kazakhstan.

According to the "Kazakhstan 2030" Strategy, we have solved all the tasks outlined in the first decade of XXI century.

3.1 Diversification of the economy - the key to success

Sustainable and balanced development in the coming decade will be provided due to increased diversification and competitiveness of the national economy.

The most important task is to achieve a comprehensive growth in labour productivity.

In Kazakhstan, if you look at the economy as a whole, one worker performs for 17 thousand dollars in a year. In developed countries, this figure exceeds 90 thousand dollars.

The conclusion is very simple - we need to improve the situation, i.e. improve productivity and introduce innovations.

The assessment and financial assistance at all levels of management and control according to these criteria will be the main task of the Government.

Only the innovations will provide a sharp increase of labour productivity.

By my order, the Government developed a state program of forced industrial-innovative development and a detailed Map of the country's industrialization.

These two documents are a detailed action plan of what, where and how we will build in the next five years.

Today, we are talking about the realization of 162 projects with a total volume of investments of 6.5 trillion tenge, which is more than 40 percent of the GDP and which will allow us directly create more than 200 thousand new jobs just in the next three years.

A powerful gas and chemical complex, plants on the production of mineral fertilizers, a number of large power stations - Balkhash TPP, Moynak HPS, a new block of Ekibastuz GRES-2 and many others will be put into operation in the coming five years.

By 2014, we will reconstruct all three refineries and will be able to fully provide our domestic demand across the entire spectrum of petroleum products.

Every industrial project in each region must be taken under special control, not only local authorities but also the public ones. This work should be a national task throughout the country in the coming decade.

It is the only way through which we can enter the list of 50th most competitive countries in the world.

The implementation of the Program - 2020 should be the main basis of the work for NDP "Nur Otan". Nobody should stand aside, because it is the only way to provide a new economic growth in Kazakhstan.

We created a single management center (headquarter) for the implementation of the Program, headed by the Prime Minister, and centers in the region led by the Mayors.

We have to work so as we worked in 2009 with accordance to the "Road Map" Program.

The ministers, mayors are responsible for all the current issues. They are mobilizing all resources.

The industrial development is our chance in a new decade, new opportunities for the development of the country.

Kazakhstan will be a successful industrial power - I absolutely believe in it.

Another important segment of diversification is the development of the agro-industrial complex. Its development should take place in three main areas.

First, the emphasis should be placed on labour productivity growth.

A labour productivity in agriculture is the lowest and is about three thousand dollars per employee per year. While in developed countries the figure is 50-70 thousand dollars.

This is where the growth prospects for the village. Therefore, our task - is to increase productivity in the agricultural complex at least two times by 2014.

Only an agro-industrial diversification, i.e., a sharp increase in processing of agricultural raw materials, new equipment, new technologies and approaches in agriculture, is able to solve this difficult task. It is necessary to use the world experience and implement it in our agriculture sector quickly.

Second, the food security of the country.

By 2014, more than 80 percent of the domestic market of food products must be native foods. We have the opportunity to do so.

Third, the realization of export capacity, primarily it is the markets of the Customs Union, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East.

We are already building the rail lines "Zhetygen-Korga" and "Uzen - the state border with Turkmenistan", which actually open an access to our products to the markets of China and the Gulf. "Western China - Western Europe" Road, which we are going to build, is an important backbone for the goods.

I would like to pay attention to the sectors of "economy of the future". Efficiently and effectively functioning national innovation system must be its foundation.

We have had already an experience in this area. We go further. In the framework of a new university in Astana, three new research centers will be created.

The Center of Life Sciences will conduct joint ventures with leading world scientific centers in the field of organ transplantation, artificial heart and lungs, stem cells and medicine of longevity.

The Center for Energy Research will focus on issues of renewable energy, physics and technology of high energy.

The Interdisciplinary Center will be an instrumental engineering center, laboratory depot and design office.

All these three centers will be established this year.

I am instructing the Government to develop cross-sectoral plan of scientific and technological development of the country until 2020 with the priorities of our industry in 2010.

It is necessary also to accelerate the development of the new Law "On Science."

It is important for our future development.

3.2 Competent trade policy - the support of the competitiveness of the economy.

Kazakhstan is an active participant of international processes in the CIS. The creation of the Custom Union with Russia and Belarus, which came into force on January 1, 2010, is a breakthrough of all Kazakhstani integration initiatives.

The next stage of integration of the three countries will be the formation of Common Economic Space since January 1, 2012. This is a higher level of integration, which will ensure free movement of capital and labour.

Supporting regional economic integration in the CIS, the Government should intensify the process of accession into the World Trade Organization on terms meet the priorities of economic development of Kazakhstan.

I think that now it is important to appreciate rightly new opportunities for our entrepreneurs, to engage seriously the development of effective strategies on entering new markets, build competitive advantages.

Of course, as they say, "where there is no competition, we sleep better, but life is worse. The Kazakhs are going to live better and will not let to prevent the implementation of their plans.

3.3 Investment Attraction

Obviously, for the realization of our plans on the diversification, public resources alone will not be enough. The foreign direct investments must be its main source.

The questions of investment in Kazakhstan were one of the main issues during my international trips. Many states see the essence of investing in our economy.

Today questions about attracting investment from China, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, as well as French, Italian, Russian companies in the amount of $ 20 billion are resolved.

These funds will be used in non-resource sector and will ensure the commissioning of dozens of objects of industrial programs, infrastructure and joint ventures.

We solve the issues of attracting investments to the highway "Western China - Western Europe" at a rate of about 3 billion dollars and 2 billion dollars to the pipeline from the west to the south of the country.

And this is all, except the investments in recourse sector, which constitute more than $ 10 milliard. As you see, a great work is done on ensuring of this program by financial and material resources.

We must create in Kazakhstan the most attractive conditions for investors, willing to work in our region.

Taking into account the priorities of industrial development we need new approaches to the functioning of special economic zones and industrial parks. I am instructing the Government to develop a new bill on special economic zones.

A mechanism of public-private partnership has a great potential to attract private investments.

We launched this mechanism in Kazakhstan, but it needs to be improved in accordance with international best practice.

I am instructing the government to make appropriate changes in the law on concessions in the first half year. In order to implement the principle of project financing we must create special design organizations with a special legal status.

3.4. Enterprise is the moving force of new economy

An enterprise will be the core of diversification.

We would like to see a strong entrepreneurial class, which is ready to take risks, cope with new markets and introduce the innovations.

The entrepreneurs are the moving force of economic modernization.

In this regard, I am instructing the Government to ensure the introduction of a unified budget program for the development of entrepreneurship in the regions in 2010.

I propose to call it a "Business Road map-2020".

The purpose of this program will be the creation of permanent jobs through the development of a new layer of entrepreneurship in the regions, especially small and medium businesses.

The use of this program should be carried out in the following areas:


- Subsidizing a note rate on loans;

    * partial credit guarantees to small and medium businesses;
    * service support of doing business;

- Retraining of workers and professional development, youth practice and social working places.


The "Business Road Map-2020" opens new opportunities both for business and for banks and investors on financing of non-recourses projects.

The Government, together with the Mayors should develop total funding limits by year, based on calculations of the economic potential of each region in three-year budget. These funds are transferred to the regions.

The Mayors are responsible for SME projects funded by the program.

I am instructing the Government to tell SEC of local executive authorities, who will become the regional corporations for business development.

3.5 Domestic products ate the indicator of success of the Plan 2020

The support of our non-recourse exporters should be a key objective of industrialization.

Kazakhstan's industry in export markets should be presented by the general line of domestic brands.

That is why the task of the Government is to create a complete support system for exporters, which provides the funding for acquisition of basic assets, service support of export, grants to exporters and export trade financing.

3.6 Regional Development - the development of the country

We are not able to achieve a forced diversification without the reform of regional development. That is why we need to start building the centres of economic growth. It is necessary to develop the oil and gas sector, chemical industry, equipment manufacturing and transport capacity in Western Kazakhstan.

In the center, north, south and east - the mining and metallurgical complex, nuclear, chemical and agricultural industries.

To develop the sectors on the base of domestic demand, near the traditional industries, as well as in Almaty and Astana cities.

To develop non-resources sectors with high export potential and AIC (agro-industrial complex) in northern and southern regions of the country.

Sectors of the economy of the future must evolve in Almaty and Astana.

A special importance will be placed on further development of our capital city, Astana, the city with a competitive economy, attracting for citizens and tourists.

The new regional policy is the most important part of the Strategic Plan 2020.

I am instructing the Government, together with the Mayors of regions, Astana and Almaty cities to carefully consider the issues of investment policy in the regions.

3.7 Basic terms of the Strategic Plan -2020

For preparing the economy to the global recovery and increasing its steadiness to external challenges we have to solve a triune task:


first, significantly improve the business climate;
second, to ensure the stable functioning of the financial system;
third, to continue a building of sound legal environment.


I am instructing the Government to reduce operating costs of business, associated with registering and doing business, by 30 percent by 2011, and by 2015 - another 30 percent.

By the end of the decade, the share of small and medium businesses in the GDP should be increased to 40 percent.

By 2020, Kazakhstan must enter the 50 most competitive countries with the most favourable business climate.

It is important to ensure the stability and steady work of the financial system.

It is necessary to make the local stock market to work, which should be a regional center of Islamic banking in the CIS and Central Asia by 2020, and enter the ten leading financial centers of Asia.

The regulation in the domestic financial system should adequately meet the challenges and threats of the post-crisis world.

The financial regulator should provide the decrease of share of external liabilities of the banking sector in the aggregate amount of its liabilities.

Thus the bulk of foreign loans should be aimed at establishing efficient and competitive industries.

We need to cut off banks from the explicit or implicit affiliates, hardly see to banks that engaged exclusively in banking, and that their activity will be very transparent.

We helped for banks to survive in a time of crisis, and now banks have to vigorously help to the economy in its post-crisis recovery and development.

The National Fund has become as 'safety cushion' for us in a crisis period. Now its goal is to become a guarantor of stability and prosperity.

The Government must give serious attention to building the capacity of non-raw materials incomes of the budget.

By the end of this decade, the non-oil budget deficit should not exceed 3 percent of GDP. In the future, it must be reduced to zero.

Starting from the current year, a guaranteed transfer to the national budget will be fixed in the absolute amount - $ 8 billion.

The transfer should be directed primarily to the implementation of industrialization.

No loans from the National Fund, no other additional transfers to the budget will not be.

With these approaches, the assets of the National Fund should increase to 90 billion dollars by 2020, which amount to not less than 30 percent of GDP.

I am instructing the Government to introduce me for approval of a new concept of formation and use of the National Fund in the first quarter of this year.

As a whole, by 2020 we must achieve the following main results of accelerated diversification of the economy.

The share of manufacturing in GDP should be at least 13 percent.

The share of non-raw materials exports in total exports should rise from 27 to 45 percent. Labor productivity in the manufacturing sector should be increased by 2 times, in agriculture - at least 4 times.

The power intensity of GDP must be reduced to not less than 25 percent. The share of innovation active enterprises should increase from 4 to 20 percent. Already by 2015 the export potential of agricultural sector should be increased from 4 to 8 percent, while domestic demands for construction must be provided by Kazakh building materials to 80 percent.

This is a specific task facing the Government, Mayors of all levels. That's what we ask. Therefore it is necessary to raise the responsibility of managers of all companies and businesses. This is a global issue, the question of statehood, the question of independence.

During five years, the Government should provide the doubling of production and export of metallurgical products, tripling the production of chemical products. By 2015, the budget incomes from new projects are expected to grow to 300-400 billion tenge, reducing the dependence on raw-materials sector.

4. A man is the main wealth of the country.

A successful implementation of the strategy of the country's modernization depends on knowledge, social and physical well-being of Kazakhstan.

4.1. Education

By 2020, all children, both in urban and rural areas, will be covered by preschool education. We have a huge potential of public-private partnership. Private family kindergartens and mini-centers are an alternative for state institutions.

I instruct the Government, together with the mayors to develop and already to launch in the first half of this year the "Balapan" special program, aimed at improving the welfare of children in preschool education and upbringing.

The Government must take all necessary measures in order that the 12-year-old model of education will be successfully operated in the secondary education by 2020.

The training and technical education should be based on professional standards and tightly interconnected with the needs of the economy.

The quality of higher education must meet the highest international standards. The Universities of the countries should seek to enter in the ratings of the leading universities in the world.

The National innovation system must fully operate by 2010 and by 2020 it should already yield the results in the form of development, patents, and prepared technologies, introduced in the country.

A special priority in education sphere will have projects such as a unique institution - "New International University", "Special Fund" and "Intellectual Schools", which is already working successfully.

I agreed that they were of my name.

We must do everything in order that they will become the leaders of the national educational system, will be the main area for the development and testing of advanced training programs with the aim to implement them throughout the country.

For the full functioning of these educational organizations I am instructing the Government to develop and submit a bill to Parliament in the first quarter of this year.

4.2. Public Health

The health of the nation is an integral component of Kazakhstan's success in achieving its strategic goals.

Today we are preparing to introduce a system of financing and payment of medical services, results-oriented. We have created all the necessary basic conditions for the effective system of drug provision.

50 per cent of medicines will be made in our country.

It is necessary to accelerate the introduction of amendments to the legislation of the republic on the activities of public enterprises in the field of education and public health.

A healthy lifestyle and principle of shared responsibility of people for their health - it should be a major thing in public policy.

The sports infrastructure, which we are preparing for the Asian Games in 2011, will create the necessary prerequisites for the development of mass physical culture sports movement, forcing the region to Sports infrastructure, which we are preparing for the Asian Games in 2011, will create the necessary prerequisites for the development of mass physical culture sports movement, forcing the regions to keep up with Astana and Almaty.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports, together with the Mayors need to identify joint activities for the development of mass sports in the country and to translate them into reality.

Up to 30 percent of Kazakhstan should be involved in mass sport.

Only in this case we will see the progress.

This is a task of the Government.

The complex of government measures on construction and equipment of health facilities, training, healthy lifestyle must halve the maternal and infant mortality by 2020, reduce a total mortality by 30 percent, and reduce the incidence of T.B. by 20 percent.

At the same time the life expectancy will increase to 72 years. Behind these dry figures there are thousands of saved lives of our citizens. It is an important goal. And we must achieve it!

4.3. Improving of life quality and social protection

The major task of the coming decade is an improvement of life quality and living standard of all Kazakhstan's citizens, the strengthening of social stability and safety. And the state will create all necessary conditions for the increasing of population to 10 percent by 2020.

The population's employment is a priority in the state social policy

The target I am setting is: by 2020 the unemployment rate should not exceed 5 percent, and the share of the population with incomes below the living- wage - no more than 8 percent.

Social services should be provided only to the needy citizens and meet modern and living standards in Kazakhstan.

By 2015, the size of base pension payments must be increased to the level of 60 percent of the living-wage, while the size of state social benefits - increased by 1.2 times to 2010.

We are consistent in our actions. Last year, pensions, scholarships, budget wages were increased by 25 percent, social benefits - by 9 percent on average.

In the national budget for the current year, pensions and scholarships will be increased from January 1 by 25 percent, and- from July 1.

I believe that the positive dynamics of economic growth last year allows making a 25 percent increase of scholarships and budget employees' wages three months earlier - from April 2010. I instruct the Government to take necessary measures for it.

4.4. Care about veterans

This year we celebrate the 65th anniversary of Victory in Great Patriotic War. This is an important date in our common history.

Each participant and disabled veterans will get a one-time assistance of 65 thousand tenge from the budget.

A financial support will be given also to individuals equated with the participants and invalids, parents, spouses of soldiers, killed during the Great Patriotic War, the spouses of deceased invalids and equated invalids, home-front workers.

Besides, in connection with the celebration of 65th Victory's anniversary, 383 million tenge will be allocated for travel privileges for participants and invalids of war.

This is a tribute to our fathers and grandfathers for their selfless struggle and victory, for providing us a peaceful life.

4.5. Policy in the housing and public utility sector

The crisis prompted us to revise the policy of the housing construction sector's development. I believe a system of housing construction savings has enormous potential for it. It is necessary to use the principle of equal partnership of citizens, Zhilstroysberbanka, state and constructing companies.

What does it mean?

The citizens save up the part of the housing cost in Zhilstroysberbank and have the opportunity to get a cheap real estate loans.

Zhilstroysberbank creates a pool of citizen's housing preferences, seeks for constructing investors and second-tier banks willing to finance housing construction acting as an eventual building owner.

The state, represented by local executive authorities, provides a land allocation and wrap-engineering services.

Thus, the citizens will be able fully participate in the construction of their homes. Both reliable demand and controlled construction will be provided. In 2010 I am instructing the Government to continue reconstruction of the housing and public utility objects started within the "Roadmap 2009" Plan and by 2011 to develop a large-scale modernization of housing and public utilities until 2020.

Upgrading of the housing and public utility infrastructure should be accompanied by a reduction of exploitation costs and the introduction of resource-saving technologies. More countryside residents must be supplied with the running water.  100 percent of townships' population must have an access to good-quality water.
5. Foreign Policy

Kazakhstan's foreign policy will be based on the Concept of Foreign Policy.

There will be an active, pragmatic and balanced foreign policy aimed at ensuring national interests, raise the international prestige of the country and the strengthening of national, regional and global security.

Kazakhstan intends to participate in global decision making in the formation of a new architecture of international relations and the contours of the world trade and financial system.

Kazakhstan will actively promote the strategic dialogue between all the existing systems of the collective security.

Kazakhstan is fully aware of its role as a responsible participant in regional and global economic processes and immaculately performs it during all the years of its independence.

Therefore, the leaders of major countries and heads of the authoritative international organizations - from economic to humanitarian - consider themselves Kazakhstan's friends.

We should be proud of it.

Due to our high international reputation Kazakhstan is chairing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

It is a great honor to us.

It is the highest responsibility to chair the OSCE in the most difficult period of the modern history.

The OSCE, with its unique geographical body of the participants - 56 states, from three continents, with its rich experience of interaction is one of the key mechanisms of international security and cooperation.
We have already indicated our vision of the presidency in the OSCE.

There is no need going into details.

The motto of Kazakhstan chairmanship in this most influential organization in terms of security is: "Trust. Traditions. Transparency. Tolerance".

We will work together to seek ways to resolve the many topical issues and work out joint mechanisms for prevention of possible critical situations.

We'll do our best that the OSCE will be the structure recognizes the diversity of the world of the XXI century.

Many the OSCE member-states backed supported Kazakhstan's plans and my proposition to hold the OSCE Summit in Astana this year.

I proposed to discuss most topical security issues in the OSCE responsibility zone, the Afghan situation and tolerance-related issues at the summit.

Our chairmanship in the OSCE is aimed at development of security and prosperity of all the world nations.

Dear Kazakhstanis!

Esteemed Members of the Parliament!

As you see, we are ready for a new phase of our country's development. We have never dealt with such a complicated and scaled task before.

We carefully analyzed and estimated our possibilities for the coming decade.

The Development program up to 2020 will be published in media. We know what will be done and built every month as well as where and how. And what is most important, it has been already mentioned, all our actions are secured by necessary financial resources.

We know what difficulties are ahead. The world crisis is not over yet, but its critical phase has been passed. I warn you, as I did last year, that force-major circumstances can affect our plans, but our general line will stay unaltered.

This is the core and importance of our program.

Everyone will have an access to good-quality health care.

Good-quality education from kindergartens to universities will be available to each family countrywide.

The quality of housing and public utility services will considerably improved.

Pensioners, disabled and poor families will be protected.

Our youth - the bedrock of our future, will get new opportunities to build their future.

These are the new opportunities to each of you, your family and our state.

We pooled our efforts to attain our strategic goals assigned in the Development Strategy until 2030 and we are successfully carrying out our mission - the mission of building up an independent, prosperous, politically stable Kazakhstan.

We pin our hopes on members of "Nur Otan" party in the implementing of tasks of the coming decade, who will factually take the lead in this work.

Dear compatriots!

In conclusion I want to say: together we have managed to make Kazakhstan well-to-do and together we will make it prosperous.


6. Internal political stability is a solid foundation for the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2020

The maintenance of accord and stability in the society, strengthening of the country's security are the main objectives until 2020 in the internal policy and national security.

In the new decade, we will continue to improve our political system; sustainable political modernization will reinforce our economic accomplishments. And the legal reform will be crucial.

We have a serious work on reforming law-enforcement system. Today, unfortunately, we all can see its problems arising from poor governance, conflict of functions of law enforcement, lack of adequate personnel work, and lack of transparency and control over activities of the law-enforcement system.

This sector has inherited many multiple lapses of its predecessor. The penalty system envisages less than 5 percent fines, 0.4 percent correctional tasks, 0 percent community service. The main punishment is an imprisonment. Nobody deals with rehabilitation of those who are at large.

As a result, they swell the number of criminals.

I would like to focus on several general directions of the reform.

First of all, it is necessary to optimize the law enforcement system, specify the competence of each state body.

We need to humanize our laws and improve their quality.

The law enforcement system must shift accents from internal interests in protection of human rights and state interests.

We will have to provide strict parliamentary and public control, for this reason the system of accountability and performance evaluation of each law enforcement body must be improved.

Performance criterion should be not quantitative indices but the quality of work itself, the indicator of which will be more trust of citizens, legal entities and foreign investors.

In other words, in the new decade, we need a new law enforcement system, meeting high international standards of the law enforcement service in a democratic state. An appropriate draft has been already drawn up on my instructions.

I instruct the President's,Kazakhstan prisoners, Administration, the government, Supreme Court,kazakhgirl, law enforcement bodies to get down to this comprehensive and systemic improvement of the legal space right now.

I instruct to bring a bill on law enforcement system's reform to the Parliament this year.

Dear Kazakhstanis!

It is impossible to perform all these ambitious tasks without a unifying national strategy.

If we want to succeed, each of us has to be guided by following principles:

First - our Motherland, the independent Kazakhstan!

Second - the State and every citizen refuse any steps, both at home and abroad, that could badly affect on the stability of society and Kazakhstanis' well-being.

Third - economic growth - is everyone's business. This is a key to solving the priority social problems, to the well-being of the entire society and each Kazakhstani.

Fourth - integration in the regional and world markets is a main basis of the development.

FROM:http://kazakhstangirl.blogspot.com/2010/08/kazakhgirls-idea-for-president-of.html