Kazakhstan

Since 1991 Kazakhstan has been a sovereign state and presidential republic.
The territory of Kazakhstan is more than twice as big as the four other Central Asian republics put together. Kazakhstan lands spread from the Caspian Sea to China and from Siberia to Tien-Shan ridge.
Kazakhstan borders on Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and China.
Capital is Astana.
Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and the former capital of the Republic. Nowadays the population of the city runs over 1,300,000 people. According to history the city of Almaty was set on the place of the ancient settle Almaty, which dates from the III century BC. The first settlements on the territory of present Almaty and its suburbs are dated from the V-VII centuries AD. In 1854 it was a frontier fort called Vernyi at the border of the Russian Empire.
The city lies like a pearl at the foothills of Zailiski Alatau mountains that rise like a wall along Almaty southern fringe. Being the capital of Kazakhstan for a long time, Almaty remains big political, cultural and scientific center.
Relief. The landscape of Kazakhstan is diverse. The northern forest-steppe turns into steppe, half-deserts and deserts in the South.
Geographical zones: deserts, semi-deserts, steppes, forest-steppes, mountains.
Climate: Continental. Average temperature in the north in winter - 19 - 24 °C, in summer + 22-28 °C; in the south in winter - 3- 9 °C, in summer + 26-29 °C.

Kazakhstan presents itself as a land, filled interminable steppes, deserted areas and inaccessible ranges of snow mountains emitting crystal clear water falling down and feeding fruitful lands. Remnants of ancient caravan routes reveal how the East and West were united in past times, traverse country's southern areas verged on great deserts of the Central Asia.
The world is not different with its customs and morality, in particular if you look at the architecture and unfamiliar dishes. First of all, a separate multifaceted universe rises up at your eyes, based once on the dazzled bright contracts, and on the other hand - on the peaceful halftones.

Kazakhstan is rich with its cultural monuments:
- Turkestan town and Mausoleum of Khodja Akhmed Yassawi, holy person, which tomb makes Turkestan a kind of Mecca for Muslims
- Taraz city with the mausoleums of Karakhan, Aisha-Bibi and Babadzhi-Khatun and the site of the famous Talas battle between Chinese and Arabs
- Tamgaly - Gallery of Stone Inscriptions, about 2000 stones with inscriptions
and many others

Natural treasures of Kazakhstan:
- Aksu-Djabagly Nature Preserve - the only preserve in Kazakhstan that has the status of a UNESCO biosphere preserve
- Altyn-Emel National Park - unique from a scientific and cultural point of view site due to the combination of its various topographies remaining mostly unchanged
- Charyn Canyon - called "the little brother of the Grand Canyon in the USA". It is nearly 200 m long and 100 to 300 m high
- Kol-Sai Lakes - comprise three mountain lakes located at the altitudes of 1000, 2250 and 2700 meters above see level
etc.