Kazakhstan is characterized by vast steppes in the center and west, a great desert and dead sea in the south, and a great landlocked lake in the west. The magnificent Pamir, Tien-shan and Altai Mountain ranges rise in the east (they are actually a spur of the Himalaya). Though Kazakhstan may seem small when compared with Russia, it's really very large (and very empty)—in fact, it's larger than western Europe, with a population of more than 15 million.
The outside world first took notice of the region in the eighth century, when one of the main Silk Road routes, connecting China with Europe, passed through the area near Almaty. At the beginning of the 13th century, Genghis Khan invaded the region, bringing Mongol customs and language to the native Turks who lived there. Today, remnants of this Mongol heritage can be seen in the country's rough equestrian games.
The Russian Empire began seriously asserting its influence in the region in the mid-18th century, and Kazakhstan soon fell under Moscow's rule. Following the Communist revolution, Kazakhstan was declared a republic within the Soviet Union in 1936. Sovereignty finally arrived with the demise of Soviet communism in 1991. Kazakhstan was the last of the republics to leave the Soviet Union, and today, the country continues to have close ties with Russia—reinforced (and sometimes aggravated) by the fact that 40% of Kazakhstan's population are ethnic Russians.
Kazakhstan's main attractions are its architecture, historic sites, museums, art, hiking, mountain climbing and stark yet beautiful scenery.
The country will appeal to experienced travelers with a broad range of interests and a great deal of flexibility. Don't go there if you can't tolerate delays or schedule changes, must have deluxe accommodations everywhere you go, or if you are looking for a destination with varied nightlife.
Once the fourth-largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea will soon be a relative puddle. Soviet irrigation systems begun in the 1960s diverted much of the water in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya (Oxus) rivers to cotton farms, effectively eliminating the sources of the lake. Engineers are building a dike to preserve a small portion of the lake, now affectionately known as the Little Aral Sea.
Abandoned fishing boats from the now-defunct Aral Sea fishing fleet lie eerily on sand dunes, left high and dry as the waters receded in the 1970s and '80s.
Archaeologists excavating burial mounds near Pokrovka have unearthed the tombs of what appear to be female warriors, raising speculation that the skeletons may be the legendary race of women warriors called Amazons. The mythological Amazons were said to inhabit the shores of the Black Sea, 1,000 mi/1,600 km west of Pokrovka.
Almaty is the home of Makhsud Shafigi, the last known speaker of Chagatai, an ancient language of the Mongols who ruled Central Asia in the 13th century. He is working on a Kazak-Chagatai dictionary that will be used to translate documents from the days of Mongol rule.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, most of the world was surprised to find that the U.S. and Kazakhstan were the most advanced space powers: The Soviet Union's liftoff site and hardware at Baikonur Cosmodrome were all stationed in this newly independent republic. Russia still controls Kazakhstan's space program, however—it has leased the property until 2014.
Kazakhstan boasts huge oil and gas reserves and large mineral deposits. Needless to say, several multinational corporations are working to develop business ties with the country.
Uncontrolled hunting in remote mountain areas—by both local nomadic yak herders and tourists—is threatening the country's rare Siberian ibex population.
Although most of the country's nuclear weapons have been dismantled and shipped to Russia, there is still a sizable area of radioactive contamination north of Semipalatinsk. Hundreds of nuclear tests were conducted there in the 1950s and '60s.
Kazakhstan's nearly empty steppes make it an integral part of Russia's space program—it's a perfect landing ground for descending capsules. Rocket parts have been known to hit nomad tents (the round felt structures called yurts) after unsuccessful launches.
More than 2 million Kazaks live outside Kazakhstan, the majority of them in China, Uzbekistan and other former Soviet republics.
