Kazakhstan
Astana · Central Asia
Kazakhstan is a country in Asia. Its capital city is Astana, the official currency is the Tenge, and the main language is Kazakh.
With a population of roughly 19.6 million people spread over 2,724,900 km², Kazakhstan is the 63rd most populous country in the world and the 9th largest by area. That works out at about 7 people per square kilometre.
Kazakhstan shares land borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan — 5 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Almaty, Astana and Shymkent. The highest point in the country is Khan Tengri, at 7,010 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Argentina, while its population is closest to that of Chile.
- Capital
- Astana
- Region
- Central Asia
- Population
- 19,600,000
- Area
- 2,724,900 km²
- Currency
- Tenge
- Main language
- Kazakh
- Highest point
- Khan Tengri
7,010 m - Land borders
- 5
Kazakhstan: things worth knowing
- Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world, bigger than all of Western Europe combined.
- The Baikonur Cosmodrome, leased to Russia, has launched crewed spaceflights since Yuri Gagarin in 1961.
- The Aral Sea, once the fourth largest lake on Earth, has largely dried up through Soviet-era irrigation.
Kazakhstan in context
Asia has 48 sovereign countries in total. Kazakhstan ranks 24th among them by population.
See the full list of Asia countries, or browse all 195 countries.