Kazakhstan Geography - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Location

Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural (Zhayyq) River in easternmost Europe

Geographic coordinates

48 00 N, 68 00 E

Map references

Asia

Area

total: 2,724,900 sq km

land: 2,699,700 sq km

water: 25,200 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly less than four times the size of Texas

Area comparison map

Land boundaries

total: 13,364 km

border countries (5): China 1765 km, Kyrgyzstan 1212 km, Russia 7644 km, Turkmenistan 413 km, Uzbekistan 2330 km

Coastline

0 km (landlocked); note - Kazakhstan borders the Aral Sea, now split into two bodies of water (1,070 km), and the Caspian Sea (1,894 km)

Maritime claims

none (landlocked)

Climate

continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid

Terrain

vast flat steppe extending from the Volga in the west to the Altai Mountains in the east and from the plains of western Siberia in the north to oases and deserts of Central Asia in the south

Elevation

highest point: Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik Khan-Tengri) 6,995 m

lowest point: Vpadina Kaundy -132 m

mean elevation: 387 m

Natural resources

major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium

Land use

agricultural land: 77.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 8.9% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 68.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 1.2% (2018 est.)

other: 21.4% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

20,660 sq km (2012)

Total renewable water resources

108.41 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Population distribution

most of the country displays a low population density, particularly the interior; population clusters appear in urban agglomerations in the far northern and southern portions of the country

Natural hazards

earthquakes in the south; mudslides around Almaty

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

world's largest landlocked country and one of only two landlocked countries in the world that extends into two continents (the other is Azerbaijan); Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome; in January 2004, Kazakhstan and Russia extended the lease to 2050

NOTE: The information regarding Kazakhstan on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kazakhstan 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kazakhstan 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.