FACTS

Location: Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe

Area (only Total) total: 2,717,300 sq km

Climate: continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid

Terrain: extends from the Volga to the Altai Mountains and from the plains in western Siberia to oases and desert in Central Asia

Population: 15,340,533 (July 2008 est.)

Main Language (only first): Kazakh

Government type: republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch

Capital (Name): Astana

Capital (Time Difference): UTC+6

Independence: 16 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 16 December (1991)