The Republic of Kazakhstan

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Kazakhstan (Part 1)
The Republic of Kazakhstan is situated in the Central Asia. Kazakhstan was established as the republic of Kazakhstan in December 1991. The country is the second largest of the former Soviet republics with a total area of over 2753000 square kilometers. Its population is about 16 million. The population mostly lives in towns and large villages.
Kazakhstan borders China, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kirgizia. There is a long border coast line on the Caspian Sea in the Southwest. Kazakh is the state language of the country, but it is not the only language which people speak in the country. Russian is the language of mutual communication among the people of different nationalities. Other languages are spoken there too.
Astana is the capital of the Republic. It is situated in the central part of the country. Almaty was the capital until December 1997, and then it was moved to Akmola, 850 kilometres to the north-west. In May 1998 Akmola was renamed Astana, the Kazakh word for capital. The largest cities are Almaty, Karaganda, Shimkent, Pavlodar and Kostanay.
There are many rivers and lakes in Kazakhstan. The four rivers are the main resources of water in the country. They are the Irtish in the east, the Syr-Daria in the southwest, the Ili in the southeast, and the Ural in the northwest of the country. The largest lakes are the Balkhash, the Zaysan, the Ala-Kol, and the Tengiz.
The climate of the country is strongly continental. It is cold in winter and hot in summer. Rain usually falls in spring and in autumn. Snow falls in all areas but not at the same time. In the south snow falls in November or December, in the north it falls as a rule in October or November. The flora and fauna of the country are