Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world. Kazakhstan lies in the north of the central Asian republics and is bounded by Russia in the north, China in the east, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the south, and the Caspian Sea and part of Turkmenistan in the west of Kazakhstan. It has almost 1,177 mi (1,894 km) of coastline on the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan is about four times the s
ize of Texas. The territory is mostly steppe land with hilly plains and plateaus.
President: Nursultan A. Nazarbayev (1990)
Prime Minister: Karim Masimov (2014)
Capital (2011 est.): Astana 664,000 (ASTANA MEDICAL UNIVERSITY situated)
Land area: 1,049,150 sq mi (2,717,300 sq km);
total area: 1,049,150 sq mi (2,717,300 sq km)
Population (2014 est.): 17,948,816 (growth rate: 1.17%);
birth rate: 19.61/1000;
infant mortality rate: 21.61/1000;
life expectancy: 70.24
Largest city: Almaty
Monetary unit: Tenge