Kazakhstan: landmarks, animals & facts for kids

Kazakhstan is a huge country in Central Asia, stretching from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Altai Mountains in the east, with a small part west of the Ural River counted as Europe. It is the largest landlocked country in the world and the ninth-largest country overall. Its capital is Astana, and its biggest city is Almaty. Kazakhstan is known for endless grassy steppes, nomadic traditions, golden eagles used for hunting and the spaceport from which the first human flew into space.

On My Earth Toy you can see the Baiterek Tower in Astana and the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Look for the saiga antelope with its big floppy nose and the saker falcon, and discover the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

Geography and nature

Most of Kazakhstan is flat steppe and desert, but the south and east rise into the Tian Shan and Altai mountains, where Khan Tengri reaches 7,010 metres. The country borders the Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth. Lake Balkhash is unusual: its western half is fresh water and its eastern half is salty. Winters are very cold and summers hot. Wild apple forests grow in the hills near Almaty, and scientists think the apples we eat today first came from this region.

People, languages and culture

Kazakh is the state language, and Russian is also official and widely spoken. Kazakhs make up the majority, and there are large Russian, Uzbek, Ukrainian and other communities. Most people are Muslim or Orthodox Christian. Nomadic traditions are still treasured: the felt yurt, the two-stringed dombra, horse games, and hunting with golden eagles. Beshbarmak, boiled meat served over flat noodles, is the national dish, and Nauryz, the spring new year, is a big holiday.

History in a nutshell

Some of the earliest evidence of people keeping horses, from the Botai culture about 5,500 years ago, was found in northern Kazakhstan. Silk Road towns such as Otrar and Turkistan grew in the south. The Kazakh Khanate was founded in the 15th century. Russia gradually took control in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the region later became a Soviet republic, where Baikonur and the Semipalatinsk test site were built. Kazakhstan became independent on 16 December 1991 and moved its capital from Almaty to Astana in 1997.