Overview
Kazakhstan,[c] officially the Republic of Kazakhstan,[d] is a transcontinental landlocked country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe.[e] It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, with a coastline along the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Astana, known as Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022. Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, was the country’s capital until 1997. Kazakhstan is the world’s ninth-largest country by land area and the world’s largest landlocked country. It has a population of 19 million people and one of the lowest population densities in the world, at fewer than 6 people per square kilometre (15 people per square mile). Ethnic Kazakhs constitute a majority of the population, while ethnic Russians form a significant minority. Officially secular, Kazakhstan is a Muslim-majority country, although ethnic Russians in the country form a sizeable Christian community.
