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Kazakstan Missionary Presentation
Kazakstan Missionary Presentation
Kazakhstan is located in the south east central region of the former Soviet Union. Kazakhstan is bordered to the south from left to right by the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan (all formally part of the Soviet Union) and China.
All information is provided by Compton's 3D World Atlas (1998), unless noted otherwise.
Kazakhstan Statistics
Area: 1,031,000 sq.miles (2,670,000 sq.km) Population: 17,110,000 Exchange Rate: ruble 41.19 = US$ 1 Capital: Alma-Ata Languages: Kazakh, Russian Religion: 47% Sunni Muslim
Historical Introduction
Kazak is the Turkish word for "peace." The Kazakh people are descended from a mix of Mongol and Turkic tribes, and now comprise less than 40 percent of the population.
The Kazakhs declared independence from Russia in 1991. President Nursulta Nazarbayev is extremely popular, but increasingly authoritarian: he dissolved Parliament, then won a popular mandate to rule until the end of the year 2000. Tensions between the Kazakh south and the Russian north have been cited as one reason for the president's decision to relocate the capital from southern Alma-Ata (Almaty) to northern, more ethnically mixed Akmola (formerly Tselinograd) in 1997. SPECIAL FACT In 1933 the Kazakhs slaughtered 24 million sheep and goats, 5 million cattle, and 3 million horses rather than have them put into collective farms as dictated by the Soviet leader Stalin.
Ethnicity
In 1991, when Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union, Kazakhs were a minority in their own country, about 43 percent of the population. The combined population of nonKazakhs, consisting of Russians, Ukrainians, Germans, Tartars, and Uzbeks, made up the majority. Most non-Kazakhs arrived in the 1920s and 1930s from Russia. Russian immigrants known as Virgin Landers came in the 1950s under Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's directive to grow wheat in Kazakhstan. The Kazakh government has taken steps to ensure that Kazakhs remain in the majority, and that Kazakh culture predominates. Kazakh-tili has been restored as the official language, and Kazakh schools have reopened. With the rise of Kazakh nationalism, ethnic tensions have also increased. Kazakh (Qazaq) 46%, Russian 34.7%, Ukrainian 4.9%, German 3.1%, Uzbek 2.3%, Tatar 1.9%, other 7.1% (1996)
SPECIAL FACT Kazakhstan's Cossacks, who are descended from frontier soldiers loyal to the Russian czars, gained a reputation for their expert handling of horses and for fierceness on the battlefield.
Kazakhs Migrating
Temperatures range from more than 100 degrees F. in the summer to MINUS 50 degrees in the winter.
Wheat and other crops are cultivated in the north; fruit, vegetables and rice grow in the south. However, most of the farmland is used for grazing. Several large lakes dot the country, which also borders the world's largest inland lake, the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan is rich in mineral resources including copper, gold, lead, zinc, silver, iron ore, oil, and coal.
SPECIAL FACT The name Alma-Ata is Kazakh for Father of Apples; the capital city is a major producer of the fruit.
SPECIAL FACT
Kazakhstan was a major site for Soviet defense installations and for the Soviet space exploration program. The cosmonaut center was located at Baikonur.
A Mausoleum In Kazakhstan
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NAZKOM, the compassionate ministries center in Astana (Capitol City) has been important to outreach in Kazakhstan. They distribute food to the elderly, who are invited to see the Jesus film and get acquainted. Missionary Cinda Kammerman teaches English as a foreign language to reach people with the gospel.