General

Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world, covering some 2.7 million square kilometres. Kazakhstan is bordered by Russia to the north, the Caspian Sea to the south-west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic to the south, and China to the east.

Kazakhstan gained its independence from the former Soviet Union on 16 December 1991. In 1998, the capital was moved from the south-eastern city of Almaty to the northern city of Astana.

The population of Kazakhstan is 18.4 million people, of which around 68 per cent are ethnic Kazakhs. 19 per cent of the population comprises a sizeable ethnic Russian minority and the rest comprises ethnic Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Uighurs, Tartars and Germans. Kazakhstan is a secular country, however around 70 per cent of the population identify as Muslim and 26 per cent of the population identify as Orthodox Christian.

The national language, Kazakh, is a Turkic language and is related to the Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tatar, Turkmen and Uighur languages spoken across Central Asia. Kazakh is also widely spoken in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and in parts of Mongolia, China and Iran. It can be written in Cyrillic, Latin or Arabic script. Russian is widely used for administrative and technical purposes and is still the first language for a significant minority.

Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations (UN), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the World Trade Organization. It is active in these multilateral fora.

Political overview

Kazakhstan is a presidential republic where power rests almost entirely with the President. Kazakhstan's constitution provides for a Prime Minister and a deputy Prime Minister, both appointed by the President.

The President is elected by direct vote for a five-year term. The Parliament consists of a Senate (upper house) and the Majlis (lower house). There are 47 members of the Senate, 15 of whom are appointed by the President. The other members are popularly elected by proportional representation. The Majlis comprises 107 seats. Members are popularly elected to serve four-year terms.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev succeeded Kazakhstan's first President, Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev on 20 March 2019. Former President Nazarbayev was first elected in December 1991 (at the time of independence) and remained President until 2019. President Tokayev previously served as Prime Minister from 1992-2002. He then served as a diplomat for Kazakhstan and is fluent in Chinese, English, Russian and French. President Tokayev returned to political life in 2008 when he was elected to Kazakhstan's Senate. The current Prime Minister, Oljas Bektenov, took office on 6 February 2024.

The Nur-Otan Party dominates Politics in Kazakhstan. In the most recent Majlis elections on 19 March 2023, the Amanat Party won 53.9% of the vote.

Kazakhstan has made incremental progress in improving human rights and the rule of law. The country has ratified several UN conventions and optional protocols and made additional voluntary pledges and commitments. In 2021, Kazakhstan was elected to the UN Human Rights Council for 2022-2024. Despite gains in human rights, approximately 225 people were killed and upwards of 12,000 were detained following protests against rising fuel prices in Kazakhstan in early January 2022.

Economic overview

According to the World Bank, Kazakhstan's GDP per capita of US$9,122 for 2020 is comparable to Russia's and has increased six-fold since independence in 1991.

Oil is Kazakhstan's major export, followed by natural gas and other commodities. Kazakhstan has the 12th largest proven oil reserves and 14th largest natural gas reserves, and ranks in the top ten countries for coal, gold, chrome, zinc, lead and bauxite reserves in the world. It is the world's largest producer of uranium. Kazakhstan's industrial sector is reliant on mining and mineral processing and related activities such as the production of mining and engineering equipment, but the mining industry is under developed.

Agriculture is an important industry for Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is a major wheat producer that mainly exports to Central Asian neighbours, Iran and Turkey, and to China, South Korea and Japan.

Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union together with Russia, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan.

Kazakhstan's economy is closely integrated with that of China, which is its largest export partner and, for historical and geographic reasons, retains close ties with the Russian economy, which is its largest import partner. Russia leases some 6,000 square kilometres of Kazakh territory around the Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, where Sputnik I was launched in 1957. The cosmodrome is in active use and the lease extends to 2050.

The Kazakhstan government's plans to diversify the economy - especially in areas like non-ferrous metals production which complement its energy endowment- and to develop industrial clusters to promote synergies in sectors of comparative advantage including through attracting more foreign investment. Kazakhstan's major foreign investment partners include the Netherlands, the United States, Switzerland, China and France.

There are opportunities for Australian business to invest in Kazakhstan, including in mining and mining services, education, agriculture, infrastructure, and finance.

Australia's relationship with Kazakhstan

Australia opened an embassy in Almaty in 1995 and closed it in 1999. Kazakhstan opened a Consulate-General in Sydney in 2015.

Australia's Ambassador to Kazakhstan is resident in Moscow. In January 2005, Australia established an Honorary Consulate in Almaty, presently headed by Honorary Consul Paul Cohn. Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Australia is resident in Singapore. Kazakhstan has a Consulate-General in Sydney and has Honorary Consuls in Perth and Melbourne.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as of 2020, 2,430 Australian residents declared they were born in Kazakhstan.

Senior Officials Talks were held in 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2021, which were attended by Kazakh and Australian representatives in Canberra and Astana.

Kazakhstan is Australia's leading trading partner in Central Asia, however, our bilateral trade is modest. Australia's goods and services trade with Kazakhstan in 2022-23 was worth A$101.7 million. Australia's exports to Kazakhstan, worth A$74.1 million, consisted principally of education-related travel other services and specialised machinery and parts. Imports from Kazakhstan, worth A$27.6 million, consisted mostly of pig-iron, other services, and recreational travel. Some trade is handled through intermediate markets such as Russia, China and the Netherlands. Australian investment in Kazakhstan totalled A$85 million in 2022.

The Kazakh Government's 'Bolashak' International Scholarship Program has seen approximately 75 scholarship recipients to study in Australia each year since 2007. In 2023, there were 200 Kazakh nationals enrolled to study in Australia.