Geography of Kazakhstan

Geography of Kazakhstan
Information on the geography of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia and is the heartland/geographic center of Eurasia. With a surface area of 2,724,900 sq km, Kazakhstan is the 9^th largest country in the world, comparable to India and Australia. 
Kazakhstan's surface is covered by 26% desert, 44% semi-desert, 6% forest and 24% steppe terrain, in addition to a few other landscapes. The South and East have great wild and mostly untouched mountain landscapes with the Tien Shan and Altai being the most prominent. The highest peak in the country is Khan Tengri at 7,013m above sea level.

The Republic of Kazakhstan lies right in between Europe and Asia, between 45° and 87° of East longitude, 40° and 55° of North latitude. It stretches from the east of the Caspian Sea and Volga plains to the mountanious Altay and from the foothills of Tien Shan in the south and southeast to the West-Siberian lowland in the north. 

The size of the territory places Kazakhstan ninth in the world, after Russia, Canada, China, USA, Brasil, Australia, India and Argentina. In the east, north and northwest Kazakhstan borders with Russia (6477 kilometres). In the south it borders with the countries of Central Asia: Uzbekistan (2300 kilometres), Kyrgyzstan (980 kilometres) and Turkmenistan (380 kilometres). In the southeast it borders with China (1460 kilometres). The total extent of Kazakhstan borders is nearly 12,2 thousand kilometres, including 600 kilometres along the Caspian Sea in the west. 

Kazakhstan lies in the center of the European and Asian continents, and is approximately equal distance from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. More than a quarter of the land consists of a portion of the gentle steppes that stretch from central Europe to Siberia. The rest of the republic reflects the beauty of forests, mountains, rivers, lakes and reservoirs. The natural landscape is enhanced by thousands of plant and animal varieties found from the northern forest steppes to the high southern mountains. 

Kazakhstan has an extreme continental climate. It is characterized by irregular distribution of precipitation in its different regions. In separate years spring arrives from south to north over 1.5 - 2 months. When it is spring sowing in the south, the northern area is covered with snow and the blizzards blow frequently. 

The land of Kazakhstan is rich in soils. The greater part of the forest-steppe zone is chernozem, which turns to dark-chestnut, light-chestnut and brown soils in the south. There are gray-soil lands in the deserts and semi-deserts, replaced by the mountain soils there. 

Crossing the territory of Kazakhstan from north to south you will see many different climate zones, with all various areas having their own flora and fauna. 

The desert of Kazakhstan is an arid area. Rare rainfalls and high temperature in summer and severe and intensely cold weather in winter characterize the climate of the area. Strong winds whip up sand storms. The air is extremely dry and the temperature in summer sharply varies even during a twenty-four hour period. 

Mountains rise from the steppes in the south and southeast of Kazakhstan. Ridges of the Tien Shan mountain system stretch for 2,400km. The main ridges are Barlyk, Dzhungar Ala-Tau, Zailii Ala-Tau, Talas Ala-Tau and Ketmen. The highest point of the mountain system is Peak Khan-Tengri at 6,992m. The South Altai is in the east of Kazakhstan. The whole mountain system of Kazakhstan is rich in mineral springs. 

There are many rivers and vast reservoirs in Kazakhstan. In the west and southwest, the territory of Kazakhstan is washed by the Caspian Sea for a distance of over 2,340km. The Ural River, along with its tributaries, flows to the Caspian Sea. East of the Caspian, in the sands, lays another huge lake. It is the Aral Sea. The main arteries of fresh water flowing into the Aral Sea are the Amudarya and Syrdarya Rivers. There are nearly 7 thousand natural lakes in the country. Among them is Balkhash Lake in the sands of Central Kazakhstan, Zaisan Lake in the east, Alakol Lake in the southeast, and Tengiz Lake in the center of Kazakhstan. 

The largest rivers of Kazakhstan are the Irtysh, Ishim, Ural, Syrdarya, Ili, Chu, Tobol, and Nura.