Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is a republic in Central Asia, bordered on the north by Russia; on the east by China; on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan; and on the west by the Caspian Sea and Russia. Almost all of Kazakhstan is located in the west central portion of the Asian continent; however, a small part of the republic lies west of the Ural River on the European continent. Astana (formerly Aqmola), located in northern Kazakhstan, replaced Almaty as the republic’s capital in 1997.