Native Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated into the region in the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation. The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1936.
During the launching of the 1950s and 1960s agricultural "Virgin Lands" program, Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate Kazakhstan's northern pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly Russians, but also some other deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-Kazakhs to outnumber natives. Independence has caused many of these newcomers to emigrate.
Current issues include: Developing a cohesive national identity; expanding the development of the country's vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets (an oil pipeline to China has been built; the gas pipeline is under construction); achieving a sustainable economic growth outside the oil, gas, and mining sectors, and strengthening relations with neighboring states and other foreign powers.
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All visitors arriving by air and some obtaining their visas in Western countries are preregistered with the Office of Visas and Registration (OVIR), but those who don't fit either category have to tackle this bit of bureaucracy in person at the OVIR offices in Almaty or Astana.
Air Kazakhstan stopped flying at the end of March 2004. The most important carrier is now Air Astana[http://www.airastana.com/] which flies to Almaty, Astana, Aktau, Aktobe, Atyrau, Uralsk, Dubai, Moscow, Delhi, Beijing, Istanbul, Bangkok, Hannover, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Seoul.
Lufthansa has also seven days flights to Almaty, from where you can go anywhere via local carrier SKAT, which flies to most cities in Kazakhstan. British Airways (Almaty-Heathrow route taken over by bmi from Sept 2007) and KLM now fly several times a week to Heathrow and Schiphol. Turkish Airlines is good passenger carrier, with flights to Istanbul (ask a travel agent about the student fares, which can be a great deal). There are twice a week flights from Seoul to Almaty; one is Asiana Airlines, and the other is Astana. Airbaltic also flies to Almaty; if you reserve tickets in advance, you can go there for ?130 (from Riga).
Popular routes include Almaty to/from Moscow (77 hours), Novosibirsk (35 hours) and Urumqi, China.
The trains are a great way to meet people. A lot has been written about the pitfalls of being included in a vodka drinking party on a train, but for the most part fellow travelers are friendly, and keen to find out about you ("why aren't you married?" and, if you are, "why don't you have children?", and if you do, "why don't they have children?"!). Most travellers take food for the journey, as restaurant car provision is sporadic (and they expect you to share yours too!). If you don't have enough to last the distance, the trains generally stop for 15-20 mins at each station and there are always people on the platform selling food and drink, at any time of day or night.
Freighters travel regularly between Baku and Aktau, and it is possible to hitch a ride. Note, though, that it is common for ships to get held up, even for weeks, before entering port, so you had better stock up on food and water before boarding. See freighter travel to better understand how this works.
You must register your visa within five days of entering Kazakhstan if your border entry card has only one stamp. After your first registration you must register in each destination if you stay more than 72 hours (see each destination for further details). If you stay in Kazakhstan less than five days then you may not need to register but this needs to be confirmed (28 July 2008).
If you have a one-entry tourist visa for 30 days, no registration is needed. In Almaty airport, custom officials say that you don't need to register as long as you don't plan on staying more than 90 days (only for tourists), as of July 2008.
You can travel within country using taxis, buses, trains and planes, it depends on your budget and demands. Renting a car is rather costly compared to other means of transport.
In Semipalatinsk (Semey) a minivan costs 35 tenge, and a large bus costs 35-40 tenge (in Astana it ranges about 60-65 tenge), common taxi fare is minimally 300 tenge (at the time, March of 2009, USD 1 was approximately 150 tenge).
Public transportation in big cities is rather popular. You can use buses, trolleys, trams and minibuses. One big minus of all of them is that they never come on schedule and very crowded on peak time. Moreover, there is absolutely no plan with bus stops and schedule whatsoever. If you don't speak Russian, taking the bus will be quite tricky but not impossible.
Use taxis as they are very cheap (2-6 euros within city). You don't have to use official taxis, basically you can stop almost any car on the street by raising your hand or use official taxis.
A note of warning, getting to the Almaty airport can be expensive, a taxi to the Airport can cost USD 50. Taxis to the airport vary greatly in price. Any foreigner will be quoted a fantastic rate but usually cabs will come down once they see they aren't going to be able to get that much. USD50 is outlandish. Do not accept the first price as it will result in your being overcharged. It should be less than USD10, although it can ''never'' be guaranteed that a foreigner will get that price. A better option are the minibuses and buses that go to the airport. The word "airport" is very similar in Russian and English.
A common way to get around is by unofficial taxis. Any time of day, just wave your hand and someone will stop. Locals do this all the time. Negotiate the price and destination before you agree to go. About $2-$4 is fair for a ride within the center of Almaty. If your russian is poor or nonexistent, you will be charged a lot more than locals; to avoid this, try to use public buses as much as you can and don't hesitate to tell the driver how much you are ready to pay (do this before he tells you how much he wants!). To be safe though, do not get in a car if more than one person is driving. Also, do not take these kind of taxis for long distances or anywhere that goes through remote areas, as there are frequent robberies, especially of foreigners.
Train is the most popular way of covering the huge distances between Kazakhstan's main cities. Main train stations are located in Astana, Karaganda and Almaty, but they can be found almost in every big city.
You will have to buy a ticket in advance (sometimes even one day before departure) and a seat/bed number will be given to you. Ticket offices can be found in other locations than the really busy (and extremely slow, I mean it!) ticket offices found in the train stations. Also don't forget that you will need your passport to buy a train ticket.
Most long distances trains leave in the evening and provide beds with clean sheets for the journey ahead.
They are a popular alternatives to trains and are faster but less comfortable than them. As for trains, you will need to buy your ticket in advance and will be given a seat number. Be careful when the bus makes a bathroom stop, the driver don't check if all passengers are on board before resuming driving!
Fares are relatively low, for instance a single from Almaty to Karaganda (14 hours) will cost you 2500T, much cheaper than an flight ticket.
Air Astana provides offices in a few major hotels in big cities; it's the fastest way of travelling within the city for those who can afford it. Planes are brand new and match european standards in quality.
A fun and cheap way to get around is by taking a "marshrutka". These are the dilapidated vans that cruise around town. They usually have a sign (in Russian) listing the destination, and the driver will usually call out where they are going.
The Kazakh language is very difficult to understand and to pronounce, though it is notably easier than some other regional languages like Kyrgyz. Actually, travellers proficient in Turkish might be able to get by.
If you speak and/or understand the Russian language, then you should be fine. But still Russian is considered to be tougher to learn (grammatically speaking). At the very least, become familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet (it's easy) and learn a few phrases.
Note that despite the president's campaign to stamp out the Russian language, Almaty and much of the north are still predominantly Russian speaking.
Many people under age 20 will know some English. Most customs officials and airport people know English.
It is difficult to get around the country without some Russian or Kazakh language skills. Within the city it is easier. Have your place of residence written on a card and get a cab if you get lost (you might be somewhat overcharged by the cab, but it is better than being lost).
Meat, potatoes, rice and pasta. And lots of it. If you're vegetarian be wary, because if it doesn't have meat in it, it was almost certainly cooked on meat stock.
Some recommend dishes:
If you're a vegetarian, you're probably thinking there's nothing for you in Kazakstan. And you're right - so long as you eat out. But if you're cooking your own food, you'll be more than satisfied. Kazakstan has some excellent produce available at little markets everywhere. For a treat in Almaty, try Govinda's, a delicious vegetarian Hare Krishna restaurant. Malls have food courts with some vegetarian options too. Even some small Kazakh eateries will prepare vegetarian meals for you if you make it very clear to them (e.g. "byez myasa" (without meat), "ya vegeterianetz" (I [male] am a vegetarian), "ya vegetarianka" (I [female] am a vegetarian) in Russian). At some places (e.g. smak) you can even find vegetarian manty made with pumpkin.
The legacy of Korean resettlement in Kazakhstan means that Korean dishes, particularly salads, are very common. At the country's many bazaars (independent food and goods markets), look for the Korean ladies selling these. They will wrap you up any number of delicious, often spicy and garlicky salads to take away in plastic bags. If you are vegetarian, this may be the only decent thing you get to eat while you're in the country.
On the other hand, in Kazakhstan you can find any dishes you want, but Chinese and Japanese dishes are very expensive. The most delicious is caviar, which is very cheap, you can buy 1 kilo of caviar for less than USD300 in Almaty Zyeloniy Bazaar, but you can't export or take it with you home, you will be stopped at airport and pay high fines.
Eating out is relatively cheap; you basically order the meat dish and then add rice, potatoes, etc. Each element is priced individually, so you can order for instance only meat or only rice. Prices are relatively cheap, count 300T for chicken and up to 600T for beef. Of course, the fancier the restaurant, the higher the price. If you don't speak Russian, things are relatively hard as the majority of restaurants don't have English menus (with the exception of some hyped places in Alamty).
You can find any sort of drink you want, some of the traditional beverages include:
Cheap alcoholic drinks can be found at every little corner shop (called the astanovka). These places are open 24/7, just knock on their door if the shopkeeper is asleep. Kazakhstan's specialty is cognac, though stores still sell vodka cheaper than bottled water at times. However, some of these astanovka sometimes sell alcohol of dubious origin; for the sake of your stomach you may want to buy your beverage in a supermarket, although the price will definitely be higher.
The juices, in cartons, are delicious, especially peach juice.
There are numerous hotels, from very cheap ones (10 euro per night) to the luxurious ones. You wouldn't find the cheapest ones on the web, the only way to book them is to call directly, but in that case you'll have to speak Russian at the least.
There are almost no camping sites except in Burabay/Borovoe in Kazakhstan. You can however camp almost anywhere due to the huge uninhabited spots; the scenery is beautiful but because of the very hot weather, don't forget to take plenty of water with you as you can very easily spend lots of days without seeing anybody. If you camp near a nomadic tribe, ask for the permission to stay near; it will not be refused.
Work is not impossible to find. English teaching schools are sprouting up all over. The English department at KIMEP might be a good place to start, depending on credentials and experience.
The general rules of safety in Kazakhstan are the same as in any other civilized country of the world. Besides the normal risk of pick-pockets etc, the main risk is meeting a group of corrupt police. Try to avoid being taken to the police station. But in general this is a very friendly country where foreigners are respected as the hospitality is one of the Kazakh main traditions.
Fire brigade: dial 01 (land line phones), dial 101 from any mobile
Police: dial 02 (land line phones), dial 102 from any mobile
Ambulance: dial 03 (land line phones), dial 103 from any mobile
Avicenna: the best private hospital in the Kazakhstan is located in the city of Kokshetau. It has the best service and real professionals. If you get sick and you are near Kokshetau, visit Avicenna.