11 Nov 2024        10:44:51 am

International Relations

Kazakhstan

Tags : Kazakhstan

Topic: Central Asia

Why in the news?

• Kazakhstan voted in a referendum on building the country’s first nuclear power station as the world’s top uranium producer looks to boost its power generation capacity.
• China, France, Russia, and South Korea are in the running to build the new power station, which is to be located on the shores of Lake Balkhash. 
• The issue of nuclear power is sensitive in Kazakhstan. Between 1949 and 1989, the USSR carried out around 450 nuclear tests, exposing 1.5 million people to radiation.

Source: The Hindu 

About Kazakhstan:

• It is a landlocked country mostly in Central Asia, with a part in Eastern Europe.
• It is bordered by:
  • Russia to the north and west
  • China to the east
  • Kyrgyzstan to the southeast
  • Uzbekistan to the south
  • Turkmenistan and Caspian Sea to the southwest
• Its capital is Astana, while the largest city and leading cultural and commercial hub is Almaty. 
• It is the world\'s ninth-largest country by land area and the largest landlocked country. 
• It has a population of 20 million and one of the lowest population densities in the world, at fewer than 6 people per sq. km. 
• Ethnic Kazakhs constitute a majority, while ethnic Russians form a significant minority.
• Officially secular, Kazakhstan is a Muslim-majority country with a sizeable Christian community.
• It declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. 
• Economically, it dominates Central Asia due to its oil, gas, and mineral resources, boasting the highest Human Development Index in the region. 
• It has the Caspian Sea’s largest recoverable crude oil reserves.  
• It has pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.

Lake Balkhash:

• It is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan.
• It is one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. 
• It sits in the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, an endorheic (closed) basin. 
  • The basin drains seven rivers, including the Ili and the Karatal. 
• The lake currently covers about 16,400 sq. km. 
• Like the Aral Sea, it is shrinking due to diversion and extraction of water from its feeders.

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