Contents:-
I. INTRODUCTION
II. LAND AND RESOURCES
A. Rivers and Lakes
B. Climate
C. Natural Resources
D. Plants and Animals
III. POPULATION
A. Population Characteristics
B. Political Divisions
C. Principal Cities
D. Religion
E. Language
F. Education
G. Culture
IV. ECONOMY
A. Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
B. Mining
C. Manufacturing
D. Energy
E. Currency and Banking
F. Commerce and Trade
G. Labour
H. Transport
I. Communications
V. GOVERNMENT
A. Executive and Legislature
B. Political Parties
C. Judiciary
D. Health and Welfare
E. Defence
VI. HISTORY
A. Early History
B. Soviet Era
C. Independence
D. Economic and Political Reforms
E. Towards Consolidation
Description:-
I INTRODUCTION
Kazakhstan, 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. It was formerly the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
With an area of 2,717,300 sq km (1,049,200 sq mi)—roughly five times the area of France—Kazakhstan is the second-largest member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Almost all of Kazakhstan is located in Asia, but a small portion is located in Europe. Astana is the capital.
II LAND AND RESOURCES
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| Tian shan Mountains |
Kazakhstan is composed of a vast, generally low-lying plain, fringed by mountains on the east and south-east. Differences in elevation in the republic are extreme. Mountainous areas along the border with Kyrgyzstan reach a height of nearly 5,000 m (16,400 ft), while considerable areas near the Caspian Sea lie below sea level. The Caspian Sea, the lowest point in Europe, lies at an elevation of about 28 m (91.9 ft) below sea level, while the Karagiye Depression, located to the east of the Caspian, lies at an even lower elevation. With a depth of 132 m (about 433 ft) below sea level, the Karagiye Depression is the lowest point in the former USSR.
A Rivers and Lakes
Most of Kazakhstan’s major rivers drain internally, mainly into Lake Zaysan, Lake Balqash, and the Aral and Caspian seas. Diversion of river water from the Syr Darya and Ili rivers, principally for irrigation purposes, has led to a decline in the surface level of the Aral Sea and Lake Balqash. A few rivers, such as the Ishim, Irtysh, and Tobol, flow north to the Arctic Ocean. The riverbeds of most of the small and medium-size rivers remain dry for much of the year. Precipitation is meagre and generally decreases southward. Deserts and semi-deserts, including stone, salt, and sand wastelands, cover more than two thirds of the country’s surface area.
B Climate
The climate of Kazakhstan is extremely continental, and, owing to the vastness of the country, characterized by great internal variations. Average daily temperature in January ranges from -19° to -4° C (-2.2° to 24.8° F), while the average daily temperature in July is 19° to 26° C (66.2° to 78.8° F). In the summer temperatures can reach 45° C (113° F), and in the winter temperatures can fall below -45° C (-49° F). Rainfall also shows great variation, with an annual average of 1,500 mm (59 in) in mountainous areas to less than 100 mm (4 in) in central desert areas.
C Natural Resources
The mineral wealth of Kazakhstan, including chromite, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, manganese, silver, and tungsten, made it a main source of supply for the former Soviet Union. Oil and gas reserves in the area have recently begun to be exploited, and it was estimated at the end of 1996 that 0.8 per cent of the world reserves of oil and 1.3 per cent of natural gas reserves were in Kazakhstan.
The former Soviet nuclear testing site near Semey is still heavily contaminated and the Aral Sea continues to suffer from the effects of run-off that is polluted by fertilizers and pesticides, and falling water levels caused by over-extraction of water for irrigation purposes. In the period from 1961 to 1974 the average surface area of the Aral Sea was 61,836 sq km (23,701 sq mi), but by the period from 1974 to 1985 the average had declined to 51,110 sq km (19,733 sq mi).
D Plants and Animals
The desert and semi-desert areas support a vegetation cover of white and black wormwood, fescue, and sand sedge and, in the northern steppe zone, groves of birch and aspen are common. In the steppe zone mixed grass vegetation predominates, with pine forests being found along river banks. The steppes and forests support a diverse population of hares, hamsters, Siberian polecats, brown bears, snow leopards, lynx, wild boar, roe deer, and wolverine, while Caspian deer, musk deer, mountain goats, and the rare and protected Saiga antelope inhabit the desert and mountain areas.
III POPULATION
With a population of 16,731,303 in 2001, Kazakhstan is unique among the republics of the former USSR in terms of ethnic composition. Kazakhs are the only official ethnic group in the former USSR who constitute a minority—less than 50 per cent of the total population—in their own country. They are still, however, the single largest ethnic group in Kazakhstan, with 46 per cent of the total population. Russians, the next largest group, constitute 34.8 per cent. Population density is 6.2 people per sq km (16 per sq mi).
A Population Characteristics
Until recently, Russians outnumbered Kazakhs in the republic. Beginning in the 19th century, large-scale immigration boosted the number of Russians and other Slavic peoples, while the number of Kazakhs declined as a result of attacks by Russian settlers and forced collectivization under Stalin. Higher birth rates among Kazakhs eventually led to the greater percentage of Kazakhs in the country. Large numbers of Germans (3.6 per cent of the total) and Ukrainians (5.1 per cent) also reside in the republic.
B Political Divisions
For administrative purposes the country was formerly divided into the provinces of: Akmola, Aktyubinsk, Almaty, Atyran, Taraz, Dzhezkazgan, East Kazakstan, Karaganda, Kökshetau, Kustaini, Kyzyl-Orda, Mangistau, North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, South Kazakhstan, Taldy Kurgan, Turgai, West Kazakhstan, and Almaty. In May 1997 the total was reduced by merging Almaty with Taldy Kurgan, Dzhezkazgan with Karaganda, Kökshetau with North Kazakhstan, Semipalatinsk with East Kazakhstan, and dividing Turgai between Astana and Kustanay (Qostanay).
C Principal Cities
Astana, which was proclaimed the capital city in 1995, has a population of 271,000 (1998 estimate); the former capital, Almaty, is the largest city with a population of 1,064,300 (1997 estimate). It is followed in size by Karaganda, 393,400 (1997 estimate), Shymkent, 390,200 (1998 estimate), Semey, 292,800 (1997 estimate), Pavlodar, 326,500 (1997 estimate), and Öskemen, 311,100 (1997 estimate). Slavs are concentrated in the north and in large urban areas, especially Almaty, where they constitute a majority.
D Religion
Although a secular state, Islam is the major religion of the Kazakhs, with the majority of Muslims following the Sunni tradition. The Russian Orthodox Church has the most adherents in the minority Christian tradition and there are also some followers of the Baptist and Evangelical Lutheran Churches.
E Language
The official state language is Kazakh, a Turkic language. Russian is also used in communications and business.
F Education
A system of universal education was an inheritance from the Soviet period. Enrolment has fallen in recent years. In 1996 some 1,342,035 pupils attended 8,611 primary schools and 1,921,302 pupils attended secondary schools, and 419,460 students were enrolled in 67 institutes of higher education, including universities. An erosion of the skill base in the working population has been observed that is mainly due to the large-scale emigration of skilled workers. Spending on education declined from 7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1990 to 4 per cent in 1997.
G Culture
The Kazakh people have probably been more affected by exposure to almost two centuries of Russian cultural tradition than any other population in Central Asia. Efforts are being made to restablish Kazakh cultural traditions that were lost in the era of Russian influence. Oral epics constituted the basis of a literary genre for the largely illiterate and nomadic Kazakhs until the 19th century, when a written tradition emerged. As in other countries in the region, extemporaneous and traditional work-songs formed a basis for the musical tradition.
IV ECONOMY
Although Kazakhstan is one of the most modern republics in Central Asia, economic reform started very slowly. Privatization programmes were initiated after independence, using joint-stock companies in which citizens were able to invest by using state-allocated coupons. In the first of these schemes about 12 per cent of state enterprises were privatized; in the second programme more than 85 per cent of the small-scale enterprises entered the private sector.
In 1999 Kazakhstan’s gross national product (GNP) was US$18,732 million, equivalent to US$1,250 per head (World Bank estimate). Formerly based almost exclusively on agriculture, the Kazakh economy underwent rapid industrialization during the Soviet period. Industry, which comprised only 15 per cent of total production in the late 1920s, now constitutes the largest branch of the economy with about 32 per cent of GDP and 32 per cent of total employment.
In the period 1992-1996 Kazakhstan attracted more than US$2,900 million of investment, making it the leading destination of direct foreign investment in the region. Although exploitation of the gas and oil deposits in the territory is of great economic importance, the viability of the extraction depends to a great extent on transporting the output economically from an effectively landlocked country.
A Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
Before 1920 agriculture consisted primarily of nomadic herding. Wool, meat, milk, and other livestock products are still leading agricultural commodities, but nomadic lifestyles have almost completely disappeared. During the Soviet period crop cultivation was greatly expanded, owing in part to widespread mechanization and the construction of large-scale irrigation projects. Kazakhstan is a major producer of wheat, which is grown primarily in the north, but bad weather had affected yields recently. Other crops include rice and cotton, which are grown on irrigated lands in the south. The 1995 grain harvest was the worst for 30 years.
Agriculture has been subject to sweeping changes and by the end of the mid-1990s more than 98 per cent of state farms had been privatized, although many of the buyers were former managers of state farms with little incentive or expertise for reforms.
B Mining
Mining is the leading branch of industry, and the republic contains substantial reserves of chromium, tungsten, copper, lead, and zinc ores. Coal, manganese, nickel, iron ore, chromium, Iceland spar, and cobalt are among the other minerals mined. Oil and natural-gas deposits were discovered in 1960 on the Caspian Sea coast. The Irtysh-Karaganda Canal, the largest water-diversion canal in the former USSR in terms of volume, was built primarily to serve mining activities in the north-central part of the country. Recent exploration confirmed that these deposits are extensive, which has prompted several international corporations to form joint ventures with Kazakh partners to exploit local oil resources. Refining capacity, which does not meet domestic demand, is scheduled for rapid expansion.
C Manufacturing
Manufacturing is also an important industrial branch in Kazakhstan. Manufactures include cement, iron and steel, mineral fertilizer, and textiles. Light industry has declined since independence and exports are dominated by oil and metallurgy. Overmanning continues to be a problem in industry and has created difficulties in finding foreign partners in state energy and mineral companies.
D Energy
Kazakhstan is a net exporter of oil but still relies on imports of electricity; about 10 per cent of import expenditure is on electricity from Russia. Arrears in payments for electricity have led to frequent cuts in the supply. Transmission and distribution systems are in poor condition and there have been attempts to attract foreign investment in this sector. Gas supplies have also been erratic, as Uzbekistan demands payment in hard currency.
E Currency and Banking
The country issued its own currency, the tenge, in November 1993. The previous official currency, the Kazakh rouble, was a parallel currency to the Russian rouble and was printed in Russia. The tenge was issued at a rate of 500 roubles per tenge, dropping to 250 roubles per tenge three days later; in 2001, 145.56 tenge equalled US$1. The National Bank of Kazakhstan, founded in 1991, has enforced a tight monetary policy and in 1995 introduced measures to regulate the banking system. All banks were required to embrace international standards by the end of 1998, which was expected to result in a further rationalization of the system. There were 210 banks operating in 1993, but by early 1998 the number had fallen to 74.
F Commerce and Trade
Kazakhstan has become more integrated into the world economy. Foreign investment has increased, especially in the oil and natural-gas sectors. In early 1993 Chevron Corporation, an American oil company, and the Kazakh government signed an agreement on joint exploration and development of the huge Tengiz oilfield, but the lack of an effective export pipeline has hampered production. A consortium of seven international petroleum companies, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), signed an agreement to construct a pipeline to Novorossiysk, on the Russian Black Sea coast, which was successfully completed in 2001. In January 1994 a free-trade zone was established between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which was soon joined by Kyrgyzstan. Russia is still the principal trading partner; of the non-CIS trade partners, China and the EU are the leading destinations for exports and Germany and Turkey two of the leading sources of imports.
G Labour
The labour force in 1999 totalled some 7,254,522 people. Agriculture employed about 22 per cent of the labour force, industry about 32 per cent, and the service sector about 46 per cent.
H Transport
The railways are the principal means of transport but the system is old and in need of repair. There are some 13,660 km (8,488 mi) of track, of which about 4,000 km (2,405 mi) are electrified. Of the road system of some 109,445 km (68,006) mi) about 90 per cent is paved, but the network is poorly developed. There are three airports that handle international flights and a number of domestic airports. Air Kazakhstan replaced Kazakhstan Airlines as the national carrier in 1997.
I Communications
The telephone system is one of the poorest in the region and distribution of lines in 1999 was some 108 lines per 1,000 of the population. Attempts to find foreign investment in the telecommunications sector was unsuccessful until 1997 when the South Korean conglomerate Daewoo took a 40 per cent stake in the national company. Economic problems in Asia have led to speculation that improvements to the system may be slow.
V GOVERNMENT
Following a referendum in August 1995, almost 90 per cent of the electorate endorsed a new constitution, which was adopted in September. Under the terms of the constitution, the Republic of Kazakhstan is a democratic, secular, and unitary state under presidential rule.
A Executive and Legislature
The president is the head of state and is elected for a five-year term, by universal suffrage; all citizens of 18 years of age and over are eligible to vote. The supreme representative body is a bicameral parliament; the Senate (the upper house), which has 47 members, comprises 40 members elected by 4,000 representatives of the regions and the capital, and 7 members appointed by the president; the Majlis (lower house) has 67 deputies elected by universal suffrage, but candidates for the Majlis must gain an absolute majority, and are not permitted to profess a political affiliation. One half of the deputies in the Senate are subject to re-election every two years of the four-year term. Constitutional changes voted on by the legislature in October 1998 included measures to hold presidential and legislative elections in January 1999, one year ahead of schedule, and an extension of the presidential term from five to seven years. The amendments also included measures to extend the term of office of deputies in the lower house from four to five years, an increase in the minimum age of presidential candidates from 35 to 45 years, and the abolition of the maximum age of 65 years for presidential candidates.
B Political Parties
The role of opposition parties is somewhat limited; some parties, including the People’s Congress of Kazakhstan, and the People’s Unity Party of Kazakhstan, have links with the president. However, an umbrella alliance of the opposition movement, the People’s Front of Kazakhstan, at the other end of the political spectrum, has been the subject of the attention by the Committee for National Security (KNB, the successor to the KGB). Following his re-election in January 1999 President Nazarbayev promised to increase the role of political parties.
C Judiciary
Justice is administered by the Supreme Court, and its chairman is nominated by the president. The Constitutional Court was replaced by the Constitutional Council, and its chairman, and the Prosecutor-General are all nominated by the president.
D Health and Welfare
Large segments of the population in Kazakhstan have been exposed to radiation from nuclear testing. The nuclear testing grounds near Semey experienced the bulk of Soviet nuclear tests—more than 300 underground nuclear tests and several tests above ground. Another testing ground in the western portion of Kazakhstan near the Caspian Sea experienced more than 40 tests. Since independence, no further tests have occurred on Kazakh territory. The long-term health effects of nuclear testing in the republic are unknown. It has been reported that the population in areas close to the polluted Aral Sea have a high incidence of respiratory illness and a shorter expectation of life than those in the rest of the country. Although health care is free of charge, in common with other former Soviet republics an informal system has evolved that often involves inducements to secure better or faster treatment. Since independence the rate of parasitic and infectious diseases has almost doubled and haematological illness has almost trebled. In 1999 the doctor to patient ratio was 1 doctor per 232 people. Infant mortality in 2001 was 59 per 1,000 live births and expenditure on health care in 1997 was 1.8 per cent of GDP. Life expectancy in 2001 was 63 years.
E Defence
The armed forces total 64,000 personnel: 45,000 in the army, 19,000 in the air force, and a naval force of 100 that carries out patrol duties on the Caspian Sea. Paramilitary forces, including presidential guards, internal security troops, and border guards, account for a further 34,500 troops.
Kazakhstan has been a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) since 1991 and is also a member of the Partnership for Peace (PFP); the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
VI HISTORY
A Early History
The region that is now Kazakhstan was settled by Turkic tribes from about the 8th century ad and incorporated in the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan in the 13th century. The Kazakhs, a mixture of Mongol and Turkic peoples, emerged in about the 15th century. Russian incursions in what is now Kazakhstan began in the 16th century, as Cossacks settled along the Ural River in the western portion of the country. By the end of the 17th century a formal relationship had developed between the tsarist government in Russia and the Cossacks, who protected the Russian frontier in exchange for title to land and local autonomy. In the 18th century a line of Cossack settlements and fortifications was established across the northern boundary of the steppe region in Kazakhstan in order to defend the Russian frontier against marauding bands of Kazakhs and other nomads. This line remained essentially the same for nearly 70 years under Russia’s defensive posture. Beginning in the 1830s, however, Russian forces mounted a large-scale offensive southward, and by 1866 all of present-day Kazakhstan was under their control. Cossack outposts grew into peasant settlements as Russian and other Slavic immigrants came to the steppe in increasingly large numbers. In the period from 1906 to 1914, the influx of settlers averaged over 140,000 people per year, although about one fifth of all immigrants eventually returned to European Russia.
Friction developed between the Kazakhs and the new settlers, and tensions were exacerbated in 1916 by a governmental decree recruiting Kazakhs for military service. In retaliation for the decree, Kazakhs attacked and killed thousands of Slavic settlers. The tsarist government responded by expelling about 300,000 Kazakhs from their lands, many of whom left for the Xinjiang province in China. In 1917 Russian settlers responded to the killings by attacking and killing some 80,000 Kazakhs returning from China.
B Soviet Era
In 1918 an autonomous republic was established in eastern Kazakhstan, but it was quickly absorbed by Bolshevik forces. In 1920 the area of present-day Kazakhstan was organized as an autonomous republic, and until 1925 it was known as the Kirgiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1936 it was admitted to the USSR as a constituent republic.
In the late 1920s Soviet authorities under Joseph Stalin instituted a policy of forced settling and collectivization of the Kazakh population. As a result of the policy, Kazakh culture and lifestyle were obliterated. Hundreds of thousands of Kazakhs were killed or fled to China. In 1954 the Soviet government launched the Virgin and Idle Lands Programme, which called for a rapid increase in the amount of sown land in western Siberia and Kazakhstan. A new wave of Slavic immigrants flooded the republic, and Slavs became the largest ethnic group in the country. Kazakhs subsequently regained their position as the most numerous ethnic group in the country.
C Independence
In 1990 Nursultan Nazarbayev became president of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. He ran unopposed in the republic’s first democratic presidential elections in December 1991 and won 95 per cent of the vote. Kazakhstan declared its independence later that month, shortly before the USSR broke apart. As president, Nazarbayev generally allowed free speech and assembly for all groups in Kazakhstan except for Russian and Kazakh nationalist extremists. Some Russian Cossacks called for the annexation of northern Kazakhstan by Russia, while Kazakh extremists have called for the expulsion of all non-Muslims from Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev tolerated fairly severe criticism of his programmes in the popular press, but banned any activities that might foment ethnic distrust. He established a close economic, military, and political relationship between Kazakhstan and Russia, despite opposition by Kazakh nationalists, although friction with Russia developed over control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome after independence.
In March 1994 the two countries signed an agreement granting Russia control of the complex for 20 years at a cost of US$115 million a year. A portion of the nuclear arsenal of the former USSR is still deployed on Kazakh soil. However, by the terms of a 1992 treaty, Kazakhstan is to destroy all its nuclear weapons or transfer them to Russian control within seven years. In December 1993 Kazakhstan ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In an effort to promote nuclear disarmament, economic reform, and the development of democratic institutions, the United States more than tripled its amount of aid to Kazakhstan in February 1994. In March 1994, elections for a new legislature—which replaced the 360-member assembly from the Soviet era—were held. Nazarbayev’s supporters won at least two thirds of the seats. In March 1995 Nazarbayev disbanded Parliament after the country’s Constitutional Court had declared the general election illegal. This precipitated the rebel parliamentarians to attempt the formation of an alternative assembly.
A referendum held in April, which sought endorsement for an extension of President Nazarbayev’s term of office until 2000, received overwhelming support. It was announced by the Foreign Ministry in May that nuclear-free status had been achieved, with the removal of all nuclear devices.
D Economic and Political Reforms
The privatization of three state oil companies was announced in June 1995, the sales taking place within two to five years. A new constitution was given the support of almost 90 per cent of the electorate in a referendum in August, despite opposition claims that the provisions were undemocratic. The title of the capital city was transferred by presidential decree in September from Almaty in the south, to Aqmola in the north. However, it was not until June 1998 that Aqmola offically became the capital of Kazakhstan, at which time its name was changed to Astana. In October, Nazarbayev ordered the dismissal of all members of the Constitutional Court; a Constitutional Council, subject to presidential veto, was suggested as a replacement. Elections to the new bicameral assembly took place in December. International observers indicated reservations about voting and counting procedures during the election. The new parliament was inaugurated in January 1996. An agreement on the construction of an oil pipeline from the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan to the Black Sea port of Novorossiyk was signed in April. A three-year credit arrangement of about US$446 million, in support of the government’s economic reform programme, was approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July.
A presidential decree issued by Nazarbayev in March 1997 reduced the number of ministries and government agencies by seven. The role of the National Security Committee (KNB), the successor to the former Soviet Intelligence Service (KGB), was redefined when Alnur Musayev was appointed its new chairman in May. A new language law was enacted in July, which confirmed Kazakh as the state language. The status of Russian was to be equal in state-owned institutions and it would still be taught with Kazakh in secondary and vocational schools and institutes of higher education. Prime Minister Kazhageldin and his Cabinet were effectively dismissed by Nazarbayev in October, and replaced by Nurlan Balgymbayev, who had been head of Kazakh Oil, the state petroleum company. During a visit to the United States in November, Nazarbayev signed two oil and gas production-sharing deals that provided for investment of some US$26,000 million over a 40-year period. Balgymbayev, who had opposed privatization before taking up his post, announced the suspension of the oil and gas privatization programme in February 1998.
The formal transfer of the capital of Kazakhstan from Almaty to Astana, which had been decreed in 1995, was completed in June. Major constitutional changes were passed by a joint session of the legislature in October. Several candidates were barred by presidential decree in November, from standing in the impending presidential elections. President Nazarbayev was re-elected to a second term in January 1999, in the first contested presidential election in the republic. The victory drew criticism from observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who considered that the process of the election fell short of international standards.
The government announced in February that for the first time the shrinking of the northern Aral Sea, which for ten years had been separated from its southern counterpart, was halting or even reversing—a result of a reduction in demands for its waters for irrigation, and a government dyke-building programme. The government was forced to float the tenge on the international currency markets in April, eight months after the devaluation of the Russian rouble, to try to stimulate growth in the economy—it dropped 33 per cent in value in just one day. Balgymbayev resigned as prime minister after two years in office; he was replaced by the foreign minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev, just prior to the October elections for the Majlis. For the first time, ten of the seats were elected on the basis of party lists as opposed to a constituency basis, with 30 per cent of the vote and four of the seats going to the Otan Fatherland Party that had been formed at the beginning of the year and was headed by the president. The IMF, signalling approval of the new government's plans for combating inflation and economic recovery, announced in December a loan of US$400 million over three years.
E Towards Consolidation
During 2000 and early 2001 two themes dominated political strategies of the Kazakh government: consolidating the country’s position in the region and negotiations on the exploration and exploitation of natural resources. The government recognized that border disputes with Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan might take until at least 2007 to be resolved; talks with these neighbours continued. Kazakhstan participated in the meetings of the “Shanghai Five” grouping, together with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China, and Russia, arriving at agreements on preventing international terrorism, crime, drugs and arms trafficking, and religious and nationalistic extremism in the region. In a separate development, leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan signed, in April 2000, a ten-year treaty on cooperation to improve border security and on joint efforts to combat terrorism and other threats to their stability.
Talks with Russia, held in June, brought an agreement on a free-trade zone and an anti-terrorism settlement; negotiations concerning Russia’s use of the Baikonur cosmodrome continued. The Majlis, however, decided to postpone the ratification of the 1995 agreement with Russia on the use of military facilities for testing purposes.
Also in June it was announced that Kazakhstan had settled all outstanding balances with the IMF for the loans taken between 1993 and 1998. President Nazarbayev was given presidential authority and powers for life in a bill passed by the Majlis.
During an offensive mounted in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan by extremist Islamic rebels from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan participated in the joint fight against the rebel forces and, in November, put its army at the disposal of the neighbouring countries. The insurgents were defeated and reportedly withdrew.
In October, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement defining the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Later that month, a discovery of huge reserves of oil in the Kashangan field was announced by the Offshore Kazakhstan International Operating Company. In February 2001 the Italian group Agip gained the right to direct operations in the field. A new law, allowing private ownership of land, came into effect, allowing both Kazakh citizens and foreigners to lease extensive areas from the state (the right of purchase was limited to citizens only and did not extend to large areas). At the end of March, the first pipeline linking the Tengiz oil field with international markets was opened; the pipeline, 1,580-km (950-mi) long, connects the field to the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea.
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