Independent Kazakhstan

Abstract

On 16 December 1991 Kazakhstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Its regional importance was enhanced by the fact that the country of about 15.3 million people—the second most populous in Central Asia (2007 CIA est.)—has the largest territory in the region and is the ninth largest in the world. It has historically been one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the region, including Kazakhs (64.4 percent), Russians (20.0 percent), Ukrainians (3.7), Uzbeks (2.5), Germans (2.4), Tatars (1.7) and others (5.3) (2007 official est.). Since 1991 a significant number of Russians and Germans have left the country. During Kazakhstan’s first decade of independence there was a great deal of concern about secessionist movements in the northern provinces of the country and about interethnic tensions in the south (see map 40). These concerns were largely put to rest in the early 2000s, due to the changing demographic balance in Kazakhstan.