Kazakhstan History

History
Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country Kazakhstan is the dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil/gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources.

Kazakhstan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and also adjoins a large part of the Caspian Sea.

In the 13th century, the territory joined the Mongolian Empire under Genghis Khan. The Russians began advancing into the Kazakh steppe in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, they nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the Russian Empire. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, and subsequent civil war, the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganised several times. In 1936, it was made the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union.

Kazakhstan's 131 ethnicities include Kazakhs which is 63% of the population, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars, and Uyghurs. Islam is the religion of about 70% of the population, with Christianity practised by 26%. The Kazakh language is the state language, and Russian has equal official status for all levels of administrative and institutional purposes. 

Timeline
1735 - Russia introduced the Russian language in all schools and governmental organisations 1890 - Large numbers of settlers from the Russian Empire began colonising the territory of present-day Kazakhstan, in particular the province of Semirechye 1920 - 1933 Famine and high fatalities, led to unrest 1941 - 400,000 Volga Germans were deported from the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic 1990 - Kazakhstan declared its sovereignty on its territory as a republic within the Soviet Union 1991 - Kazakhstan declared independence thus becoming the last Soviet republic to declare independence

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