The Land and its People

Kazakhstan - 9th largest country in the world and 16 million people
Kazakhstan - 50% Kazakhs, 30% Russian; Muslims and Christians; above all Harmony
Kazakhstan - 80% steppes and deserts, plus high mountains and cultivated lands
Kazakhstan - open spaces
Kazakhstan - thousands of years of nomadism, living in harmony with nature
Kazakhstan - Almaty, Astana, oil, gas, capitalism and new wealth
Kazakhstan - Nursultan Nazarbaev

Geography
While being the 9th largest country in the world, being situated between giants Russia and China might give the feeling that Kazakhstan is a small country. Not at all!
84% of Kazakhstan is occupied by steppe, desert and semi-desert. In the south and southeast the Central Tien Shan Mountain Range (highest peak in Kazakhstan is Kan Tengri, 7,000 meter) make a welcome change, while in the norteast the old Altai Mountains (highest peak Mount Belukha, 4,806 meter) dominate.
Characteristically for East Kazakhstan are hilly steppes, while flat lowlands dominate the West (underneath of which an abundance of oil, gas and other minerals has been discovered).
Special mention to the Aral Lake in the mid-west, notorious for shrinking in size - a process that fortunately has been stopped and partly reversed.

Climate
Kazakhstan has a land climate with large temperature differences between summer and winter and little rain. When planning to spend time in the steppe and desert,  spring and autumn are the best periods to visit; when planning to stay in the high mountains, summer is best.
Differences in the country are large - unsurprisingly - with relative mild winters, litte snow and hot summers in the south and along the Caspian Sea, while temperatures in the north and in the center of the country can hit 40 degrees Celcius below zero!
Almaty has a nice climate with four clear seasons without extremes, while Astana sees strong winds all year long and tough winters 

Flora en Fauna
Taking into account that over 80% of the country is made up of desert, semi-desert and steppe, flora is sparse, except for the tough and adaptable saksaul bush.
In April and May the steppe flowers are blooming and in May endless fields of poppies color parts of the steppe red. Indeed, this is an excellent time to visit Kazakhstan to lovers of botany. For example, one may observe wild tulips, 33 varieties of which are still to be found in the country! (Check out our tour in April).
In the high mountains the Tien Shan Fir is omnipresent while in the valleys one finds an abundance of wild fruits. Edelweiss can be found in the alpine meadows.

Kazakhstan has a wide variation in wildlife as well, though unfortunately a number of famous species can be found the the red book: the snowleopard, Arghali mountain sheep (a natural prey of the snowleopard), Kulan (wild donkey), Saiga steppe antilopeand the Dzheyran gazelle. Considering the saiga, a century ago one million of them populated the Kazakh steppe, decreasing to some 50,000 at the beginning of the 21st century. Fortunately numbers are rising again and the saiga is a fast breeder.

Because Kazakhstan lies on the intersection of two bird migration routes, in addition to the varied nature and different climate zones, there's an enormous number of bird species in Kazakhstan. One of the niche markets where tourism flourishes (next to hunting, unfortunately) is birdwatching. Check out our birdwatching tour in May.

People
More than 100 different nationalities live in Kazakhstan, a result of wars, conquests and forced migration in the whole region. In the long gone past it was the Silk Road that did people move from one country to the other. In the more recent past movements between people of the republics of the USSR caused an enormous influx of different people into Kazakhstan. What come to mind are the forced movements by Stalin, bringing Germans, Koreans, Chechens, Tatars and many other people in large numbers to Kazakhstan in WWII, while in the 19th century and during the sixties and seventies of the last century many (Russian) workers moved to the relatively empty lands of Kazakhstan for economic reasons.
The Kazakhs were a minority in Kazakhstan until very recent times, when large groups of (especially) Germans (some 800,000) and Russians (some 2,000,000) took the chance to move to their historic lands, while at the same time the fertility rate of Kazakh families has been higher than that of other nationalities. 
Sizable groups living in Kazakhstan are, apart from these mentioned before, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Uygurs, Koreans, Ukranians and many many more.
But most importantly: the nationalities live together in harmony, despite their great differences in history, religion and culture. It's important to mention that the great majority of religious believers in Kazakhstan, be it Muslims or Christians, live their faith in a moderate way.

The Arts
Until approximately the middle of the 18th century art for the Kazakh nomads was always connected to their harsh lives in the steppe. The main art objects therefore were functional, like saddles, jewelry and furniture. In the 18th century Kazakh literature came to life, followed by theater and the first art academies and music schools.  
Especially music, singing and storytelling have been an important part of the Kazakh nomad art forms for many centuries. Painting exists for thousands of years in the form of rock carvings, but the modern art of painting is rather new.
Film culture in Kazakhstan was greatly 'helped' by the removal of the Mosfilm studios from Moscow to Almaty from 1941-1944.

Politics and Economics
Immediatly after the emerging of the new Kazakhstan in 1991, former and new president Nursultan Nazarbaev started a program of economic liberalization and introduced democracy (the Kazakh way). That means that - in 2010 - there's only one party represented in Parliament, but they were chosen in more or less fair elections and the majority of the people of Kazakhstan has no complaints.
The economic reforms from a closed economy by one driven by demand and supply were (unsurprisingly) painful in the first years, but also succesfull, the result of excellent policies and the presence of enormous quantities of oil and other minerals, attracting the serious interest from foreign investors that brought in money and technology.  
In 2010 Nazarbaev is still president - and a rather popular one - and has Kazakhstan become chairmen of the OSCE, the first CIS country ever to achieve so. The people of Kazakhstan cherish their peace and stability and their continuing economic growth, unlike most of their Central Asian (much poorer) neighbours. Russia is and remains the natural ally of Kazakhstan, while China is increasing its presence in the country by major investments in the oil- and other strategic industries.

Cuisine
Kazakh cuisine differs considerably from Western cuisine and is to a great degree a result of life on the steppe. Therefore, one may expect much meat, little vegetables and many varieties of bread. Meat means a lot of mutton but also beef and horsemeat.
Characteristic dishes of the Kazakh cuisine are koumiss (fermented horsemilk), baursaki (small round pieces of dough) and bezparmak, the most famous and traditional Kazakh meat dish.
In present-day Kazakhstan the influence of cuisine from other (Soviet) nationalities is large, and many Russian, Uzbek, Uygur and Korean dishes are commonplace with all people. In addition, especially in Almaty and later in also in other towns, Western and Asian cuisine have made a clear impact on the Kazakhstani eating habits.