kazakhstan

noun

1. a republic in central Asia, NE of the Caspian Sea and W of China. 1,049,155 sq. mi. (2,717,311 sq. km). Capital: Akmola.

noun

1. a republic in central Asia: conquered by Mongols in the 13th century; came under Russian control in the 18th and 19th centuries; was a Soviet republic from 1936 until it gained independence in 1991. It has rich mineral deposits and agriculture is important. Official language: Kazakh. Religion: nonreligious, Muslim, and Christian. Official currency: tenge. Capital: Astana (formerly Akmola, Akmolinsk, or Tselinograd); capital functions moved from Almaty (formerly Alma-Ata) in 1997. Pop: 17 736 896 (2013 est). Area: 2 715 100 sq km (1 048 030 sq miles)

from the indigenous Kazakh people (from the Turkish root kazak “nomad;” see Cossack) + Iranian root -stan “country, land” (see -stan).

Republic in west-central Asia, bordered on the northwest and north by Russia, on the east by China, on the south by Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and on the west by the Caspian Sea. Its capital and largest city is Alma-Ata.