The Republic of Kazakhstan
The Republic of Kazakhstan is a sovereign independent state in the center of the Eurasian continent. It is the second largest of the former Soviet Republics, extending some 1,900 km from the Volga river in the west to the Altai mountains in the east and about 1,300 km from the Siberian plain in the north to the Central Asian deserts in the south. To the south it borders the Republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. To the east there is an international frontier with the People’s Republic of China. There is a long border in the north with the Russian Federation and a 2,320 coastline on the Caspian Sea in the south-west. The total area is 2,717,300 sq km, and in the ninth place in the world by its territory size. The landscape of Kazakhstan is diverse. The northern forest-steppe becomes steppe, semi-desert and desert in the south. The Western regions are dominated by the lowlands of the Caspian Depression, which is drained by the river Ural. To the east of the western lowlands is the vast Turan plain, much of which is sparsely inhabited desert. On the eastern and south-eastern borders there are high mountain rangers. The major rivers are the Irtysh, which rises in the north-east of the Republic and flows north, across Siberia, and empties into the Arctic Ocean; the Ural, in the west, which flows south into the Caspian Sea; and the Syrdarya which rises in the Tien Shan mountain range and empties into the Aral Sea. The waters of the Syrdarya have been extensively used for irrigation, causing serious desiccation of the Aral Sea. The climate of Kazakhstan varies widely throughout the country. Average January temperatures range from -19° C in the north to -3°C in the south, but temperatures in northern regions may fall as low as -40°C or below.
Kazakhstan’s relatively developed economic structure is based on its vast deposits of natural resources such as iron ore, oil and natural gas. In addition Kazakhstan is a major producer and exporter of agricultural products – primarily grain, wool and meat. The main branches of industry are metallurgy, production of heavy machinery, industrial equipment, chemicals, textiles and processed foods. National currency of Kazakhstan is tenge introduced in 1993.
Kazakhstan can be divided into 5 main zones, according to climatic and economic conditions. They are: Eastern, Northern, Central, Southern, Western Kazakhstan. The population of Eastern Kazakhstan is about 1,7 mln. people. The main cities are Semipalatinsk, Oskemen, Zyrianovsk. The region is rich in polymetal ores, containing lead, zink, copper and gold, silver. The main branches of industry are metallurgy and production of heavy machinery, non-ferrous metallurgy, machine-building, timber cutting. Northern Kazakhstan is the granary of the country, about three quarters of agricultural land is used for grain production. The useful minerals are deposits of iron, hard coal, limestone. Industries include machine-building, instrumental plants, food-processing. Central Kazakhstan covers the territory of 398 square km. The main cities are Karaganda, Dzeskazgan, Temirtau. The population is overwhelmingly urban – more than 80% live in cities. The region is famous for hard coal deposits, about 30% of the Republic’s hard coal stocks are concentrated in Central Kazakhstan. Highly developed industries: are ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical industry, construction industry. In Southern Kazakhstan agriculture is developed. The population density is the highest in the Republic. The main cities are: Kyzylorda, Aralsk, Taraz. The region is the main centre of irrigated viticulture, with well-developed cotton, sugar, beet and rice growing. Western Kazakhstan is mainly famous for its mineral resources, such as oil, gas and chromate, copper. The Tengiz oil-field is one of the largest in the world. The region attracts foreign investors to stimulate the development of the industry in the region.
Glossary
desert – пустыня
to border on – граничить с
international frontier- международная граница
diverse – разнообразный
forest-steppe – лес-степь
lowland – низменность
desiccation – высушивание
irrigation – орошение
heavy machinery – тяжёлое машиностроение
wool – шерсть
industrial equipment – производственное оборудование
currency – валюта
lead – вести
zink – цинк
copper – медь
gold золото
silver – серебро
ferrous and non-ferrous metal – цветной и не цветной металл
coal – уголь
limestone – известняк
chromate - хромат
population density – плотность населения
viticulture - виноградство
cotton – хлопок
sugar – сахарный тростник
beet – свекла
rice – рис
5.1.2 Answer the questions:
1 ) Where is Kazakhstan situated?
The Republic of Kazakhstan - a state located in the north- west Asia and south- eastern Europe. By land area ranks 9th among the largest countries in the world (2 million 724.9 thousand sq. Km). Location: on the eastern edge of the delta of the Volga River in the west to the Altai Mountains in the east of the West Siberian Plain in the north to the Tien Shan mountain range in the south.
2 ) How long does it extend from the Volga river in the west to the Altai mountains in the east?
Kazakhstan - a state located in the center of Eurasia, to the south of the Ural Mountains in the south- west by the Caspian Sea. It shares borders with Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. The territory - 2717.3 thousand. Km2. Population (17,370,000. People) - mostly Kazakhs (42%), Russian (37%), Ukrainians (5%), Germans (5%), and many other nations. Official language - Kazakh. Currency - tenge. Included in the CIS. Capital - Astana, the largest city - Almaty, Shymkent, Semey, Karaganda, Pavlodar. The vast territory of Kazakhstan extends from the Volga to the Altai, from the West Siberian Plain to the Tian Shan mountains.
3) What countries does our republic border on?
16 states, and on land it has borders with 14 countries. In the west - is Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. In the south it borders with Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and North Korea. In the east, has a maritime border with Japan and the United States.
4 ) Can you name the major rivers?
In Kazakhstan, 85,022 [ citation needed 770 days] of the river; 84,694 of them up to 100 km, 305 - 500 km, 23 - longer than 500-1000 km. The greatest density of river network (0.4-1.8 km / km²) differ highlands of Altai Mts. Zhetisu and Ile Alatau. The smallest river network density observed in areas of sandy deserts Aral and Caspian (less than 0.03 km / km²). [ Citation needed 770 days]
Most of the rivers in Kazakhstan belong to the internal closed basins of the Caspian and Aral seas, lakes Balkhash and Tengiz, and only the Irtysh, Ishim and Tobol brings its waters to the Kara Sea.
The territory of Kazakhstan is usually divided into eight water basins: the Aral- Syr Darya river basins, Balkhash -Alakol river basins, Irtysh river basins, Ural-Caspian river basins, river basins Ishim, Nura- Sarysu river basins, Shu - Talas river basins and Tobol- Turgay river basins.
5) How many zones is Kazakhstan divided into according to climatic and economic conditions?
Lake Kazakhstan have two features. The first one I uneven distribution across the state. Depending on the climatic conditions of lakes decreases from north to south. For example, in the northern part of Kazakhstan has 21,580 lakes (45 %) and in Central and South - 17550 lakes (36%). According footprint dale northern lakes is 35% of the area of all the lakes, and the share of central and southern - 10%.
Lakes are found in all natural areas, but depending on the ratio of the heat and moisture distribution, the quantity and quality of water varies.
In humid areas, there is a large number of lakes, but is dominated by freshwater. In areas with a dry climate Lakes few, and they tend to be shallow, non-flowing, salted, in summer mostly dry. For example, in the forest-steppe zone is 740 lakes with an area less than 1 km2, of which fresh and brackish 6 times more than the salt-water lake. To the south the number of freshwater lakes is reduced and salty - increases. In the steppe zone of lakes of the same area, there are 1875 fresh - 4 times more than saline.
6) What is the cause of the desiccation of the Aral Sea.
A sad example of what the economy for a man is more important than the environment:
It is believed that the main reason for the drying of the Aral Sea was the irrational use of water resources, feeding it Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers and excessive analysis of water for irrigation of cotton. Many experts, however, tend to think that in such a rapid decrease in the sea to blame not only the person, the more that there are serious geological and archaeological indications that similar retreat of the Aral Sea occurred in the past. Most likely, there was a superposition of anthropogenic and natural causes (reduced rainfall, increased evaporation due to warming).
In addition, there is the theory of crustal faults and overflow of water from the Aral Sea to the Caspian.
For certain causes drying of the Aral Sea is not exactly known.
7) What part of Kazakhstan is considered to be the granary of the country?
There are, of course, farmers who correctly solved the puzzle of survival in the grain industry in Kazakhstan. A correct answer here is one - do not count on the state to count only on themselves, says correspondent edition " KazahZerno.kz." These people after yielding 2009 attended creating their own silos, and this year welcomed an unprecedented amount of grain fully prepared.
8) Name the main cities of Central Kazakhstan.
There are some towns that can boast of its antiquity. These include the cities of Kazakhstan as Taraz, Shymkent and Turkestan.
As part of Kazakhstan is fourteen areas. They are located eighty-six cities. These include mega-cities of national importance. Their two - Almaty and Astana. The largest city in Kazakhstan - is Shymkent, Almaty, Karaganda and, of course, Astana. The country has one hundred sixty eight districts and one hundred seventy four village.
Cities of Kazakhstan, the list of which is given below, are the centers of country: Ust-Kamenogorsk (East Kazakhstan region.). Taraz (Jambul.). Karaganda (Karaganda region.). Aktobe (Aktobe.). Taldykorgan (Almaty region.). Kyzylorda (Kızılorda.). Kostanay (Kostanay.). Pavlodar (Pavlodar region.). Shymkent (South - Kazakh region.). Uralsk (West -Kazakhstan region.). Petropavlovsk (North- Kazakh region.). Kokshetau (Akmola region). Aktau (Mangistau region.). Atyrau (Atyrau region.)
9) What natural resources is Western Kazakhstan rich in?
The climate of Pavlodar region is sharply continental, characterized by long cold winter (5.5 months), hot and short summer (3 months). The region has large water resources. The region occur more than 140 rivers. Annual flow of the Irtysh - about one hundred thousand cubic kilometers. Unique channel Irtysh-Karaganda, which is unparalleled in the world. Almost the entire 500 - km stretch of...
10) What is developed in Southern Kazakhstan?
In the postwar period, especially at the initial stage, care for the population in southern Kazakhstan has received special development. Network of medical institutions, the number of beds they did not satisfy the needs of the region's population, but do not even meet the minimum standards. Particularly acute problem was the lack of medical facilities and personnel in rural areas. Besides damage to medical care of the urban population of the region has caused the union of city and district hospitals conducted in connection with the administrative-territorial early 50 -ies. This is evidenced by the data presented in the report of the network of medical institutions for 1952 [1].
We specifically cited data on the Alma -Ata, to be able to compare the figures with areas of southern Kazakhstan. The number of beds in the regional centers of Zhambyl and South Kazakhstan in the aggregate amounted to a fifth of beds in Almaty. Moreover, the number of outpatient visits in the regional centers is much higher than the city of Almaty. The lowest number of beds there was during this period in Jambul. A number of employees of medical positions in Jambul was only 11.25 thousand., In Shymkent - 55.75, while in Almaty - 188.25 thousand.
5.1.3 Fill in suitable words: natural gas, currency, a sovereign and secular state, lead, copper, population density, climate, iron ore, the Aral Sea, plain, deposits, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, Tien Shan, irrigation
1. The Republic of Kazakhstan is population density... in the center of the Eurasia. 2. Highly developed industries in Central Kazakhstan are..., chemical industry, construction industry. 3. The Eastern Kazakhstan is rich in polymetal ores, containing iron ore..., zink, copper..., gold, silver. 4. The Tien Shan... of Kazakhstan varies greatly throughout the country.
5. The Syrdarya rises in the. plain,.. mountain range and empties into irrigation
.... 6. National currency … of Kazakhstan tenge was introduced in 1993. 7. The vast Turan a sovereign and secular state … is sparsely inhabited desert. 8. The waters of the Syrdarya are used for irrigation
…. 9. The the Aral Sea … of southern Kazakhstan is the highest in the Republic. 10. Kazakhstan’s economic structure is based on its vast … of natural resources such as ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy …, oil, population density ….