Kazakhstan

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Country Name

Kazakhstan, or officially the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Location

Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country located in Eurasia, between Europe and Asia, primarily located in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world and the ninth largest country in the world, Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and also joins a large part of the Caspian Sea.

Capital

Nur-Sultan.

Reason Of Naming

The word Kazakhstan is divided into two parts: the first part is “Kazakh”, derived from a Turkish meaning or independence. What is called in the Russian language "a settlement", as in the Slavic language it is called a state, while in the Indo-Iranian it is a "place". The word means "land of independence or land of freedom".

Flag

The current flag was adopted on 4 June 1992. The main feature of the flag is its light blue color. The center of the flag has a golden sun with 32 rays.

The sun's rays are shaped like wheat grain. Flying nearby under the sun is the soaring golden eagle. The eagle appears to be protecting the sun.

The hoist side of the flag consists of a national ornamental pattern, the pattern is referred to as the “koshkar-muiz” meaning the horn of the ram, the ornamental pattern is also gold in color.

The light blue color represents the endless sky and water, it also represents

the cultural and ethnic unity of the people of Kazakhstan such as the Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Uyghurs, Tatars, and Russian and Mongol people.

The light blue color is also a symbol of peace and the indivisibility of Kazakhstan as a country. The color of the sky also implies purity, honesty, integrity, freedom, fidelity, and infinity. The blue color is also a religious symbol of the Turkic people. The golden color represents life and energy,

The sun symbolizes time and progress besides wealth and plenitude,

The wheat ray area is a symbol of abundance and prosperity, The golden eagle symbolizes the state’s power and its astuteness. It’s also a symbol of the state’s sovereignty and independence. The eagle also represents independence, freedom, and the Kazakhstan people's flight to the future.

Language

Kazakhstan is officially a bilingual nation.

Kazakh and Russian are spoken widely in the country, Kazakh is a part of the Kipchak family of Turkish languages and has the status of "state" language, whereas Russian, which is spoken by most Kazakhs, is declared an "official" language and is used routinely in business, government, and inter-ethnic communication, although Kazakh is slowly replacing it.

Education across Kazakhstan is conducted in either Kazakh, Russian, or both.

Other minority languages spoken in Kazakhstan include Uzbek, Ukrainian, Uyghur, Kyrgyz, and Tatar.

English as well as Turkish, have gained popularity among younger people since the collapse of the Soviet Union.