Business Etiquette in Kazakhstan
Facts and Statistics
Location: Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe
Capital: Astana
Climate: continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid
Ethnic Make-up: Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9% (1999 census)
Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%
Government: republic; authoritarian presidential rule
Language in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is a bilingual country: the Kazakh language, spoken by 64.4% of the population, has the status of the "state" language, while Russian, which is spoken by almost all Kazakhstanis, is declared the "official" language, and is used routinely in business. Kazakh (also Qazaq) is a Turkic language closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak.
