Thallium, vital for the electronics industry, is found at a purity unrivalled elsewhere. Close to the Caspian Sea, large oil and natural gas reserves are being exploited with the help of foreign investment. Most agriculture is pastoral. Across the steppes, wheat is grown, and further south vegetables, cotton and tobacco are grown on irrigated land. This has focused attention on the one major commodity in short supply - water.
Drinking water is piped long distances to many settlements.
The pipes are old and replacement will require substantial investment. Irrigation in the south has used the waters from the Aral Sea, which has drastically diminished in size, leaving many square miles of salt pan and creating, in the eyes of some, an ecological disaster. Despite economic progress, output has not yet reached pre-independence levels, inflation is high and there are signs of industrial unrest, particularly in the coal mines, where wages have not been paid. Despite these difficulties, long-term economic prospects are good.