Kazakhstan

[[File:Kazakhstan - Location Map (2013) - KAZ - UNOCHA.svg|thumb|right|195px|Map of Kazakhstan.]]
{{cquote|We should not be afraid of humour and we shouldn't try to control everything.|||Dariga Nazarbayev, a politician and the daughter of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, responding to the film ''Borat''.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/daughter-of-kazakhstan-s-president-defends-borat-1.574044 Daughter of Kazakhstan's president defends Borat]. ''CBS.ca''.</ref>}}
{{countrybox|Kazakhstan
|flag = Flag_of_Kazakhstan.svg
|pop =17,736,896
|GDP =196.419
|GDPPC =11,772
|life =67
|dev =0.754
|dem =3.3
|cor =2.9
|edu =0.965
|rel =43
}}

'''Kazakhstan''', also known as '''Russia's garbage dump''', is the ninth largest country by land area and the largest landlocked country.<ref>[https://www.mappr.co/worlds-largest-countries/ The World’s Top 10 Largest Countries], ''Mappr'', January 31, 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-largest-landlocked-countries-in-the-world.html Largest Landlocked Nations in the World], ''WorldAtlas''</ref><ref group=note>Kazakhstan's coast on the Caspian Sea doesn't count since that's just a great big lake that doesn't connect to an ocean.</ref> It shares borders with [[Russia]] and [[China]], among others. It has a diverse array of ethnic groups, but most of the population follows [[Islam]]. Kazakhstan’s capital is Astana. The city was renamed Nur-Sultan to honor Kazakhstan’s longtime former [[dictator]] in 2019,<ref>[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/kazakhstan-renames-capital-honour-leader-190323182311714.html Kazakhstan renames capital to honour ex-leader]. ''Al Jazeera''.</ref> but then was renamed back to Astana in 2022.<ref>[https://qazmonitor.com/news/844/the-capital-has-been-officially-renamed-to-astana "The Capital Has Been Officially Renamed to Astana"], ''The Qazaqstan Monitor'', 18 September 2022</ref>

Kazakhstan’s steppe terrain was home to various nomadic groups, particularly Turkic nomads. The Kazakh language itself is a dialect of Turkish, which is why knowing Turkish could get a person from Europe to [[Imperial China]] on the Silk Road in ancient days and even to the modern era.<ref>[https://www.easternturkeytour.org/tour/the-silk-road-across-turkey/ The Silk Road Across Turkey]. ''Eastern Turkey Tours''.</ref> In the 13<sup>th</sup> century, stronger nomads led by Genghis Khan from [[Mongolia]] subjugated the entire region. The Mongols left, but the Kazakhs would face a new threat over the following centuries: [[Russia]]. Kazakhstan’s coal reserves proved valuable to the Russian Empire, and the succeeding [[Soviet Union]] saw things no differently. Under Soviet rule, exploitation became worse as Kazakhstan became a dumping ground for industrial and nuclear waste.

Unfortunately, not a whole lot changed when Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991. The old Soviet-era puppet leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, remained in power for decades only to step down in 2019. His rule was just as corrupt and [[authoritarian]] as things had been under Moscow’s yoke. Kazakhstan today is stable and largely free from the scourge of Islamic [[terrorism]], but political dissent can still be very dangerous. 

Kazakhstan is also wealthier than its other Central Asian cousins, mainly due to its border on the [[oil]]-rich Caspian. It is also currently the largest producer of [[uranium]] globally and continues to expand production. Of course, wealth does not translate into freedom, and Kazakhstan still has a long way to go.

==Historical overview==
[[File:Battle of Bahram Chubina with Saveh shah.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Turkic mounted warriors, the 
Rohirrim
 horse lords of Central Asia.]]
===Early tribal history===
Kazakhstan has been inhabited since the Paleolithic, and the people living there largely kept themselves to a nomadic pastoralist lifestyle.<ref>Ikawa-Smith, Fumiko (1 January 1978). Early Paleolithic in South and East Asia. Walter de Gruyter. p. 91. ISBN 978-3-11-081003-5.</ref> This nomadism meant that organized states weren’t really a thing here for a long, long time. It’s hard to have a government when you’re moving around. The dominant culture group during this time was the Göktürks.<ref>{{wpa|Göktürks|}}</ref> 

The Göktürks, around 550 CE, created the first real organized state in Central Asia: the First Turkic Khaganate.<ref>{{wpa|First Turkic Khaganate|}}</ref> The state was governed by a ruler advised by a council, and sure enough, it fractured due to succession conflicts. Afterward, various Turkic tribal federations rose, including the Quarluqs, the Oghuz, and the Qarakhanids. This last group submitted to the military might of the Abbasid Caliphate, eventually leading the Turkic pagans to adopt Islam.<ref name=“trib”>[http://countrystudies.us/kazakstan/2.htm Kazakhstan: Early Tribal Movements]. '‘ Country Studies''.</ref> They then got conquered by yet more nomad hordes because that’s just how things went in the steppe.

This tumultuous history is a clear consequence of Kazakhstan’s nomadism and flat terrain. Borders weren’t a thing, and natural boundaries didn’t exist, meaning that states and hordes rose and fell all the time. Outside powers could temporarily maintain their rule here before the nomads became restless.

===Mongol conquest and rule===
[[File:Mock Mongolian battle at Khaan Quest 07.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Mongol cavalry reenactors.]]
In 1130, the Turks came under attack from nomads from the further east. First came the Khitans, a [[Buddhist]] nomadic group driven west by a greater threat.<ref name=“mong”>[https://www.lonelyplanet.com/kazakhstan/background/history/a/nar/f881e0cf-9be2-4d5f-8177-c999be5963a9/356857 History in Kazakhstan]. ''Lonely Planet''.</ref> The Khitans took over Central Asia, but the people they had fled from weren’t far behind. 

In 1218, the Mongol horde of Genghis Khan swept through. Their army numbered about 200,000.<ref name=“mong”/> Further south of Kazakhstan, the Mongols destroyed huge cities like Bukhara and Samarkand. Central Asia had no way to resist the invasion and thus quickly became part of the empire. 

However, the Mongols were not immune from the old problems with ruling Central Asia. It was hard to make the nomads fall in line, and the Mongol Empire soon dissolved due to succession disputes. Most Central Asia went to Jochi Khan, who founded the Golden Horde. This Mongol successor state predictably came under immediate attack from other Mongol successor states and nomad powers.

Through trade and cultural connections, the Golden Horde became further Turkified and Islamized, while subject peoples like the East Slavs and Caucasian peoples were forced to give tribute to the nomad overlords.<ref name="gol">[https://www.britannica.com/place/Golden-Horde Golden Horde]. ''Britannica.''</ref> The Black Plague, which struck in the mid-1300s, marked the beginning of the end for the Mongol successor state. With many of its best warriors killed by disease, the Golden Horde lost wars against the rebellious Russian princes and Turkic warlords further south.<ref name="gol"/> These attacks caused the Golden Horde to split into smaller khanates, with the Mongol state disintegrating entirely by 1502.

===Kazakh Khanate===
[[File:SB - Kazakh woman on horse.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Traditional wedding in the Kazakh Khanate.]]
The splitting of the Golden Horde finally resulted in the first instance in which the Kazakh people became their own nation-state. Around 1511, Khan Kasym united the various Kazakh tribes into one polity based on their Kazakh culture and language.<ref name="kmod">[http://countrystudies.us/kazakstan/3.htm Kazakhstan: Forming the Modern Nation]. ''Country Studies.''</ref> 

Although based on a Kazakh identity, the khanate wasn't much different from the nomad empires before. The old problems with ruling Central Asia came back with a vengeance. They were sandwiched between the hostile Nogai horde to the west and the Dzhungars to the east, and Kazakhstan's terrain gave them no real means of practical defense.<ref name="kkhan">{{wpa|Kazakh Khanate|}}</ref> The Kazakh-Dzungar Wars lasted more than a century between 1643 and 1756, and the Kazakhs only came out on top at great cost to their own population.<ref>{{wpa|Kazakh-Dzungar Wars|}}</ref> This weakened the Kazakh Khanate at a crucial moment when the Russian Empire started making inroads into Central Asia.

Again, in [[Vietnam War|history]] and contemporary politics, you'll notice that [[Afghanistan War|being at war]] [[Iraq War|for long periods]] tends to harm society.

===Kazakh vs. Cossack===
We're about to talk a lot about Cossacks and Kazakhs, and it might help to mention the pronunciation, to help some users keep them separate in their heads.  Cossack, of course, is pronounced COSS-ack, and Kazakh is sometimes mispronounced COSS-ock or COZZ-ock, which is confusing.  A more proper pronunciation of Kazakh is ka-ZAKH, with emphasis on the second syllable and the KH being a gutteral sound like the j in Spanish or ch in German.

===Russian conquest and rule===
[[File:Battle Cossacks with Kyrgyz 1826.JPG|thumb|right|265px|Kazakhs clash with Russian Cossacks in 1826.]]
Russian traders and soldiers, shielded by the Cossacks, began building forts in Kazakh territory and taking chunks of land in localized conflicts. The Kazakhs were too preoccupied with their wars to do anything about this, and then they subsequently split into three smaller hordes due to, sigh, succession disputes. At first, the Russians were only trying to prevent Kazakh mounted raids, but their aims soon became more acquisitive.<ref>"Central Asia, 130 Years of Russian Dominance: A Historical Overview". Edward A. Allworth, Edward Allworth (1994). ''Duke University Press''. p. 10. ISBN 0822315211</ref> With the [[British Empire]] expanding northwards through [[India]] and towards [[Afghanistan]], it became a race between the two powers to gobble up as much Central Asian territory as possible to keep the other power from benefiting.<ref>{{wpa|The Great Game|}}</ref> 

This period of [[imperialist]] competition was called the "Great Game." It was no game for the Kazakhs, however. The Russian Empire conquered the Middle Horde in 1798, leaving Kazakhstan split up and vulnerable.<ref name="kmod"/> They did this relatively simply by relying on deceit; Russian officials would broker alliances with local Kazakh khans and then move troops into Kazakh territory and never leave.<ref name="ruconq">[http://factsanddetails.com/central-asia/Kazakhstan/sub8_4a/entry-4631.html Russians Take Kazakhstan]. ''Facts and Details.''</ref> Russia completed its slow but safe conquest by 1845. 
[[File:SB - Inside a Kazakh yurt.jpg|thumb|right|265px|Kazakh family struggles to maintain their way of life in Russia, 1911.]]

Once realizing that they were in danger of being fully annexed, the Kazakhs rose up repeatedly against Russian control. The first mass uprising was led by Khan Kene (called Kenisary Kasimov by the Russians), who fought an insurgency against Russia for eleven years between 1836 and 1847.<ref name="kmod"/> These uprisings would eventually be put down by superior Russian manpower and resources.
[[File:Prokudin-Gorskii Russians in Central Asia.jpg|thumb|right|265px|Russian settlers in Kazakhstan, 1911.]]

Kazakhstan became part of the new Russian "Steppe District", and Russia exerted its control by building forts all over the place to restrict Kazakh nomadic movements. This had a terribly destructive impact on the Kazakh way of life and economy because the Kazakhs could no longer drive their herds and seek new grazing land freely.<ref name="rus">[http://countrystudies.us/kazakstan/4.htm Kazakhstan: Russian Control]. ''Country Studies.''</ref> Russia also stripped all Kazakh khans and lords of their titles, declaring that Kazakhstan would be a mere colony.<ref name="ruconq"/> Huge numbers of Russian settlers arrived in the region, encouraged by the Russian government with land grants. Naturally, these land grants consisted of all of the best Kazakh land, which had been carelessly appropriated from the Kazakh people.<ref name="ruconq"/> Between 1906 and 1912, more than a half-million Russian farms were started as part of the reforms of the Russian minister of the interior Petr Stolypin, shattering what remained of the traditional Kazakh way of life. Many thousands of Kazakhs died in revolts and famines.

Kazakhstan also sucked for many Russians since the tsarist government used it as a 
gulag
 dumpster for unwanted political nonconformists, much like the Brits used [[Australia]] for their prisoners. Prisoners exiled to Kazakhstan included Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, and even [[Leon Trotsky]].<ref name="ruconq"/>

The starving and displaced Kazakh people had no reason to feel loyalty to the Russian Empire. When Russia tried conscripting people from Central Asia to fight in [[World War I]], the Kazakhs joined the wider Basmachi movement to violently resist being sent off to fight for their oppressors.<ref>{{wpa|Basmachi movement|}}</ref> The Basmachi movement resulted in thousands of deaths and many horrific massacres, and it soon became part of the greater Russian Civil War.

===Alash Autonomy and the Russian Civil War===
{{main|Russian Civil War}}
The Russian government collapsed utterly in 1917, giving the Kazakhs what seemed like a golden opportunity to reclaim independence. Just about a month after that, the Kazakh people declared themselves independent and named their state the Alash Autonomy. Unfortunately for them, the Autonomy was not actually autonomous. Most of its territory was controlled by the Russian White Army, and the Alash leaders had to play nice if they wanted to keep so much as the claim to independence.<ref>{{wpa|Alash Autonomy|}}</ref> 

Even worse, the Red Army was just over the corner. After taking control of Russia, [[Vladimir Lenin]] was forced to surrender vast tracts of territory to buy peace with the [[German Empire]], but he wasn't about to let Kazakhstan go. The Red Army's relentless assault caused the Alash state's collapse by 1920. Exacerbating miserable conditions was a devastating drought combined with the burdens of war against the Red Army, which caused a famine that killed somewhere between half and three-quarter million people.<ref>{{wpa|Kazakh famine of 1919–1922|}}</ref> Sadly, that wouldn't be the last or the worst famine to hit Kazakhstan.

[[File:Aktobe 1930s (04).jpg|thumb|right|325px|Kazakh farmstead in the early Soviet Union.]]

The Soviets replaced the Alash Autonomy first with the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and then renamed it the Kazak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Even worse times were ahead.

===Soviet rule===
====Famine====
The [[Soviet]]s really started cracking down when [[Joseph Stalin]] came into power. Stalin's experiment in collectivized agriculture was a disaster in Kazakhstan, causing a horrific man-made famine akin to the [[Holodomor]]. The famine, caused mainly by food confiscations, killed about 2 million people, representing a third of the ethnic Kazakh population.<ref>{{wpa|Kazakh famine of 1932–33|}}</ref>

Many factors exacerbated this famine's impact on the Kazakh people. Firstly, they had recently suffered famine and had for much longer suffered the complete destruction of their traditional way of life under the Russian Empire. The Soviets also used their collectivization policy to rebuild and "modernize" Kazakh culture by forcing them to abandon nomadism and force them to partake in brutal collective farms.<ref>[https://blogs.loc.gov/kluge/2016/08/the-kazakh-famine-of-the-1930s/ The Kazakh Famine of the 1930s]. ''Library of Congress.'' John W. Kluge Center.''</ref> It's also notable that the Soviets barely reacted to the famine in Kazakhstan.

All in all, it's hard to deny that Stalin was a colossal piece of shit, so [[Stalin apologetics|don't even try it]].

====WWII and development====
[[File:Young Pioneers in Kazakh SSR.jpg|thumb|right|275px|The "Young Pioneers" program for Russian children in the Kazakh SSR.]]
Despite the horrific atrocity heaped upon them, the Kazakhs and their land became an integral part of saving the Soviet Union during [[World War II]]. With much of the country's European land overrun, Stalin ordered factories and laborers to relocate to Central Asia, especially Kazakhstan.<ref name="sovk">[http://countrystudies.us/kazakstan/5.htm Kazakhstan in the Soviet Union.] ''Country Studies.''</ref> Once again, Kazakhstan became a dumping ground for undesirables, ethnic Germans, Poles, and Tatars, whom the Stalinist government feared would be disloyal.<ref>[https://ww2db.com/country/kazakhstan Kazakhstan]. ''World War II Database.''</ref> Authoritarians gonna authoritarian.

Kazakhstan, which had become its own Soviet republic in 1936, became increasingly important to the overall Soviet Union. Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]] in 1953 announced the Virgin Lands campaign, which aimed to dramatically increase Soviet food production.<ref>{{wpa|Virgin Lands campaign|}}</ref> Under that program, vast tracts of Kazakh grazing land were put to the plow to cultivate wheat and other cereal grains. Settlers from other parts of the Soviet Union, as well as {{wpl|Koryo-saram}} who had nowhere else to go, got benefits from the government to encourage them to move in. It was basically just more colonization but under a red flag this time.

Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet government found out that Kazakhstan actually sits on a shitload of [[oil]] and natural gas reserves. Cha-ching! Cue more settlers and more industrial development.

====Ecological catastrophes====
{{cquote|Decay and desolation scar the landscape of a remote corner of the Kazakh Steppe. Unnatural lakes formed by nuclear bomb explosions pockmark the once flat terrain, broken up only by empty shells of buildings. It appears uninhabitable. And yet, ghosts – living and dead – haunt the land, still burdened by the effects a nuclear testing program that stopped nearly 30 years ago.|||Alexandra Genova, writing for the ''National Geographic'' in 2017.<ref>[https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/10/nuclear-ghosts-kazakhstan/ This Is What Nuclear Weapons Leave in Their Wake]. ''National Geographic.''</ref>}}
Perhaps the most enduring legacy of Soviet rule in Kazakhstan is felt through the nuclear waste that still riddles Kazakhstan's landscape. As both the [[United States]] and the Soviet Union raced to develop [[nuclear weapons]] during the [[Cold War]], Kazakhstan became the Soviet Union's primary testing ground. They conducted no less than 456 nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan, showing complete disregard for the impact on the local population.<ref>{{wpa|Semipalatinsk Test Site|}}</ref> Tests continued until 1989, exposing as many as 1.5 million people to dangerous radiation levels.<ref name="semii">[https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01034-8 The nuclear sins of the Soviet Union live on in Kazakhstan]. ''Nature.''</ref> Not only were Kazakhs exposed to immediate blast radiation, but radioactive dust kept blowing across the country for decades. 

The Soviets also exposed 60 million people in Kazakhstan to what former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called "one of the planet’s worst environmental disasters" by completely destroying the Aral Sea.<ref>[https://thediplomat.com/2014/10/how-the-soviet-union-created-central-asias-worst-environmental-disaster/ How the Soviet Union Created Central Asia’s Worst Environmental Disaster]. ''The Diplomat''.</ref> By rerouting rivers for agricultural projects and dumping pollution, the Soviets literally made the Aral Sea evaporate and disappear, destroying the nearby Kazakh communities' primary source of food and welfare.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-34586135/how-soviet-pollution-destroyed-the-aral-sea How Soviet pollution destroyed the Aral Sea]. ''BBC News.''</ref>The place is a desert now, with vast plains once used for [[WMD]] testing and as a dumping ground for pesticides, industrial waste, and fertilizers. People living near the Aral Sea (or what's left of it) are regularly exposed to deadly toxins as the polluted desert sands blow across Central Asia.<ref>O'Hara, Sarah; Wiggs, Giles; Mamedov, Batyr; Davidson, George; Hubbard, Richard (19 February 2000). "Exposure to airborne dust contaminated with pesticide in the Aral Sea region". ''The Lancet''. 355 (9204): 627–628. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(99)04753-4. PMID 10696990.</ref>

<center><gallery widths=200px heights=200px>
File:Crater - Flickr - The Official CTBTO Photostream.jpg|Crater from a Soviet nuclear test at Semipalatinsk, photographed in 2008.
File:AralSea1989 2014.jpg|The Aral Sea in 1989 vs. 2014.
File:Test Nucléaire Semipalatinsk.jpg|A human [[fetus]] affected by radiation from Semipalatinsk. 
File:Aralship2.jpg|Shipwreck in what used to be the Aral Sea, near Aral, Kazakhstan.
</gallery></center>

===Independence and the rise of Nazarbayev===
Kazakhs finally started to get fed up with Soviet misrule in the 1980s. The gradual realization that Soviet nuclear tests had fucked everyone over there played into it with the formation of the eventually very powerful anti-nuclear movement in Kazakhstan.<ref>{{wpa|Anti-nuclear movement in Kazakhstan|}}</ref> In December 1986, Soviet premier [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] ousted Kazakh Dinmukhamed Kunayev for being a corrupt piece of shit.<ref name="indp">[http://countrystudies.us/kazakstan/6.htm Kazakhstan: Reform and Nationalist Conflict]. ''Country Studies.''</ref> However, Gorby then fucked it up by replacing him with an ethnic Russian, which sparked protests among the Kazakh people. Soviet authorities responded to those protests by massacring hundreds of people, which didn't exactly win them much goodwill from the Kazakhs.<ref>{{wpa|Jeltoqsan|}}</ref> 

[[File:RIAN archive 41059 CIS heads of state.jpg|thumb|right|350px|From left to right, with funny looks on their faces: Ukrainian leader Leonid Kravchuk, Kazakh leader Nusultan Nazarbayev, Russian leader [[Boris Yeltsin]] and Belorusian leader Stanislav Shushkevich at the signing of the Alma-Ata Protocol.]]

Kazakhstan's economy had also suffered from the general Soviet stagnation, making things ripe for popular unrest. Kazakh [[nationalist]]s assembled informal political groups, and riots became more and more intense throughout the late '80s. In 1989, the central government finally caved, replacing the Russian with an ethnic Kazakh to lead the republic. The new boss was Nursultan Nazarbayev, who cynically portrayed himself as a Kazakh nationalist while still loyal to the Party.<ref name="nur">[http://countrystudies.us/kazakstan/7.htm The Rise of Nazarbayev]. ''Country Studies.''</ref> Nazarbayev spent his time as a Soviet leader treading a narrow line between Moscow and his own people. He made Kazakh the republic's official language for the first time and allowed greater expressions of the Islamic faith.<ref name="nur"/> 

In March 1990, Nazarbayev held Kazakhstan's first elections, which confirmed him as the republic's leader and left his cronies in power. In June of the same year, [[Boris Yeltsin]] got [[Russia]] to declare its sovereignty within the Soviet Union. Throughout 1991, Nazarbayev became the last regional Soviet leader supporting the Union's continuing.<ref name="indpi">[http://countrystudies.us/kazakstan/8.htm Kazakhstan: Sovereignty and Independence]. ''Country Studies.''</ref> That was mainly because he wasn't convinced that Kazakhstan could stand on its own economically without the rest of the Soviet Union. 

[[File:Nursultan Nazerbayev Square.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Monument to Nazarbayev, commissioned by Nazarbayev.]]

Because of the coup attempted by Moscow hard-liners against the Gorbachev government in August 1991, it became clear to everyone that the Soviet Union was dead. Nazarbayev pragmatically began preparing his republic for eventual independence by hiring economists and shaking hands with foreign resource development people. He also personally took control of much of Kazakhstan's state-run industries, hoping to remain Kazakhstan's leader by becoming indispensable.<ref name="indpi"/>

Without consulting any other republics, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus signed documents dissolving the Soviet Union in late 1991. Nazarbayev seemed ready to create a confederation of Turkic states to oppose the Slavic states because of their unilateral action. Instead, the Slavic leaders met with Nazarbayev and negotiated the Alma-Ata Protocol, creating the Commonwealth of Independent States to manage their future cooperation.<ref>{{wpa|Alma-Ata Protocol|}}</ref> The treaty was signed in Kazakhstan shortly after the Soviet Union's downfall.

===Dictatorship===
After achieving independence, Kazakhstan simply made Nursultan Nazarbayev its new president. And until very recently, that's where things have stood.

Nazarbayev maintained a veneer of legitimacy for thirty years by dutifully holding elections, but they've always been rigged to ensure his victory.<ref>[https://www.euronews.com/2019/06/07/kazakhstan-s-snap-election-what-you-need-to-know Change or more of the same? Kazakhstan's pivotal presidential election explained]. ''Euronews.''</ref> He also granted himself the title of "Yelbasy", meaning head of the nation. He had many personal rights like permanent immunity from prosecution, permanent financial secrecy, and the requirement that he be consulted on all political matters. Nazarbayev actually still holds this title despite his recent resignation.

Nazarbayev's remarkable political longevity came from many factors. The primary one was and is his political allies. Nazarbayev carefully maintained good relations with the [[United States]]. He used the oil trade and its profits to ensure that the US would look the other way at his myriad abuses of human rights.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-worlds-enduring-dictators-nursultan-a-nazarbayev-kazakhstan-19-06-2011/ The world's enduring dictators: Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan]. ''CBS News.''</ref> His position is also comfortable because of Kazakhstan's relative prosperity. His stable rule and the oil trade have ensured that no one is poor or desperate enough to really try challenging him.

In early 2019, though, Nazarbayev chose to resign his position as president of Kazakhstan. He carefully orchestrated his succession by ensuring that the vote would place his trusted second-in-command Kassym-Jomart Tokayev into power.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/06/kazakhstan-elections-lesson-dictators/591160/ An Aging Autocrat’s Lesson for His Fellow Dictators]. ''The Atlantic.''</ref> Sure enough, Tokayev won the election overwhelmingly. Nazarbayev also still looms large over Kazakhstan's politics. His toady Tokayev's first move was to rename Kazakhstan's capital Astana to be Nur-Sultan.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47638619 Nursultan: Kazakhstan renames capital Astana after ex-president]. ''BBC News.''</ref>

==Human rights==
===Freedom of speech and assembly===
The right to assembly effectively doesn't exist in Kazakhstan, as the authorities must approve protests, and the authorities just won't approve any protests.<ref name="amne">[https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/europe-and-central-asia/kazakhstan/report-kazakhstan/ Kazakhstan]. ''Amnesty International.''</ref> People who hold protests anyway are fined heavily and detained for long periods without food, water, or due process. More recently, Kazakhstan used [[COVID-19]] as an excuse to pass a law permanently restricting any rights to peacefully assemble.<ref>[https://freedomhouse.org/article/kazakhstan-authorities-rush-further-limit-peaceful-assembly Kazakhstan: Authorities Rush to Further Limit Peaceful Assembly]. ''Freedom House.''</ref> 

In terms of media, most media outlets are controlled by the government or by state-friendly actors. The government harasses and forcibly shuts down any independent outlets or journalists. 

Additionally, speech is highly regulated. Insulting the president or any government official is a criminal offense. In September 2019, newspaper editor Amangeldy Batyrbekov was sentenced to 27 months in prison for insulting a local education official on Facebook.<ref name="frho">[https://freedomhouse.org/country/kazakhstan/freedom-world/2020 Kazakhstan]. ''Freedom House.''</ref>

===Torture and mistreatment===
People kept in Kazakhstan's prisons face [[torture]] and other mistreatment, which is considered routine. Torture is not considered a severe problem by Kazakhstan's authorities, though. Almost all of the many torture allegations brought to the government's attention are discarded. This is because torture allegations are investigated by either the police or a government "anti-corruption" office, which is corrupt.<ref name="amne"/>

==Environmental problems==
[[File:Кировская (шахта).jpg|thumb|right|225px|Dirty mining facility in Kazakhstan.]]
Kazakhstan's natural environment has been catastrophically damaged by human activities, mainly by the [[Soviet Union]]. The Soviet Union conducted hundreds of nuclear tests on Kazakh soil, leaving behind a legacy of irradiation and genetic damage. Soviet irrigation experiments and industrial pollution have turned the Aral Sea into a critically dangerous desert region that spreads toxic dust over nearby settlements. As the Aral Sea shrank, its increasing salinity and toxicity killed off all the fish, leaving nearby fishing settlements shit out of luck.<ref name="enviro">[http://countrystudies.us/kazakstan/11.htm Kazakhstan: Environment]. ''Country Studies.''</ref> 

Water in Kazakhstan is hard to come by since most of the country's water sources are polluted with industrial waste and, in some places, radiation. The loss of water has had a great impact on Kazakhstan's temperatures, harming Kazakhstan's agriculture industry.<ref name="enviro"/> Agriculture is also hampered by the toxic soil blowing off the Aral Sea and nuclear test sites; this soil lands on crops and fields, killing and sterilizing them.<ref name="enviro"/> 

Even though these problems began under the Soviet Union, the Kazakh government hasn't done much to stop pollution from its mining and industries. It's still happening to this day.

==Science and technology==
[[File:Soyuz expedition 19 launch pad.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Russian Soyuz rocket at the Cosmodrome.]]
===Baikonur Cosmodrome===
A notable place in Kazakhstan is the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the site used to launch most rockets in the Soviet and Russian space programs. The launch complex was where Sputnik 1, Earth's first artificial satellite, was launched and where Yuri Gagarin, the first human in orbit, was also launched.<ref name="baik">[https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/baikonur.html Baikonur Cosmodrome]. NASA.</ref>

It hosted many Soviet [[ICBM]]s, but they have since been transferred to Russia. This makes Kazakhstan one of four countries with the status of former nuclear power (the others being [[Belarus]], [[Ukraine]] (both for the [[Soviet Union|same reason]]), and [[South Africa]]). The spaceport and its grounds (including the town of Baikonur) are administered by Russia, as they have rented it to at least 2050. Spent first stages fall in the steppes downrange and end up scavenged by Kazakh scrap-metal hunters.<ref>As seen in the [http://www.space-tourists-film.com/en/film_synopsis.php trailer] of the ''Space Tourist'' documentary and [http://todayspictures.slate.com/20060412/ this] ''Slate'' photo gallery.</ref>

For now and until private space flight becomes more common, [[NASA]] is effectively the Cosmodrome's bitch for its manned spaceflight program. The Space Shuttle's retirement in 2011 has left {{wpl|Soyuz programme|Soyuz}} rockets the only consistent way to travel to the International Space Station.

The name "Baikonur" is a misnomer, as the site is about 322 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of the actual town called Baikonur.<ref name="baik"/> The Soviet Union did this intentionally to make it harder for their enemies to locate the launch complex. The true location is now international knowledge, but the name has stuck.

==Gallery==
<center><gallery widths=225px heights=225px>
File:Horsemeat platter.jpg|Horse meat platter.
File:KTZ 2TE10U Aynabulak.jpg|Railroad on the Kazakh steppe.
File:Kazakh national Dress.jpg|Kazakh family in traditional dress.
</gallery></center>

==See also==
*[[Kyrgyzstan]]
*[[Turkmenistan]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}
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[[Category:Asian countries]]
[[Category:Authoritarian regimes]]
[[Category:Environment]]

Categories: Asian countries, Authoritarian regimes, Environment