Environment - current issues: radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with its former defense industries and test ranges are found throughout the country and pose health risks for humans and animals; industrial pollution is severe in some cities; because the two main rivers which flowed into the Aral Sea have been diverted for irrigation, it is drying up and leaving behind a harmful layer of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then picked up by the wind and blown into noxious dust storms; pollution in the Caspian Sea; soil pollution from overuse of agricultural chemicals and salination from poor infrastructure and wasteful irrigation practices
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: landlocked; Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome
Kazakhstan People
Population: 16,731,303 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.73% (male 2,271,866; female 2,200,078)
15-64 years: 66.03% (male 5,358,535; female 5,688,550)
65 years and over: 7.24% (male 412,761; female 799,513) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.03% (2001 est.)