Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Larry C. NAPPER embassy: 99/97A Furmanova Street, Almaty, Republic of
Kazakhstan 480091 mailing address: American Embassy Almaty, Department
of State, Washington, DC 20521-7030 telephone: (3272) 63-38-83, 50-76-24
Flag description: sky blue background representing the endless sky and a gold sun with 32 rays soaring above a golden steppe eagle in the center; on the hoist side is a "national ornamentation" in gold
Economy Kazakhstan
Economy - overview: Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also is a large agricultural - livestock and grain - producer. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources and also on a growing machine-building sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors, agricultural machinery, and some defense items. The breakup of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse in demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products resulted in a short-term contraction of the economy, with the steepest annual decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97, the pace of the government program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. Kazakhstan has enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good harvests, and foreign investment. The opening of the Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raises export capacity. Astana has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector by developing light industry.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $98.1 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 12.2% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,900 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 10% industry: 30% services: 60% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 26% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 27.3% (2001)