Kazakhstan

=== Turkic ===

According to the most widely accepted theory, the word qazaq (Kazakh) derives from a Turkic root meaning "free", "independent", or "wanderer" and stan meaning settlement.

The Turkic word qazaq (قازاق) was reliably recorded in 13th–14th century dictionaries, including the Codex Cumanicus and a Mamluk-Kipchak Arabic dictionary published by Martin Houtsma. In these sources, the word meant "unattached", "homeless", "loner", or "exile", and later acquired the meaning "free man".

In Turko-Persian sources, the term Özbek-Qazaq first appeared during the mid-16th century, in the Tarikh-i-Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, a Chagatayid prince of Kashmir, which locates Kazakh in the eastern part of Desht-i Qipchaq. According to Vasily Bartold, the Kazakhs likely began using that name during the 15th century.

The English word Kazakh, meaning a member of the Kazakh people, derives from Russian: казах. The native name is қазақ, qazaq. It might originate from the Turkic word verb qaz-, 'to wander', reflecting the Kazakhs' nomadic culture. The term Cossack is of the same origin.

Though Kazakh traditionally referred only to ethnic Kazakhs, including those living in China, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and other neighbouring countries, the term is increasingly being used to refer to any inhabitant of Kazakhstan, including residents of other ethnicities. In the Kazakh language, the country is called Qazaqstan in the Latin script.

=== Antiquity ===

Kazakhstan has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era. The Botai culture (3700–3100 BC) is credited with the first domestication of horses. The Botai population derived most of their ancestry from a deeply European-related population known as Ancient North Eurasians, while also displaying some Ancient East Asian admixture. Pastoralism developed during the Neolithic. The population was Caucasoid during the Bronze and Iron Age period.

The Kazakh territory was a key constituent of the Eurasian trading Steppe Route, the ancestor of the terrestrial Silk Roads. Archaeologists believe that humans first domesticated the horse in the region's vast steppes. During recent prehistoric times, Central Asia was inhabited by groups such as the possibly Indo-European Afanasievo culture, later early Indo-Iranian cultures such as Andronovo, and later Indo-Iranians such as the Saka and Massagetae. Other groups included the nomadic Scythians and the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the southern territory of the modern country. The Andronovo and Srubnaya cultures, precursors to the peoples of the Scythian cultures, were found to harbour mixed ancestry from the Yamnaya Steppe herders and peoples of the Central European Middle Neolithic.

The main migrations of the Turkic peoples took place between the 5th and 11th centuries, during which Turkic-speaking groups spread across much of Central Asia. Over time, they gradually assimilated or replaced many of the earlier Iranian-speaking populations, transforming Central Asia from a predominantly Iranian region into one largely Turkic-speaking.

Medieval statehood on the territory of present-day Kazakhstan began to emerge with the establishment of the Turkic Khaganate in the mid-6th century. In 630, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate was defeated by the Chinese and incorporated into the Tang dynasty. In 658, the Western Turkic Khaganate suffered a similar fate after its defeat by Tang forces. Turkic political power was later restored when Kutlug Ilterish Qaghan revived the Eastern Turkic Khaganate in 682. On the territory of the former Western Turkic Khaganate, the Turgesh Khaganate emerged in 699 under the leadership of Üch-elik. The Turgesh actively resisted the Arab expansion into Central Asia during the 720s and 730s, but were ultimately defeated in the mid-8th century. During the same period, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate fragmented as a result of internal conflicts and political disunity.

From the 8th to the early 13th centuries, the territory of Kazakhstan was successively dominated by the Karluks, Oghuz, Kimeks, and Kipchaks. In southern Kazakhstan, the Karluks established a new khaganate in 840, although their rulers retained the title of yabghu. They later came under pressure from the Samanid Empire and eventually became associated with the rise of the Karakhanid state. The Oghuz tribes established themselves in the Aral Sea region and made Yangikent (Dzhankent) their capital. Despite attempts at political consolidation, internal conflicts weakened the Oghuz state. Between the 9th and 11th centuries, much of western and central Kazakhstan came under the control of the Kimek Khanate, whose rulers adopted the title of khagan. The Kimek state was eventually conquered by the Kipchaks. The Kipchaks, known in East Slavic chronicles as the Polovtsians, became one of the dominant powers of the Eurasian steppe. Their ruling elites played an influential role in the politics of Khwarazm, and by the 12th century Kipchak cavalry had become a major military force within the Khwarazmian Empire. They contributed significantly to the empire's expansion, including the conquest of the Karakhanid state and neighbouring Central Asian territories. In 1218, however, Khwarazm came into conflict with Genghis Khan, leading to the Mongol conquest of the region and its incorporation into the Mongol Empire.

The history of the Golden Horde occupies an important place in modern Kazakh historiography. It was within the framework of this state that the formation of the Kazakh ethnic group took place. In contemporary Kazakh historiography, the Golden Horde is regarded as an important part of the historical continuity of Kazakh statehood. Some Russian historians have also linked the beginnings of Kazakh state formation to the period of the Golden Horde, emphasizing its significant role in this process. Scholars such as Marie Favereau, Beatrice Forbes Manz, and Joo-Yup Lee often regard the Kazakhs as one of the successor peoples of the Golden Horde, alongside other heirs of the Jochid Ulus. According to Irina Erofeeva, Kazakh nomads viewed both the rise and decline of the Golden Horde and the subsequent stages of their own statehood as part of a recurring historical cycle. In oral tradition, this cyclical view was expressed through stories centered on historical figures of the Ulus of Jochi, including Genghis Khan, Jochi, Batu Khan, Jani Beg, Tokhtamysh, Urus Khan, Edigu, and the Samarkand emir Timur. According to her analysis of Kazakh folklore, Kazakh nomads regarded the Golden Horde as their own state, which gradually weakened and contracted territorially, with each successive revival falling short of the previous one. In Kazakh historical memory, an idealized image of the Jochid Ulus emerged, based on perceptions of its former military and political power. This image acquired a romanticized interpretation in Kazakh society from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

However, Soviet historiography significantly shaped interpretations of the history of Central Asia, including the Golden Horde. Kazakh historian Zhaksylyk Sabitov argues that Soviet ideological censorship influenced the study of the Mongol Empire and the Golden Horde. He notes that Shoqan Walikhanov viewed the Kazakh people as descendants of the Turkic and Mongol tribes of the Jochid Ulus and, while assisting Nikolay Berezin in translating and studying the khans' yarlyks, wrote that they "consider themselves as the Tatars of the Golden Horde". According to Sabitov, Soviet commentators later reinterpreted Walikhanov's statement, claiming that only the Chinggisid elite identified with the Golden Horde rather than the Kazakh people as a whole. They nevertheless described its territory as encompassing much of present-day Kazakhstan. In the works of Boris Grekov and Alexander Yakubovsky, the Kazakh people were largely excluded from interpretations of the Golden Horde's successors, an approach that became dominant in Soviet historiography. Political repressions, particularly those of 1937, further constrained historical scholarship. Kazakh historian Sanjar Asfendiyarov, who was arrested and executed in 1938, was publicly denounced in Kazakhstanskaya Pravda under the headline "A Japanese spy in the role of a historian" and accused of "promoting the missionary Altynsarin and the tsarist executioner Valikhanov, and replacing the history of the Kazakh people with praise of the khans". Similar censorship occurred in other Soviet republics, including Tatarstan and Uzbekistan. According to Irina Erofeeva, shifting ideological priorities led many Kazakh historians to alter their views or avoid sensitive subjects, including the history of the Golden Horde. Auezov's niece believed that Mukhtar Auezov and Kanysh Satbayev avoided repression partly because they had Russian wives. According to Charles Kurzman, Soviet historians sought to construct "safe" histories for the newly created republics. The Tatar historian Ilnur Mirgaleev likewise argued that Soviet historians could not forgive Tokhtamysh for his capture of Moscow in 1382 and continued to cite panegyrics portraying him as foolish and ungrateful. Modern Kazakhstan has only recently begun moving away from Soviet-era historiographical narratives, which continue to influence some history textbooks.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the western and northern lands of present-day Kazakhstan, in the eastern Desht-i Kipchak, came under Jochi, while the south was incorporated into the Chagatai Ulus. The Ulus of Jochi was divided into two domains under Jochi's sons Batu and Orda. Although Batu did not distinguish himself as an outstanding military commander, he proved to be a capable administrator and politician. Without undertaking any major military campaigns between 1242 and 1256, he established suzerainty over the Russian principalities, Georgia, Armenia, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, and several regions of Iran. He is also traditionally credited with founding a number of cities of the Golden Horde.

In 1269, at a kurultai on the Talas River, Mengu-Timur, Baraq, and Kaidu rejected Kublai's authority and allied against him to preserve their independence. Upon ascending the throne in 1266/1267, Möngke Temür adopted the title "The Great Khan", and the Golden Horde came to be officially known as the Ulug Ulus (lit. 'Great State' in Turkic). After the death of Mengu-Timur in 1280, his elder brother Tode Mongke succeeded him peacefully but relied heavily on powerful nobles, particularly Nogai. Nogai expanded his influence over Bulgaria, Vidin, and Serbia and maintained independent relations with the Egyptian sultan. In 1287, he backed a coup that replaced Tode Mongke with Töle Buqa, during whose reign Nogai campaigned against the Ilkhanate and Hungary. Under Özbeg Khan (r. 1313–1341), Islam became the state religion and the Golden Horde underwent administrative reforms. His son Jani Beg, who succeeded him in 1341, is often regarded in Kazakh oral tradition as the Golden Horde's "Golden Age." He ended nearly a century of conflict with the Ilkhanate by conquering parts of northern Iran, but died during a campaign in 1357, possibly murdered by his son Berdi Beg. His death marked the end of the Golden Age and the beginning of the political instability known as the Great Troubles.

In the late 1350s and early 1360s, the Golden Horde entered a period of civil strife known as the Great Troubles. The rulers of the Blue Horde asserted their independence, and the descendants of Tuqa-Timur, Jochi's thirteenth son, rose to power. The most prominent was Urus Khan. Advancing west from the eastern Desht-i Kipchak, Urus seized the throne at Sarai before returning to the Ulytau Mountains and Syr Darya region. His sons Qutluq Buqa and Toktakia twice defeated Tokhtamysh, who sought refuge with Timur. Urus demanded Tokhtamysh's extradition, but Timur refused, leading to conflict. After several defeats, Timur withdrew to Samarkand and Kesh in 1376–1377. That same year, Tokhtamysh captured Sarai and reunited the Jochid territories under his rule. Tokhtamysh pursued an active foreign policy. After Mamai's defeat at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, Tokhtamysh invaded Russia and burned Moscow in 1382, restoring tribute to the Golden Horde. In 1383, he restored his authority over Khwarazm, and his growing imperial ambitions soon brought him into conflict with Timur. Supported by the Golden Horde nobility, Tokhtamysh expanded into the Caucasus, subduing the Jalayirids and bringing Shirvan under Horde control. He then invaded the Chagatai ulus, reached Samarkand, and defeated Timur's son Umar Shaykh before withdrawing when Timur returned. In retaliation, Timur devastated Khwarazm the following year and incorporated it into his domains.

The armies of Tokhtamysh and Timur followed the Turko-Mongol military tradition, with strict discipline and a decimal organization of tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands (tumens). Edigu, a Manghit hostile to Tokhtamysh, secretly allied with Timur and helped organize his campaign. In 1391, Timur invaded the Dasht-i Qipchaq and defeated Tokhtamysh at the Battle of the Kondurcha River. Despite heavy losses, Timur withdrew with substantial booty, while Tokhtamysh retreated to the Volga region. By 1393, Tokhtamysh had rebuilt his forces and resumed collecting tribute from his vassals.

In 1395, the two armies clashed again at the Battle of the Terek River. Tokhtamysh initially gained the initiative, repeatedly attacking Timur's Chagatai forces before feigning retreat. However, the defection of the emir Aktau, whom Timur had bribed, weakened Tokhtamysh's left flank and allowed Timur to defeat his army. Tokhtamysh escaped but could not raise another army. Timur then devastated the Golden Horde, destroying much of its urban infrastructure, trade, and economy. His forces ravaged the North Caucasus, Volga region, and Crimea, ultimately forcing Tokhtamysh from the throne in 1395–1396.

After Tokhtamysh, no ruler achieved authority over the entire Ulus of Jochi, and the Golden Horde began to disintegrate. Timur installed descendants of Urus Khan in Sarai, but they failed to restore its former power. In 1397, Edigu allied with Temür Qutlugh, grandson of Urus Khan, and placed him on the throne while effectively ruling himself. In 1399, Tokhtamysh and his Lithuanian allies attacked Edigu but suffered a crushing defeat. Tokhtamysh later allied with the Shibanids and sought Timur's support, but never regained the throne. Both Tokhtamysh and Timur died in 1405. Soon, Timur’s empire began to disintegrate as well. After Edigu's death, the Horde fragmented further into numerous uluses, marking the effective end of the Golden Horde as a unified empire. In 1423–1424, Baraq Khan, grandson of Urus Khan and son of Qoyrichaq, seized power and later captured Sarai after defeating Khudaydat and Ulugh Muhammad. In 1428, however, Ulugh Muhammad defeated Baraq, who abandoned attempts to regain power in the west and turned against the descendants of Timur in Samarqand. These were the final years of the Blue Horde; after Baraq, power in the eastern Desht-i Kipchak passed from the Tuqa-Timurids to the Shaybanids. Baraq's son Abu Sa'id, also known as Janibek, later became one of the founders of the Kazakh Khanate.

By the mid-15th century, the Golden Horde collapsed, leading to the creation of the Kazakh Khanate by Kerei and Janibek. According to Russian sources, by the 17th century, the Kazakh Khanate was divided into three Zhuzes (Hordes)—Senior (Great), Middle (Central), and Junior each with its own nomadic territories. In the early 16th century Kazakhs transformed the Khanate into a nomadic empire stretching across the steppes east of the Caspian Sea and north of the Aral Sea as far as the upper Irtysh River and the western approaches to the Altai Mountains. During the reigns of Burunduk Khan (ruled 1488–1509) and Kasym Khan (1509–18), the Kazakhs were the masters of virtually the entire steppe region, reportedly able to bring 200,000 cavalry into the field and feared by all their neighbours. Many historians consider Kasym Khan's leadership the starting point of a distinct and sovereign Kazakh state. His influence extended Kazakh authority from the southeastern regions of modern Kazakhstan to the Ural Mountains.

However, during the successive rule (1518–1538) of the three sons of Kasym Khan, the power of the Khanate weakened somewhat, accompanied by a trend that later intensified: the disintegration of the Khanate into three separate "hordes." The youngest son of Kasym Khan, who ruled the Kazakh steppes, Haq-Nazar Khan, managed to overcome these difficulties. By restoring the unity of the three Hordes, he began systematic campaigns into Transoxiana. This policy continued with his immediate successors until the reign of Tawakul Khan, who, for a brief time, seized Samarkand. Esim Khan succeeded his brother Tawakul Khan. He fought the Bukharan khans Baki-Muhammad and Imamkuli for control of the Syr Darya and Tashkent, seeking to reunify the Kazakh Khanate. After Tursun Muhammad Khan seized power in the 1610s, Esim retreated to the Yarkent Khanate, where he ruled over part of the Kyrgyz and allied with Khan Abd ar-Rahim. In the 1620s, he defeated Tursun, restored his authority over the khanate, and suppressed the Katagan clan, which had supported Tursun. He also defeated the Oirats, temporarily bringing them under his rule, and forced Imamkuli to abandon his claims to the cities along the Syr Darya.

From 1635, the Kazakhs began waging war against the newly established Dzungar Khanate. After Jangir, Tauke Khan ascended the throne and distinguished himself as a military commander in wars against the Dzungars and Khanate of Bukhara. He also pursued an active foreign policy, intervening in succession disputes in Moghulistan, maintaining diplomatic relations with Russia, and sending five embassies there. Conflicts with the Cossacks also occurred, including Tauke Khan's suppression of the Bulavin Rebellion. After Tauke's death in 1715/1718, the Kazakh Khanate lost its unity, and the three hordes effectively became separate khanates.

In 1723, after concluding a truce with Qing China, Tsewang Rabtan launched a surprise attack on Kazakh lands, beginning the period known as the "Great Disaster". Caught unprepared, the Kazakhs retreated, abandoning their livestock and property, while many clans fled across the Emba and Ural rivers and southward into Mawarannahr. This migration toward the Ural region became so extensive that it threatened the survival of the Kalmyk Khanate. Initially unable to organize effective resistance, the Kazakhs were led by military elites and batyrs, with organized resistance uniting the militias of all three zhuzes under Abulkhair Khan in 1726. Despite Dzungar numerical and military superiority, Kazakh forces defeated the Oirat armies in 1727–1730, preventing Tsewang Rabtan from subjugating the Kazakh zhuzes. Under his successor Galdan Tseren, Dzungar power reached its height, defeating China in 1731–1732, subjugating the Senior zhuz in 1735.

From 1752 to 1755, the Middle zhuz fought its final wars with the Dzungars, while Ablai Sultan supported different factions and led Middle Zhuz forces in campaigns into Dzungaria. Kazakh intervention and repeated incursions further weakened Dzungar political authority and military cohesion. As a result, when the Qing Empire invaded in 1755, it encountered little serious resistance and destroyed the Dzungar Khanate as a political entity.

The collapse of the Dzungar Khanate shifted the balance of power in Inner Asia, with the Kazakh khanates becoming the dominant regional political and military force for a time. Meanwhile, Russia and Qing China strengthened their positions and began to shape international relations in northwestern Central Asia. Ablai Khan maneuvered between Russia and China, allowing the Kazakh Khanate to maintain relative independence for a time. Later, Ablai and the Kazakh lords who supported him embarked on a course of military conquest, conducting plundering raids against the population of the Altai, as well as into Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. He also cooperated with the Russian authorities in pursuing the Kalmyks who had fled from the Volga, while brutally repressing ordinary members of Kazakh society who were dissatisfied with his policies. He later became the last khan whose authority was recognized throughout the Kazakh steppe. After his death, his son Wali Khan abandoned this independent policy and recognized Russian suzerainty.

In 1822 the Khanate institution among the Kazakh Hordes was abolished, sparking the uprising of Sultan Qasym in 1824–1827. The final attempt to restore the Khanate was led by Sultan Kenesary Qasymov, who proclaimed himself khan in 1837 and conducted an armed struggle against Russian authorities until his death in 1847. Assessments of Kenesary Khan have varied with changing political circumstances. In Soviet, Russian, and Kazakh historiography between 1917 and 1953, he was portrayed variously as a hero of the national liberation and anti-colonial struggle or as a "reactionary". His activities and legacy remain complex and contested. Kenesary's campaigns also inspired Jules Verne's novel Michael Strogoff (1876).

In the first half of the 18th century the Russian Empire constructed the Irtysh line, a series of forty-six forts and ninety-six redoubts, including Omsk (1716), Semipalatinsk (1718), Pavlodar (1720), Orenburg (1743) and Petropavlovsk (1752), to prevent Kazakh and Oirat raids into Russian territory. In the late 18th century the Kazakhs took advantage of Pugachev's Rebellion, which was centred on the Volga area, to raid Russian and Volga German settlements. In the 19th century, the Russian Empire began to expand its influence into Central Asia. The "Great Game" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. The tsars effectively ruled over most of the territory belonging to what became the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In the words of A. I. Maksheev, "during the whole of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Kazakhs were Russian subjects in name only. In reality, they preserved their independence. The Russians had to separate themselves from them with fortresses and troops and did not even dare to cross the Line." However, this began to change in the 1820s.

Beginning in the late 19th century, the Kazakh national movement sought to preserve the native language and cultural identity in opposition to the Russian Empire's assimilation policies. At the same time, Russian-style education introduced modern ideas to the steppe, and figures like Shoqan Walikhanov and Abay Kunanbayev adapted these ideas to the specific needs of Kazakh society, creating a secular culture unparalleled in other parts of Asian Russia.

From the 1890s onward, ever-larger numbers of settlers from the Russian Empire began colonizing the territory of present-day Kazakhstan, in particular, the province of Semirechye. The number of settlers rose still further once the Trans-Aral Railway from Orenburg to Tashkent was completed in 1906. A specially created Migration Department (Переселенческое Управление) in St. Petersburg oversaw and encouraged the migration to expand Russian influence in the area. During the 19th century, about 400,000 Russians immigrated to Kazakhstan, and about one million Slavs, Germans, Jews, and others immigrated to the region during the first third of the 20th century. Vasile Balabanov was the administrator responsible for the resettlement during much of this time.

The competition for land and water that ensued between the Kazakhs and the newcomers caused great resentment against colonial rule during the final years of the Russian Empire. The most significant uprising, the Central Asian revolt, occurred in 1916. The Kazakhs attacked Russian and Cossack settlers and military garrisons. The revolt resulted in a series of clashes and in brutal massacres committed by both sides. Both sides resisted the communist government until late 1919.

In the wake of the Russian Revolution, the Alash Orda government was formed in 1917 as an attempt to secure Kazakh autonomy. Although it existed only in name, Alash Orda represented the Kazakh push for self-rule. The Bolshevik Red Army eventually defeated White Russian forces in the region by 1920, and Kazakhstan was incorporated into the Soviet Union.

Following the collapse of central government in Petrograd in November 1917, the Kazakhs (then in Russia officially referred to as "Kirghiz") experienced a brief period of autonomy (the Alash Autonomy) before eventually succumbing to the Bolsheviks' rule. On 26 August 1920 the Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was established. The Kirghiz ASSR included the territory of present-day Kazakhstan, but its administrative centre was the mainly Russian-populated town of Orenburg. In June 1925, the Kirghiz ASSR was renamed the Kazak ASSR and its administrative centre was transferred to the town of Kyzylorda, and in April 1927 to Alma-Ata.

Despite their traditionally nomadic lifestyle, the Kazakhs were among the most literate groups in Central Asia, which set them apart in the region. However, Soviet policies, including forced collectivization and repression of the traditional elite in the late 1920s and 1930s, led to devastating consequences for the Kazakh population. These policies caused widespread famine and high fatalities, with an estimated 1.5 million deaths between 1926 and 1939, mostly due to starvation and related diseases, as well as violence (see also: Famine in Kazakhstan of 1932–33). Thousands of Kazakhs fled to China, but many did not survive the journey. During the 1930s, some members of the Kazakh intelligentsia were executed – as part of the policies of political reprisals pursued by the Soviet government in Moscow.

On 5 December 1936 the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (whose territory by then corresponded to that of modern Kazakhstan) was detached from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and made the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, a full union republic of the USSR, one of eleven such republics at the time, along with the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic.

The republic was one of the destinations for exiled and convicted persons, as well as for mass resettlements, or deportations affected by the central USSR authorities during the 1930s and 1940s, such as approximately 400,000 Volga Germans deported from the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in September–October 1941, and then later the Greeks and Crimean Tatars. Deportees and prisoners were interned in some of the biggest Soviet labour camps (the Gulag), including ALZhIR camp outside Astana, which was reserved for the wives of men considered "enemies of the people". Many moved due to the policy of population transfer in the Soviet Union and others were forced into involuntary settlements in the Soviet Union.

The Soviet-German War (1941–1945) led to an increase in industrialization and mineral extraction in support of the war effort. At the time of Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, however, Kazakhstan still had an overwhelmingly agricultural economy. In 1953, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev initiated the Virgin Lands Campaign designed to turn the traditional pasturelands of Kazakhstan into a major grain-producing region for the Soviet Union. The Virgin Lands policy brought mixed results. However, along with later modernizations under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (in power 1964–1982), it accelerated the development of the agricultural sector, which remains the source of livelihood for a large percentage of Kazakhstan's population. Because of the decades of privation, war and resettlement, by 1959 the Kazakhs had become a minority, making up 30% of the population. Ethnic Russians accounted for 43%.

In 1947, the USSR, as part of its atomic bomb project, founded an atomic bomb test site near the north-eastern town of Semipalatinsk, where the first Soviet nuclear bomb test was conducted in 1949. Hundreds of nuclear tests were conducted until 1989 with adverse consequences for the nation's environment and population. The Anti-nuclear movement in Kazakhstan became a major political force in the late 1980s.

In April 1961, Baikonur became the springboard of Vostok 1, a spacecraft with Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin being the first human to enter space.

In December 1986, mass demonstrations by young ethnic Kazakhs, later called the Jeltoqsan riot, took place in Almaty to protest the replacement of the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR Dinmukhamed Konayev with Gennady Kolbin from the Russian SFSR. Governmental troops suppressed the unrest, several people were killed, and many demonstrators were jailed. In the waning days of Soviet rule, discontent continued to grow and found expression under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost ("openness").

Kazakhstan declared its sovereignty within the Soviet Union on 25 October 1990. Following the failed August 1991 coup attempt in Moscow, the country proclaimed full independence on 16 December 1991, becoming the last Soviet republic to do so. Ten days after Kazakhstan's declaration, the Soviet Union itself dissolved. This period marked a significant turning point in Kazakhstan's history, as it embarked on a new political and economic path separate from Moscow's control.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, the communist-era leader of Kazakhstan, became the country's first president. Under his leadership, Kazakhstan transitioned from a Soviet-era planned economy to a market economy, focusing on privatization and foreign investments. The emphasis on economic reform, particularly in the oil sector, helped Kazakhstan become one of Central Asia's most economically powerful nations. By 2006, Kazakhstan contributed around 60% of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil exports. However, political reforms lagged behind these economic strides, and Nazarbayev maintained an authoritarian rule throughout his presidency.

In 1997, Nazarbayev moved the capital from Almaty, the country's largest city, to Astana (later renamed Nur-Sultan in 2019), a decision that symbolized the government's desire to modernize and assert control over the country's vast territories. The capital city change was part of broader efforts to establish a new national identity and shift the political center from former Soviet-era heartlands.

Kazakhstan's political landscape during Nazarbayev's rule was characterized by limited political pluralism. In the 2004 parliamentary elections, the pro-government Otan Party, led by Nazarbayev, dominated the Majilis (the lower house of parliament). Other parties sympathetic to the president, such as the agrarian-industrial bloc AIST and the Asar party (founded by Nazarbayev's daughter), secured most of the remaining seats, while opposition parties struggled to gain representation. International observers, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, criticized the elections for not meeting democratic standards.

Despite claims of progress toward democracy, Kazakhstan's political system remained authoritarian well into the 21st century. In 2010, the country was still ranked as an authoritarian regime on The Economist's Democracy Index. Nazarbayev, who had ruled since independence, announced his resignation on 19 March 2019, after nearly three decades in power. His successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, won the 2019 presidential election and took office on 12 June 2019. Tokayev's first official act was to rename the capital city to Nur-Sultan, in honour of Nazarbayev's legacy.

But Tokayev's presidency faced significant challenges. In January 2022, Kazakhstan was gripped by large-scale protests following a sharp rise in fuel prices. The unrest quickly escalated, and Tokayev responded decisively by assuming control of the country's Security Council, removing Nazarbayev from the post and consolidating his own power. This marked a dramatic shift in Kazakhstan's political dynamics, with Tokayev signalling a departure from the old Nazarbayev-era system. In September 2022, the capital's name was reverted to Astana, a move seen as part of the broader efforts to distance the country from the former president's influence.

Since it extends across both sides of the Ural River, considered the dividing line separating Europe and Asia, Kazakhstan is one of only two landlocked countries in the world that has territory in two continents (the other is Azerbaijan).

With an area of 2,700,000 square kilometres (1,000,000 sq mi)—equivalent in size to Western Europe—Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country and largest landlocked country in the world. While it was part of the Russian Empire, Kazakhstan lost some of its territory to China's Xinjiang province, and some to Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan autonomous republic during Soviet years.

It shares borders of 6,846 kilometres (4,254 mi) with Russia (the world's longest land border), 2,203 kilometres (1,369 mi) with Uzbekistan, 1,533 kilometres (953 mi) with China, 1,051 kilometres (653 mi) with Kyrgyzstan, and 379 kilometres (235 mi) with Turkmenistan. Major cities include Almaty, Astana, Shymkent, Aktöbe and Karagandy. It lies between latitudes 40° and 56° N, and longitudes 46° and 88° E. While located primarily in Asia, a small portion of Kazakhstan is also located west of the Urals in Eastern Europe.

Kazakhstan's terrain extends west to east from the Caspian Sea to the Altai Mountains and the Tian Shan, and north to south from the plains of Western Siberia to the oases and deserts of Central Asia. The Kazakh Steppe (plain), with an area of around 804,500 square kilometres (310,600 sq mi), occupies one-third of the country and is the world's largest dry steppe region. The steppe is characterized by large areas of grasslands and sandy regions. Major seas, lakes and rivers include Lake Balkhash, Lake Zaysan, the Charyn River and gorge, the Ili, Irtysh, Ishim, Ural and Syr Darya rivers, and the Aral Sea until it largely dried up in one of the world's worst environmental disasters.

The Charyn Canyon is 80 kilometres (50 mi) long, cutting through a red sandstone plateau and stretching along the Charyn River gorge in northern Tian Shan ("Heavenly Mountains", 200 km (124 mi) east of Almaty) at 43°21′1.16″N 79°4′49.28″E. The steep canyon slopes, columns and arches rise to heights of between 150 and 300 metres (490 and 980 feet). The inaccessibility of the canyon provided a safe haven for a rare ash tree, Fraxinus sogdiana, which survived the Ice Age there and has now also grown in some other areas. Bigach crater, at 48°30′N 82°00′E, is a Pliocene or Miocene asteroid impact crater, 8 km (5 mi) in diameter and estimated to be 5±3 million years old.

Kazakhstan's Almaty region is also home to the Mynzhylky mountain plateau.

Kazakhstan has an abundant supply of accessible mineral and fossil fuel resources. Development of petroleum, natural gas, and mineral extractions has attracted most of the over $40 billion in foreign investment in Kazakhstan since 1993 and accounts for some 57% of the nation's industrial output (or approximately 13% of gross domestic product). According to some estimates, Kazakhstan has the second largest uranium, chromium, lead, and zinc reserves; the third largest manganese reserves; the fifth largest copper reserves; and ranks in the top ten for coal, iron, and gold. In 2015, Kazakhstan's gold production is 64 metric tonnes. It is also an exporter of diamonds. Perhaps most significant for economic development, Kazakhstan also has the 11th largest proven reserves of both petroleum and natural gas. One such location is the Tokarevskoye gas condensate field.

In total, there are 160 deposits with over 2.7 billion tonnes (2.7 billion long tons) of petroleum. Oil explorations have shown that the deposits on the Caspian shore are only a small part of a much larger deposit. It is said that 3.5 billion tonnes (3.4 billion long tons) of oil and 2.5 billion cubic metres (88 billion cubic feet) of gas could be found in that area. Overall the estimate of Kazakhstan's oil deposits is 6.1 billion tonnes (6.0 billion long tons). However, there are only three refineries within the country, situated in Atyrau, Pavlodar, and Şymkent. These are not capable of processing the total crude output, so much of it is exported to Russia. According to the US Energy Information Administration, Kazakhstan was producing approximately 1,540,000 barrels (245,000 m3) of oil per day in 2009.

There are several large navigable rivers in Kazakhstan. All of them flow along the edges of the country, mainly in the north, while the southern and central parts of the river are mostly steppe, often drying up completely in the height of summer.

Kazakhstan also possesses large deposits of phosphorite. Two of the largest deposits include the Karatau basin with 650 million tonnes of P2O5 and the Chilisai deposit of the Aktobe phosphorite basin located in northwestern Kazakhstan, with resources of 500–800 million tonnes of 9% ore.

On 17 October 2013, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) accepted Kazakhstan as "EITI Compliant", meaning that the country has a basic and functional process to ensure the regular disclosure of natural resource revenues.

Kazakhstan has an "extreme" continental and cold steppe climate, and sits solidly inside the Eurasian Steppe, featuring the Kazakh Steppe, with hot summers and cold winters. Indeed, Astana is the second coldest capital city in the world, after Ulaanbaatar. Precipitation varies between arid and semi-arid conditions, the winter being particularly dry.

There are ten nature reserves and ten national parks in Kazakhstan that provide safe haven for many rare and endangered plants and animals. In total there are twenty five areas of conservancy. Common plants are Astragalus, Gagea, Allium, Carex and Oxytropis; endangered plant species include native wild apple (Malus sieversii), wild grape (Vitis vinifera) and several wild tulip species (e.g., Tulipa greigii) and rare onion species Allium karataviense, also Iris willmottiana and Tulipa kaufmanniana. Kazakhstan had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.23/10, ranking it 26th globally out of 172 countries.

Common mammals include the wolf, red fox, corsac fox, moose, argali (the largest species of sheep), Eurasian lynx, Pallas's cat, and snow leopards, several of which are protected.

Kazakhstan's Red Book of Protected Species lists 125 vertebrates including many birds and mammals, and 404 plants including fungi, algae and lichens.

Przewalski's horse has been reintroduced to the steppes after nearly 200 years.

=== Political system ===

Officially, Kazakhstan is a democratic, secular, constitutional unitary republic; Nursultan Nazarbayev led the country from 1991 to 2019. He was succeeded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The president may veto legislation that has been passed by the parliament and is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The prime minister chairs the cabinet of ministers and serves as Kazakhstan's head of government. There are three deputy prime ministers and sixteen ministers in the cabinet.

Kazakhstan has a unicameral parliament known as the Kurultai. The Kurultai has 145 members.

In 2020, Freedom House rated Kazakhstan as a "consolidated authoritarian regime", stating that freedom of speech in Kazakhstan is not respected and "Kazakhstan's electoral laws do not provide for free and fair elections."

The Economist Intelligence Unit has consistently ranked Kazakhstan as an "authoritarian regime" in its Democracy Index, ranking it 128th out of 167 countries for 2020. The V-Dem Democracy Indices described Kazakhstan an electoral autocracy in 2024.

Reforms have begun to be implemented after the election of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in June 2019. Tokayev supports a culture of opposition, public assembly, and loosening rules on forming political parties. In June 2019, Tokayev established the National Council of Public Trust as a public platform for national conversation regarding government policies and reforms. In July 2019, the president of Kazakhstan announced a concept of a 'listening state' that quickly and efficiently responds to all constructive requests of the country's citizens. A law will be passed to allow representatives from other parties to hold chair positions on some Parliamentary committees, to foster alternative views and opinions. The minimum membership threshold needed to register a political party will be reduced from 40,000 to 20,000 members. Special places for peaceful rallies in central areas will be allocated and a new draft law outlining the rights and obligations of organizers, participants and observers will be passed. In an effort to increase public safety, President Tokayev has strengthened the penalties for those who commit crimes against individuals.

On 17 September 2022, Tokayev signed a decree that limits presidential tenure to one term of seven years. He furthermore announced the preparation of a new reform package to "decentralise" and "distribute" power between government institutions. The reform package also seeks to modify the electoral system and increase the decision-making authorities of Kazakhstan's regions. The powers of the parliament were expanded at the expense of those of the president, relatives of whom are now also barred from holding government positions, while the Constitutional Court was restored and the death penalty abolished.

Kazakhstan is divided into seventeen regions (Kazakh: облыстар, oblystar; Russian: области, oblasti), as well as four cities which are administered separately from their surrounding geographic regions. The regions are subdivided into 177 districts (Kazakh: аудандар, audandar; Russian: районы, rayony). The districts are further subdivided into rural districts at the lowest level of administration, which include all rural settlements and villages without an associated municipal government.

The cities of Almaty, Astana and Shymkent have official status as cities of republican significance and do not belong to their surrounding regions. The city of Baikonur also has special status because it is being leased to Russia until 2050 for the Baikonur cosmodrome. Shymkent gained its status as a "city of republican significance" in June 2018.

Each region is headed by an äkim (regional governor) appointed by the president. District äkimi are appointed by regional äkims. On 10 December 1997, Kazakhstan's government relocated its capital from Almaty, established under the Soviet Union, to Astana.