World Factbook
Kazakhstan
Qazaqstan Respublikasy
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Area
land
2,699,700 sq km
water
25,200 sq km
total
2,724,900 sq km
Climate
continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid
Terrain
vast flat steppe extending from the Volga in the west to the Altai Mountains in the east and from the plains of western Siberia in the north to oases and deserts of Central Asia in the south
Land use
other
19.3% (2023 est.)
forest
1.3% (2023 est.)
agricultural land
79.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land
arable land: 11% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops
permanent crops: 0% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture
permanent pasture: 68.3% (2023 est.)
Location
Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural (Oral) River in easternmost Europe
Coastline
0 km (landlocked)
note: Kazakhstan borders the Aral Sea, now split into two bodies of water (1,070 km), and the Caspian Sea (1,894 km)
Elevation
lowest point
Qauyndy Oyysy -132 m
highest point
Pik Khan-Tengri 7,010 m note - the northern most 7,000 meter peak in the World
mean elevation
387 m
Irrigated land
17,794 sq km (2022)
Map references
Asia
Land boundaries
total
13,364 km
border countries
China 1,765 km; Kyrgyzstan 1,212 km; Russia 7,644 km; Turkmenistan 413 km; Uzbekistan 2,330 km
Maritime claims
none (landlocked)
Natural hazards
earthquakes in the south; mudslides around Almaty
Geography - note
world's largest landlocked country and one of only two landlocked countries in the world that extends into two continents (the other is Azerbaijan); Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km (2,317 sq mi) of territory enclosing the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Natural resources
major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, manganese, chrome ore, nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, uranium
Area - comparative
slightly less than four times the size of Texas
Geographic coordinates
48 00 N, 68 00 E
Population distribution
most of the country displays a low population density, particularly the interior; population clusters appear in urban agglomerations in the far northern and southern portions of the country
Major lakes (area sq km)
salt water lake(s)
Caspian Sea (shared with Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Russia) - 374,000 sq km; Aral Sea (north) - 3,300 sq km; Ozero Alakol - 2,650 sq km; Ozero Teniz 1,590 sq km; Ozero Seletytenzi - 780 sq km; Ozero Sasykkol - 740 sq km
fresh water lake(s)
Ozero Balkhash - 22,000 sq km; Ozero Zaysan - 1,800 sq km
Major watersheds (area sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage
Tarim Basin (1,152,448 sq km), Amu Darya (534,739 sq km), Syr Darya (782,617 sq km), Lake Balkash (510,015 sq km)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Syr Darya river mouth (shared with Kyrgyzstan [s], Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan) - 3,078 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth