Kazakhstan – education
Education in Kazakhstan is public and free with ten years of compulsory schooling from the seventh year of students. Six-year-olds can start school if they pass an entrance exam. The primary school is four years old and is followed by a superstructure with two levels that lasts resp. four and three years. The last level has both general and business-oriented lines. Further education takes place at the country’s two universities, a technical college, several polytechnic institutes and other higher education institutions.
Primary school teaching is based on the children attending kindergarten for at least a year, but since many kindergartens have been privatized since 1993 and are no longer free, a large proportion of children now lack this background at the start of school.
OFFICIAL NAME: Kazak Republikasy
CAPITAL CITY: Astana
POPULATION: 15,200,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 2,700,000 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Kazakh, Russian, Ukrainian, German, Uzbek, Tatar, other
RELIGION: Muslims 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestants 2%, others 7%
COIN: tenge
CURRENCY CODE: KZT
ENGLISH NAME: Kazakhstan
INDEPENDENCE: 1991
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Kazakhs 46%, Russians 35%, Ukrainians 5%, Germans 3%, Uzbeks 2%, Tatars 2%, others 7%
GDP PER residents: 1972 $ (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 60 years, women 71 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.774
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 79
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .kz
Kazakhstan is a republic of Central Asia, former Soviet republic and since 1991 independent state. The country is the size of Western Europe, but extremely sparsely populated. Kazakhstan holds very large natural resources and was deeply integrated into the economy of the Soviet Union. The country has a long, open border with Russia, a large Russian minority and still a close relationship with its great neighbor. Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, several reforms and structural changes had taken place in Kazakhstan. The country is profiting well from oil exploration in the Caspian Sea, but corruption is widespread and declining living standards and non-payment of wages and pensions have led to social unrest.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each independent country and territory, such as KGF which stands for Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan – literature
Kazakh poetry is rooted in ancient oral traditions. Shepherd songs, heroic tales and tolgau (lyrical meditations) were performed by akyner (‘bards’), who met for great singing contests. One of the most famous is Buhkhar-sjyrau Kalkamanov (1693-1787).
The incorporation into the Russian Empire led to division. Akynes such as Dulat Babatayev (1802-71), Murat Monkeev (1843-1906) and others expressed their opposition by singing the inherited values and Islam.
Others followed the liberal currents of Russian literature, such as Shernyas Sharylgasov (1817-81) and Sujumbaj Aronov (1827-96). Abaj Kunanbayev (1845-1904) is called “the father of Kazakh literature”. Abaj mastered Persian, Arabic and Russian and translated a number of Russian classics into Kazakh. His innovative poetry paved the way for a modern literary language and a psychologically differentiated narrative style. In 1908, Spandijar Kubeev published The Bridal Purchase – the first novel in Kazakhstan.
The first theatrical performance took place in 1917 on a primitive stage in a yurt. Here, Enlik-Kebek, a Kazakh Romeo and Juliet legend, was performed in Mukhtar Auezov’s (1897-1956) dramatization. Auezov asserted himself as a translator of Shakespeare and also created a number of Soviet-era masterpieces, including the poem Abaj’s Vej (1942-56).
In 1968, Olsjas Sulemejnov (b. 1936) caused a stir with her disrespectful interpretation of the Igor poem. From the mid-1980’s, he became a mouthpiece for the new, national environmental awareness. A painful exploration of the white spots of history and culture took its beginning. Check youremailverifier for Kazakhstan social condition facts.
