The lack of moderating bodies of water make Kazakhstan's climate extremely continental and very dry. Seasonal temperatures are polarized and vary depending on the region.

Kazakh or Qazaq is a Turkic language spoken in Kazakhstan, Russia and China by about 8 million people. Kazakh was first written with the Arabic script during the 19th century when a number of poets, educated in Islamic schools, incited revolt against Russia.

The tenge, often denoted by KZT, is the official unit of currency of Kazakhstan. The currency is subdivided into 100 tiyin, and was introduced in November 1993 after the fall of the USSR to replace the Russian ruble. The name tenge means "balance" or "scale" in Kazakh, and is closely related to the Russian word daingey and the Chinese word tengse.

http://www.kazakhstan.visahq.com

The population of Kazakhstan was estimated at 16,733,227 in July 2000, a slight decrease from the 1990 population. In 2000 the birth rate stood at 16.78 births per 1,000 while the death rate was 10.56 deaths per 1,000 persons.

Astana, the capital and second largest city (after Almaty) of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 633,700 as of November 2008.

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