Kazakhstan

Geography of Kazakhstan: Important Geographical Information about Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is conveniently located at the heart of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, lying on both sides of the Ural River. Its landlocked position makes the country lie within two continents, Europe and Asia. Its territory occupies an area of roughly 2,727,300 square kilometers or about 1,053,000 square miles. According to geographers, the size of Kazakhstan could be compared to the combined sizes of four Central Asian states of Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan or roughly about the size of Alaska, times two.

Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world and at the same time the ninth largest in terms of land area in the world after Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the United States of America and Russia. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China borders its eastern part, while the Caspian Sea and parts of Russia border its western section. To its north lies Russia while the Central Asian states of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan are its borders on its southern side.

Topography
Forty-four percent of Kazakhstan’s land area is covered by semi-desert while 26% is already desert land. Twenty-four percent is covered by steppe terrain while 6% is still covered with forest.

Kazakhstan is covered mainly by 26% desert, 44% semi-desert, 6% forest and 24% steppe terrain. The southern and eastern parts of Kazakhstan are still wild and have untouched mountain landscapes including the most striking ones such as Tien Shan and Altai. Kazakhstan’s highest peak is called Khan Tengri belonging to the Tien Shan mountain range located at the border of China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, with a height of more than 7,010 meters or 22,999 feet.

The country’s central location in Europe and Central Asia gives it an equal distance from the Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Pacific Ocean in the east. More than 25% of its land is covered by gentle steppes, a section of land that spans from Central Europe all the way to Siberia. The beauty of Kazakhstan’s landscape is further enhanced by the various plants and wild life that are found in the high mountains in the south and the forest steppes in the north and complemented by its rivers, reservoirs and lakes. The run-off from the perpetually snowcapped mountains in the country fills up its waterways.

Kazakhstan’s lands consist of very rich soils. Majority of the country’s forest-steppe zone is covered with chernozem, rich dark-colored soil that is very fertile and produces high yield for agriculture. Interestingly, the chernozem in Kazakhstan has three colors – dark chestnut, light chestnut and brown as it goes farther south. However, on the semi-desert and desert areas, the soil is colored gray.

Climate
From north to south, Kazakhstan displays different climatic zones, with each area displaying its own set of plants and animals. The desert areas are very arid, receiving very little rainfall and experiencing high temperatures during the summer season that turns to intensely low temperatures in winter. Sand storms are churned by strong winds. In the summer, the air is very dry. Temperatures normally vary greatly within the whole day. Climate in Kazakhstan is generally affected by its size, its great distance from the major bodies of water like the oceans and it being right between two continents that are in different climatic zones, where the hot air from the south meets the cold air masses coming from the north. These climatic conditions and the country’s terrain also contribute greatly to the dispersion and distribution of the population away from the country’s center.

Extreme adventure sports are the things the lure visitors and travelers to Kazakhstan but the best time to visit the country, for all travelers is around late April towards the end of October. Winter in the country starts in the northern part of Kazakhstan by November, lasting until the month of March. Winter in Kazakhstan is harsh, with snow packing up to about a thickness of 30 centimeters. January is the coldest month, with temperatures in the northeastern section going down to -54 °C or -65.2 °F. The southern region exhibits a higher temperature during winter, and not likely to fall below -30 °C or -22 °F.

Things turn for the better when spring comes, usually around February in the southern section of the country before it reaches the northern part of Kazakhstan about one and a half months later. Nightly frosts would still be evident in larger parts of the country and blizzards might still occur at times. In the south the temperature would be higher, at about 16 °C to 18 °C or somewhere around 61 °F to 64 °F. Evening frost in the southern part of the country usually stops around April while it could go on until May in the northern part of Kazakhstan.

The month of May heralds the summer season in Kazakhstan and is a season to enjoy as it lasts for nearly five months. Temperature in the north rises to 38 °C or 100.4 °F while it would be about 46 °C or nearly 115 °F in the south. However, this is also the time when strong winds and thunderstorms occur early in the season. Extreme weather patterns characterize the weather conditions in the country and during summer, the eastern plains could be warm and rainy at the same time while the steppes in the west are suffering from hot and dry weather conditions. July is the warmest summer month with an average of over 28 °C or 82.4 °F to about 30 °C or 86 °F in the southern part while it could be about 19 °C and over or 66.2 up north.

The weather turns mellower when September approaches going full blown by October. Skies would be cloudy and wind and rains would be prevalent. The semi-desert areas would be the first to experience the freezing temperatures while the remnants of summer, characterized by dry and hot weather would still be lingering around October and November in the desert areas. Rain and mist would be appearing in the mountainous areas and snowfall would already be expected.

Rivers and Lakes
The sharply undulating landscape of Kazakhstan is characterized by its steppes and mountains. The mountain system in the country is a rich source of mineral springs. Kazakhstan has many rivers and reservoirs. The Caspian Sea has many tributaries over the country, covering a distance of more than 2,340 kilometers. In the east of the Caspian Sea lies another lake, the Aral Sea. There are about 7,000 natural lakes in the country, including Balkhash Lake, Zaisan Lake, Tengiz Lake and Alakol Lake. The country also boasts of large rivers such as Chu, Irtysh, Ishim, Lli, Nura, Syrdarya, Tobol, and Ural.

Mineral wealth
The country ranks sixth in the world when it comes to mineral wealth surplus. Despite its richness in various minerals, the country is unable to use its advantages effectively. The explored areas alone are estimated to roughly amount to 10 trillion U.S. dollars, which is just a fraction of the total value of its entire wealth in minerals.

The country also boasts of its huge contribution to the world’s supply of copper, molybdenum, nickel, polymetallic ores, tungsten, and other rare but very useful metals. The country also holds a top spot when it comes to deposits of chromite ore, iron ore and manganese. Kazakhstan also boasts of its rich gold and raw chemical material deposits.

:: References ::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Kazakhstan
http://www.kazakhstan.orexca.com/kazakhstan_geography.shtml
http://www.kazakhstandiscovery.com/kazakhstan-climate.html