Geography
The Republic of Kazakhstan is located in the central part of the Eurasia continent. The total area of the country is 2724.9 km 2 – Kazakhstan ranks ninth in terms of area in the world. See Kazakhstan abbreviations.
In the western and northern parts of the country there are borders with Russia, in the south – with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, in the southeastern part – with China. In the southwestern part of Kazakhstan, the waters of the Caspian Sea wash.
The terrain of the republic is quite diverse. Most of the territory is occupied by semi-deserts and deserts. The northern part of the country is dominated by forest-steppes and steppes.
In the north-west of Kazakhstan there is the Cis-Ural plateau. In the southwestern part lies the Mangyshlak Peninsula. In the western part – the Caspian lowland. A little to the east is the Ustyurt plateau. To the northeast of the Caspian lowland are the Mugodzhary, followed by the Turgai plateau. Near the Aral Sea there is the Kyzylkum desert and large sandy massifs – the Aral Karakum, Small Badgers and Big Badgers.
Almost the entire central part of the country is occupied by the Central Kazakh hills. To the south is the Betpak-Dala desert, to the east of it is the Balkhash depression, to the south is the Moinkum desert. The Ili depression is located in the south of the country.
The lowest point in Kazakhstan is the Karagie depression (132 meters below sea level), located on the Mangyshlak peninsula. The highest point in the country is the Khan Tengri Peak, reaching a height of 7,010 meters.
Kazakhstan has over 7,000 rivers over 10 kilometers long. In general, there are more than 35,000 temporary and permanent watercourses on the territory of the republic.
Most of the rivers in the country belong to the closed inland basins of the Aral and Caspian Seas, as well as lakes Tengiz and Balkhash. The exceptions are the Ishim, Tobol and Irtysh rivers, which flow into the Kara Sea.
The territory of Kazakhstan is divided into 8 water management basins: Ishim, Aral-Syrdarya, Bakhlash-Alakol, Ural-Caspian, Irtysh, Nura-Sarysu, Tobol-Turgai and Shu-Talas.
The longest rivers in Kazakhstan are the Irtysh (1700 km), Ishim (1400 km), Ural (1082 km) and Syrdarya (1400 km).
Climate
According to 800zipcodes, Kazakhstan is located far enough from the ocean and, due to the flat relief, is open to winds from the north and west, and therefore, the main features of the country’s climate are the uneven distribution of precipitation and sharp continentality.
Winter in the northern part of the country is usually cold and long, in the southern part it is moderate and mild. The temperature in January varies on average from -18 0 С in the northern part to -3 0 С in the southern part.
Summers are usually dry. In summer, it is very hot in the south of the country, very warm in the central part, and warm in the northern part.
Atmospheric precipitation is very insignificant, with the exception of mountainous regions – up to 600-1500 millimeters fall here annually.
Almost the entire territory of Kazakhstan is dominated by strong winds, in some regions over 40 m/s.
Large cities of Kazakhstan a: Alma-Ata, Shymkent, Astana, Karaganda.
The main resorts of Kazakhstan are: Chimbulak, Medeo, Kengey-Alatau, Zailiyskoye Alatau, Taraz, Aktau.
Cuisine of Kazakhstan
Kazakh cuisine has its own identity, ancient traditions and its own face. However, in modern times, it is influenced by the culinary traditions of the fraternal peoples (Uzbeks, Tatars, Russians, etc.), giving it some international features.
Many characteristic features of Kazakh cuisine were formed by the way of life of the people. So, cooking meat was preferred among other methods of heat treatment, because. it is during cooking that it retains its basic taste qualities, acquires a special aroma and juiciness.
It has also always been important to prepare and store food for a long time in advance. From here came such methods of processing food as drying, salting, smoking. The main basis of Kazakh cuisine was and remains meat. Horse meat and lamb are considered the biggest delicacy. Also, a very important place in the cuisines of Kazakhstan is occupied by various types of dairy products.
The original feature of the traditional Kazakh meal is that it starts with traditional dairy or sour-milk products. This is either tea with the addition of milk, or the famous koumiss, or shubat or ayran (kefir in its oriental variety). Kumis is essentially fermented mare’s milk, it has a special tonic and healing effect, it is not without reason that it is often used to treat gastrointestinal diseases.
Shubat is similar to koumiss in terms of cooking technology, but it is made from camel milk, and brought to the desired consistency by stirring rather than whipping. The best drink is shubat, which has been infused for two or three days.
Dairy drinks are served on the table with wheat cakes, which replace bread on the Kazakh table, as well as dried balls of kurt cottage cheese, various types of dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins, prunes, apricots) and nuts. They are followed by meat snacks, represented by a variety of horse meat sausages: kazy, shuzhuk, sting, zhaya, karta and dried meat.
Only after that, hot dishes are served on the table, which, again, are almost always based on meat cooked according to different recipes. The so-called Kazakh meat is popular, when boiled meat is served simply in large pieces, not pre-cut. The division of meat among those sitting at the table has always been considered a special ritual that the owner must perform.
So, honorable old people received a pelvic bone or a shin, a son-in-law or daughter-in-law – the chest part, girls – the region of the cervical vertebra, etc. The guest was supposed to be presented with a specially prepared lamb head.
Another traditional meat dish of Kazakhstan is “besbarmak”, which is made from pieces of boiled horsemeat, lamb or beef, sprinkled with herbs, with a side dish of thinly rolled and boiled pieces of dough ( baursaki ). We also love the Kazakhs “kuyrdak”, which mixes stewed lamb liver, kidneys, heart, lungs and fat tail fat.
Do not forget about the famous manti with lamb filling, as well as lagman noodles, barbecue and sweet pilaf with the addition of dried apricots, raisins, prunes or apples.
Fish dishes are much less popular, but a fish called “koktal” is famous, which is strung on willow branches and fried on coals with the addition of vegetables.
The meal ends again with koumiss, and then with tea, beloved everywhere in Kazakhstan. From local alcoholic drinks you can try a variety of wines.
The most popular sweet treats include fried donuts baursaki, the famous chak-chak, and numerous cakes, pastries and marmalades borrowed from other culinary cultures.
