2017 has been a big year for Kazakhstan: they hosted an International Expo and they currently hold a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. While these are new introductions on the world stage, regionally the country is a dominant force. For the last few years, our commenters have been asking us to dive deep into the Central Asian giant, and we’re finally ready to answer one of your most burning questions: just how powerful is Kazakhstan? Well, when we say Central Asian giant, we mean just that. Kazakhstan is massive, coming in at a little over one million square miles in size. That makes it the single largest landlocked country in the world, and the ninth largest overall. That’s about four times the size of the US state of Texas. But surprisingly, Kazakhstan’s population is considerably lower than that of Texas, with only about 18 million residents. That’s one of the lowest population densities on earth. Also, not unlike Texas, Kazakhstan is a dominant economic force in the Central Asian region, with crude oil and petroleum gas comprising roughly 60% of the country’s GDP, which in 2014 was about $240 billion. At the time, Kazakhstan was the dominant economy in Central Asia, but today, their GDP is down by more than $100 billion dollars, due to a worldwide collapse in oil prices. Although slowly recovering, the economic burden has significantly affected living conditions. In fact, in spite of a formerly healthy GDP, life in Kazakhstan is considered rather authoritarian. It was the last Soviet republic to become independent, and has kept the same leader in power for the last 25 years. Nursultan Nazarbayev is often described as a dictator, who cracks down on free speech and religion, and is known to imprison political activists. Although it is technically democratic, the reality of the country’s human rights abuses under a long-term leader suggests that it is anything but. This is a problematic for a diverse population. There are estimated to be more than 130 ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan, although the overwhelming majority are ethnically Kazakh, and religiously Islamic. Due to its large and central location, there is overwhelming regional influence from neighboring states such as Russia, Uzbekistan, Germany, and others. However in 2017, Kazakstan announced it will change its alphabet from Crylic to Latin, in a move to further establish itself independent from Russia. And although it is such a regionally dominant country, Kazakhstan’s military is not that large. Ranking 55th worldwide, it boasts roughly 100,000 troops with a 2.4 billion dollar defense budget. Additionally, military conscription is in effect, with a mandatory service of two years, however this mandatory service is in the process of being phased out. Luckily, the size of their military is not as important to the country’s defense as is their membership in a wide variety of international organizations. Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. They are also party to regional groups such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, a collection of post-Soviet Republics. But most importantly, Kazakhstan is part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which contains Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Russia, all of whom pledge to support one another in case of attack. With these backing military forces, individual defense in not as high of a priority. Kazakhstan is a unique combination of internal power with a reliance on external forces. In economy, society, and military, the country has plenty of work to do, but has found itself self-sufficient in the post-Soviet era. Ultimately, its biggest struggle is with regaining its recent economic might, and tackling rampant human rights abuses from an authoritarian quasi-democratic political system. Kazakhstan may be the largest Central Asian country, but it is only one part of an important grouping of nations known as “The Stans”. To learn exactly what they are and how they work together as a collective regional power, check out this video to the right! And thanks for suggesting this topic! We love hearing from our viewers, so thanks for watching Nowthis World and please keep commenting, liking, and subscribing!