Kazakhstan is the world's ninth largest country by total area and the largest landlocked country in the world, with a population of 16.2 million.  The population is made up of more than a hundred nationalities, differing in language, cultures and customs, half of whom are ethnic Kazakh. Most Kazakhs are bilingual; others speak only Russian or only Kazakh. About half of Kazakhstani citizens (53%) live in urban areas.

Population

Official estimates put the population of Kazakhstan at 16.2 million as of January 2010, of which 46% is rural and 54% is urban. The 2009 population estimate is 6.8% higher than the population reported in the last census from January 1999.

			48.3% Men
			51.7% Women

The population is made up of more then a hundred nationalities.

			63.6% Ethnic Kazakhs
			23.3% Ethnic Russians including Tatars (12.2%), Ukrainians (2.0%), Uzbeks (2.9%), Belarusians, Uyghurs (1.4%), Azerbaijanis, Poles, and Lithuanians

1.1% Some minorities (such as Germans

Ukrainians, Koreans, Kurds, Chechens, Meskhetian Turks, and Russian political opponents of the regime had been deported to Kazakhstan in the 1930s and 1940s by Stalin.

Significant Russian immigration is also connected with the Virgin Lands Campaign and Soviet space programme during the Khrushchev era.  There is also a small but active Jewish community. Before 1991 there were one million Germans in Kazakhstan; most of them emigrated to Germany following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Most members of the smaller Pontian Greek minority have emigrated to Greece. In the late 1930s thousands of Koreans in the Soviet Union were deported to Central Asia. These people are now known as Koryo-saram.

Language

Kazakhstan is a bilingual country. The Kazakh language, spoken by 64.4% of the population, is the "state" language, while Russian, which is spoken by almost all Kazakhstanis, is the "official" language, and is used routinely in business. English has gained in popularity among young people since the collapse of the USSR and 30% of urban dwellers, especially the younger generations, are fluent in English. Turkish is also popular among Kazakhstanis due to its similarity to Kazakh.

Labour Market

Stable economic growth in Kazakhstan has resulted in significant changes in the structure of the labour market, and an increase in the demands for a skilled workforce.  The Government is experiencing increasing shortfalls in adequate workforce supplies for the primary industries of the economy (mining, oil and gas, construction) and processing industry (machinery building, petrochemical, manufacture of construction materials), as well as in the service sector (tourism, public assistance and services).

Education

The population of Kazakhstan is reasonably well educated, with a literacy rate of 98.5%. They are also relatively young.

			75% of Kazakhstanis under 44
			22.1% under the age of 14

A considerable proportion live below the poverty line (19%) in relatively well-to-do Kazakhstan. This is a country where one third of the population is involved in education, with 4.4 million studying at different levels and 0.4 million being educational workers.

There are 866 vocational education institutions with more than 610,400 students in Kazakhstan.

			324 vocational schools
			542 colleges

The vocational education institutions train students in 149 professions and 217 specialities.Vocational training as a percentage of enrolment in upper secondary education  is 25.65 (2009)

Employment

Although the technical and vocational education system has developed, market demands for skilled specialists continue to outpace supply.

The employment rate for young people aged 20–29 with secondary education stands at 30%.For those;

			24% basic vocational education
			20% intermediate vocational education
			55% higher vocational education

According to the 2008 World Bank Survey “Demand on Skills, Workforce in Kazakhstan”, 63% of employers stated that an inadequate level of training and occupational skills represented an impediment for business development. Forty per cent of Kazakhstan’s companies said that they require better workforce skills, due to the increased quality of goods and services, increasingly sophisticated technologies and the growth in competition.

Income and Wealth

Oil and gas are the leading economic sectors. Kazakhstan holds about 4 billion tons of proven recoverable oil reserves and 3 trillion cubic metres of gas.

			GDP (2007): $102.5 billion
			GDP per capita (2007, purchasing power parity): $11,100
			Exports (2007)$44.88 billion

Imports (2007)$29.91 billion