Chapter 94
Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources. The breakup of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse in demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products resulted in a short-term contraction of the economy, with the steepest annual decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97, the pace of the government program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 - 8% or more per year in 2002-07 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good harvests, and foreign investment. Inflation, however, jumped to more than 10% in 2007. In the energy sector, the opening of the Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raised export capacity. In 2006 Kazakhstan completed the Atasu-Alashankou portion of an oil pipeline to China that is planned in future construction to extend from the country's Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector by developing its manufacturing potential. The policy aims to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. The government has engaged in several disputes with foreign oil companies over the terms of production agreements; tensions continue. Upward pressure on the local currency continued in 2007 due to massive oil-related foreign-exchange inflows. Aided by strong growth and foreign exchange earnings, Kazakhstan aspires to become a regional financial center and has created a banking system comparable to those in Central Europe.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$168.2 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$103.8 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
8.5% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$11,000 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5.8% industry: 39.4% services: 54.8% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
8.229 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 32.2% industry: 18% services: 49.8% (2005)
Unemployment rate:
7.3% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line:
13.8% (2007)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.3% highest 10%: 26.5% (2004 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
30.4 (2005)
Investment (gross fixed):
30.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $23.58 billion expenditures: $25.33 billion (2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Public debt:
7.7% of GDP (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
10.8% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
11% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$12.74 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$25.75 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$43.75 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:
grain (mostly spring wheat), cotton; livestock
Industries:
oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel; tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, construction materials
Industrial production growth rate:
7.2% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
74.93 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
61.81 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:
3.528 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
3.665 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 84.3% hydro: 15.7% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Oil - production:
1.445 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:
243,100 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
1.236 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - imports:
127,600 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:
30 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:
27.88 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
30.58 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
8.1 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
10.8 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.832 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:
-$7.184 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:
$48.35 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
oil and oil products 59%, ferrous metals 19%, chemicals 5%, machinery 3%, grain, wool, meat, coal (2001)
Exports - partners:
China 15.5%, Germany 11.5%, Russia 11.2%, Italy 7.2%, France 6.7% (2007)
Imports:
$33.21 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, metal products, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Russia 35.4%, China 22.1%, Germany 8% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
$229.2 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$17.63 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$96.36 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$40.16 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$3.97 billion (September 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$10.52 billion (2005)
Currency (code):
tenge (KZT)
Currency code:
KZT
Exchange rates:
tenge (KZT) per US dollar - 122.55 (2007), 126.09 (2006), 132.88 (2005), 136.04 (2004), 149.58 (2003)
Communications Kazakhstan
Telephones - main lines in use:
3.237 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
12.588 million (2007)
Telephone system:
general assessment: inherited an outdated telecommunications network from the Soviet era requiring modernization domestic: intercity by landline and microwave radio relay; number of fixed-line connections is gradually increasing and fixed-line teledensity is about 20 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular usage is increasing rapidly and subscriptions now exceed 80 per 100 persons international: country code - 7; international traffic with other former Soviet republics and China carried by landline and microwave radio relay and with other countries by satellite and by the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (2007)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 60, FM 17, shortwave 9 (1998)
Radios:
6.47 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
12 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998)
Televisions:
3.88 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.kz
Internet hosts:
36,417 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
10 (with their own international channels) (2001)
Internet users:
1.901 million (2006)
Transportation Kazakhstan
Airports:
97 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 65 over 3,047 m: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 27 1,524 to 2,437 m: 17 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 8 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 32 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 12 (2007)
Heliports:
5 (2007)
Pipelines:
condensate 658 km; gas 11,082 km; oil 10,376 km; refined products 1,095 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 13,700 km broad gauge: 13,700 km 1.520-m gauge (3,700 km electrified) (2006)
Roadways:
total: 91,563 km paved: 83,717 km unpaved: 7,846 km (2006)
Waterways:
4,000 km (on the Ertis ((Irtysh)) River (80%) and Syr Darya ((Syrdariya)) River) (2006)
Merchant marine:
total: 5 by type: petroleum tanker 4, refrigerated cargo 1 (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev), Oskemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk)
Military Kazakhstan
Military branches:
Ground Forces, Naval Force, Air and Air Defense Forces, Republican Guard
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years; minimum age for volunteers NA (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 4,176,731 females age 16-49: 4,219,636 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 2,871,205 females age 16-49: 3,551,032 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 145,495 female: 140,149 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
0.9% of GDP (Ministry of Defense expenditures) (FY02)
Transnational Issues Kazakhstan
Disputes - international:
Kyrgyzstan has yet to ratify the 2001 boundary delimitation with Kazakhstan; field demarcation of the boundaries with Turkmenistan commenced in 2005, and with Uzbekistan in 2004; demarcation is scheduled to get underway with Russia in 2007; demarcation with China was completed in 2002; creation of a seabed boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea remains under discussion; equidistant seabed treaties have been ratified with Azerbaijan and Russia in the Caspian Sea, but no resolution has been made on dividing the water column among any of the littoral states
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 3,700 (Russia); 508 (Afghanistan) (2007)
Illicit drugs:
significant illicit cultivation of cannabis for CIS markets, as well as limited cultivation of opium poppy and ephedra (for the drug ephedrine); limited government eradication of illicit crops; transit point for Southwest Asian narcotics bound for Russia and the rest of Europe; significant consumer of opiates
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
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@Kenya
Introduction Kenya
Background:
Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978, when President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but were viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI stepped down in December 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. KIBAKI's NARC coalition splintered in 2005 over the constitutional review process. Government defectors joined with KANU to form a new opposition coalition, the Orange Democratic Movement, which defeated the government's draft constitution in a popular referendum in November 2005. KIBAKI's reelection in December 2007 brought charges of vote rigging from ODM candidate Raila ODINGA and unleashed two months of violence in which as many as 1,500 people died. UN-sponsored talks in late February produced a powersharing accord bringing ODINGA into the government in the restored position of prime minister.
Geography Kenya
Location:
Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania
Geographic coordinates:
1 00 N, 38 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 582,650 sq km land: 569,250 sq km water: 13,400 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly more than twice the size of Nevada
Land boundaries:
total: 3,477 km border countries: Ethiopia 861 km, Somalia 682 km, Sudan 232 km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 km
Coastline:
536 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climate:
varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior
Terrain:
low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m
Natural resources:
limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, gypsum, wildlife, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 8.01% permanent crops: 0.97% other: 91.02% (2005)
Irrigated land:
1,030 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
30.2 cu km (1990)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 1.58 cu km/yr (30%/6%/64%) per capita: 46 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons
Environment - current issues:
water pollution from urban and industrial wastes; degradation of water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; poaching
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa; glaciers are found on Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak; unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value
People Kenya
Population:
37,953,840 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.2% (male 8,065,789/female 7,953,077) 15-64 years: 55.2% (male 10,498,468/female 10,434,764) 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 457,886/female 543,854) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.6 years male: 18.5 years female: 18.8 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.758% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
37.89 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
10.3 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 56.01 deaths/1,000 live births male: 58.95 deaths/1,000 live births female: 53.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 56.64 years male: 56.42 years female: 56.87 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.7 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
6.7% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1.2 million (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
150,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: malaria water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Kenyan(s) adjective: Kenyan
Ethnic groups:
Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1%
Religions:
Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, Muslim 10%, indigenous beliefs 10%, other 2% note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but estimates for the percentage of the population that adheres to Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely
Languages:
English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 85.1% male: 90.6% female: 79.7% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 10 years male: 10 years female: 9 years (2004)
Education expenditures:
6.9% of GDP (2006)
Government Kenya
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Kenya conventional short form: Kenya local long form: Republic of Kenya/Jamhuri ya Kenya local short form: Kenya former: British East Africa
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Nairobi geographic coordinates: 1 17 S, 36 49 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western
Independence:
12 December 1963 (from UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 12 December (1963)
Constitution:
12 December 1963; amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2001; note - a new draft constitution was defeated by popular referendum in 2005
Legal system:
based on Kenyan statutory law, Kenyan and English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law; judicial review in High Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; constitutional amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party state repealed in 1991
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30 December 2002); Vice President Stephene Kalonzo MUSYOKA (since 10 January 2008); head of government: Prime Minister Raila Amolo ODINGA (since 17 April 2008) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); in addition to receiving the largest number of votes in absolute terms, the presidential candidate must also win 25% or more of the vote in at least five of Kenya's seven provinces and one area to avoid a runoff; election last held 27 December 2007 (next to be held in December 2012); vice president appointed by the president election results: President Mwai KIBAKI reelected; percent of vote - Mwai KIBAKI 46%, Raila ODINGA 44%, Kalonzo MUSYOKA 9%
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly or Bunge (224 seats; 210 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms, 12 so-called "nominated" members who are appointed by the president but selected by the parties in proportion to their parliamentary vote totals, 2 ex-officio members) elections: last held 27 December 2007 (next to be held in December 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ODM 99, PNU 43, ODM-K 16, KANU 14 other 38; ex-officio 2; seats appointed by the president - TBD
Judicial branch:
Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the president); High Court
Political parties and leaders:
Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya or FORD-Kenya [Musikari KOMBO]; Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or FORD-People [Simeon NYACHAE]; Kenya African National Union or KANU [Uhuru KENYATTA]; National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya or NARC-Kenya [Raphael TUJU]; Orange Democratic Movement or ODM [Raila ODINGA]; Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya or ODM-K [Kalonzo MUSYOKA]; Party of National Unity or PNU [Mwai KIBAKI]; Shirikisho Party of Kenya or SPK [Chirau Ali MWAKWERE]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Council of Islamic Preachers of Kenya or CIPK [Sheikh Idris MOHAMMED]; Kenya Human Rights Commission [L. Muthoni WANYEKI]; Muslim Human Rights Forum [Ali-Amin KIMATHI]; National Convention Executive Council or NCEC, a proreform coalition of political parties and nongovernment organizations [Ndung'u WAINANA]; Protestant National Council of Churches of Kenya or NCCK [Canon Peter Karanja MWANGI]; Roman Catholic and other Christian churches; Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims or SUPKEM [Shaykh Abdul Gafur al-BUSAIDY] other: labor unions
International organization participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, EAC, EADB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Peter Rateng Oginga OGEGO chancery: 2249 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-6101 FAX: [1] (202) 462-3829 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Michael RANNEBERGER embassy: US Embassy, United Nations Avenue, Nairobi; P. O. Box 606 Village Market, Nairobi 00621 mailing address: Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831 telephone: [254] (20) 363-6000 FAX: [254] (20) 363-410
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green; the red band is edged in white; a large warrior's shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center
Economy Kenya
Economy - overview:
The regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, Kenya has been hampered by corruption and by reliance upon several primary goods whose prices have remained low. In 1997, the IMF suspended Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program due to the government's failure to maintain reforms and curb corruption. A severe drought from 1999 to 2000 compounded Kenya's problems, causing water and energy rationing and reducing agricultural output. As a result, GDP contracted by 0.2% in 2000. The IMF, which had resumed loans in 2000 to help Kenya through the drought, again halted lending in 2001 when the government failed to institute several anticorruption measures. Despite the return of strong rains in 2001, weak commodity prices, endemic corruption, and low investment limited Kenya's economic growth to 1.2%. Growth lagged at 1.1% in 2002 because of erratic rains, low investor confidence, meager donor support, and political infighting up to the elections. In the key December 2002 elections, Daniel Arap MOI's 24-year-old reign ended, and a new opposition government took on the formidable economic problems facing the nation. After some early progress in rooting out corruption and encouraging donor support, the KIBAKI government was rocked by high-level graft scandals in 2005 and 2006. In 2006 the World Bank and IMF delayed loans pending action by the government on corruption. The international financial institutions and donors have since resumed lending, despite little action on the government's part to deal with corruption. The scandals have not weighed down growth, with estimated real GDP growth at more than 6 percent in 2007.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$61.22 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$29.3 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
7% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$1,700 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 23.8% industry: 16.7% services: 59.5% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
11.85 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 75% industry and services: 25% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate:
40% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
50% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 37.2% (2000)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
44.5 (1997)
Investment (gross fixed):
20.7% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $5.924 billion expenditures: $6.878 billion (2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June
Public debt:
48.7% of GDP (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9.7% (2007 est.)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
13.34% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$5.932 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$6.273 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$10.43 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:
tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs
Industries:
small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, clothing, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products, horticulture, oil refining; aluminum, steel, lead; cement, commercial ship repair, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
6.8% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production: