Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan (Listeni/ˌkɑːzəkˈstɑːn/ or /ˌkæzəkˈstæn/; Kazakh: Қазақстан Qazaqstan, pronounced [qɑzɑqˈstɑn]; Russian: Казахстан [kəzɐxˈstan]), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a contiguous transcontinental country in Central Asia, with its smaller part west of the Ural River in Europe.[3] Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country by land area and the ninth largest country in the world; its territory of 2,724,900 square kilometres (1,052,100 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe.[3][7] It has borders with (clockwise from the north) Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and also adjoins a large part of the Caspian Sea. The terrain of Kazakhstan includes flatlands, steppe, taiga, rock canyons, hills, deltas, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. With an estimated 17 million people as of 2013[8] Kazakhstan is the 61st most populous country in the world, though its population density is among the lowest, at less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 people per sq. mi.). The capital is Astana, where it was moved from Almaty in 1997.