"Glorious nation" of Kazakhstan (school, trees, building)

[Tiger Beer]

What is the Kazakhstan impression of neighboring countries like Krygyzstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and China? Also what do they think of the Koreans?

[pigeonhole]

Central Asian states are all part of former Russian Turkestan and have been Russian for centuries.They are (mostly) artificial states. Especially the North of Kazakhstan around Petropavlosk (I think) is majority Russian. Why not let them choose if they want to be part of the Russian Federation ? Is that "democracy"?
I'll never understand the eagerness of the Western countries to stick to former Stalinian borders, paradoxically if "Soviet nostalgia " exist, it is that attitude refusing Russians (or Abkazians, Transdniestrians,Crimeans, South Ossetians) self-determination.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Om Bee

Hi, everyone!

I'll be Om Bee. Was born in Kazakhstan. Migrated to US about 8 years ago.

After Soviet collapsed there are so many independent republics. So, Kazakhstan -one of them.

In US was movie "Borat" , where, probably so many americans heard the name of the country for the very first time.

Just curious, what is opinions of people about Kazakhstan, its culture, politics, nature, etc.

Maybe somebody was there?

I'm open minded person and understand the humor, so if you have something to say or to ask (don't forget, I wasn't there about 8 years, so data could be not accurate at the present moment), please very welcome.

My regards to all,
Om Bee.

This is what I know about Kazakhstan:

The capital of Kazakhstan at one time was Alma-Ata(also known as Almaty). It was moved to Aqmola(now called Astana). The one Kazakh president I know of is Nursultan Nazarbayev(I don't know if he is the current one). Baikonur Kosmodrome is located in Kazakhstan. I also know that Kazakh people look nothing like Borat. Most Kazakhs have facial features closer to those of Mongolians(the Mongol Empire included Kazakhstan).
Aktau is on the Caspian coast of Kazakhstan.

[pigeonhole]

Half of Kazakh citizens have Caucasian features, so they could very well look like the British actor who impersonates Borat!

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Om Bee

Also a lot of slavic looking people living in Almaty - now cultural center of the Kazakhstan. A lot of germans were also transport over there during WWII and after. There are a lot of korean people, ukranians, turks, uygurs, tatars, mongols, etc.
Asian looking people, I would say, are koreans and chineese, mongols. Kazakhs themselves very often mistaken for the asians, but one has to live overthere for a while to encounter the difference. Originally, at least how I know it from the history, kazakh people had red or light color hair and light color eyes. Sometimes in the central or northern cities of Kazakhstan you can see people like that, but a very few. After tatar-mongol intervention on Kazakhstan territory which was last more than 100 years (Chingiz Khan and his Gold Orda) I guess genetic of kazakhs was altered once and forever with domination of the mongols genetic which is very asian. But, at the same time, they look different, than original mongols and very upset when somebody is mistaken them for the asians. Their eyes are much more open, often very european nose. Sometimes one could see so beauty the same like within male or female. I saw women who had very black (asian) hair, but blue, grey or green eyes, very petitte nose and wonderfull full lips. A saw a men who had black (asian - very straight) hair, roman nose, grey or green eyes. I think asian look is identifyable by high cheeks, straight (asian) dark hair (even so not with everyone), dark eyes which are often looks like asians type, but more open, and sometimes asian type of nose. So, very often kazakh people could be mistaken for the asians, but they are very touchy about that.

How about Uzbek and Kyrgi? Do they look anything like Kazakh? Or completely different? Which is most attractive or exotic?

[Luke Jones]

Hey, i'm an American but I lived in Almaty, Kazakhstan for four years with my family and let me tell you they were the best memories of my life. I can't wait to go back but I hear its gone through ALOT of changes. I currently live in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

[j_k_k]

My largest curiosity about Kazakhstan, I admit, came from Borat. Now, I know who Cohen is, though my Hebrew wasn't quite dialectical enough to catch their fake Kazakhstani dialogue except to be able to tell they were speaking some form of Hebrew. But the movie portrayed/parodied the country as rabidly anti-Semitic. I never heard anything about Kazakhstan even having enough Semites to be anti, so I was wondering: is there a significant Jewish community there, and is there some form of more or less socially acceptable anti-Jewish prejudice embedded in the surrounding society?

[paparaciii]

Which language is more widely used in Kazakhstan - Russian or Kazakh?

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by paparaciii

Which language is more widely used in Kazakhstan - Russian or Kazakh?

Russian was the most used language in Kazakhstan during the time of the Soviet era. This was due to force from the government of Moscow,also known as Russification. This extended to names. You would have a name like Ibrahim. That name would be Russified to "Ibragimov". After 1991,when Kazakhstan won its independence, there was a movement to use Kazakh in the government. Today, Kazakh is used more in the schools and the government than any other language, but many Kazakhs still know Russian because they had to learn and still beingg learned now.

[zaicheg]

Originally Posted by CMDallas

Kazakhstan...
I have some questions:

Most people in Kazakhstan look Asian, or have slanted eyes correct?

One thing to keep in mind here: there was a lot of interbreeding between Kazakhs and Russians, Kazakhs and Tajiks (which are essentially Iranians) in the Soviet years. so to find a purebred Kazakh, you'd have to go to the countryside, to the auls. In the cities, plenty of "half-bloods", mestizos, mostly Russian+Kazakh.

One interesting fact about the Kazakh gene fund is: they turned out to be relatives of the Japanese. Japanese had been looking for relatives as long as the practical genetics made it possible and they found the closest relatives of all among the Uly Zhus in Southern Kazakhstan. Now there are plenty of Japanese investments going on because of that.