C, EBRD,
ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS
(associate), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM
(observer), OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Kanat B. SAUDABAYEV chancery: 1401 16th Street NW, Washington, DC
20036 consulate(s): New York FAX: [1] (202) 232-5845 telephone: [1]
(202) 232-5488

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Larry C. NAPPER embassy: 99/97A Furmanova Street, Almaty, Republic of
Kazakhstan 480091 mailing address: American Embassy Almaty, Department
of State, Washington, DC 20521-7030 telephone: (3272) 63-38-83, 50-76-24

Flag description: sky blue background representing the endless sky and a
gold sun with 32 rays soaring above a golden steppe eagle in the center;
on the hoist side is a "national ornamentation" in gold

Economy Kazakhstan

Economy - overview: Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet
republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil
fuel reserves as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and
metals. It also is a large agricultural - livestock and grain -
producer. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction
and processing of these natural resources and also on a growing
machine-building sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors,
agricultural machinery, and some defense items. 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 has enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 thanks
largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good
harvests, and foreign investment. The opening of the Caspian Consortium
pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the
Black Sea, substantially raises export capacity. Astana has embarked
upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from
overdependence on the oil sector by developing light industry.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $98.1 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - r