UASHEV, first
secretary]; Communist Party or KPK [Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN, first
secretary]; Forum of Democratic Forces ; Labor and Workers
Movement ; Orleu Movement [Seidakhmet
KUTTYKADAM]; Otan ; Pensioners Movement
or Pokoleniye ; People's Congress of
Kazakhstan or NKK ; People's Cooperative
Party ; Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan
Political pressure groups and leaders: Kazakhstan International Bureau
on Human Rights

International organization participation: AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD,
ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM
(observer), OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Bolat K. NURGALIYEV
chancery: 1401 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone: (202) 232-5488
FAX: (202) 232-5845
consulate(s): New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Richard H. JONES
embassy: 99/97A Furmanova Street, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
480091
mailing address: American Embassy Almaty, Department of State,
Washington, DC 20521-7030
telephone: (3272) 63-39-21, 63-13-75, 50-76-23
FAX: (3272) 63-38-83

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

@Kazakhstan:Economy

Economy - overview: Kazakhstan, the second largest of the former
Soviet republics in territory, possesses enormous untapped fossil fuel
reserves as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals.
It also has considerable agricultural potential with its vast steppe
lands accommodating both livestock and grain production. Kazakhstan's
industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these
natural resources and also on a relatively large machine building
sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors, agricultural
machinery, and some defense items. The breakup of the USSR and the
collapse of demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry
products have resulted in a sharp contraction of the economy since
1991, 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
int