Kazakhstan is my homeland

    Kazakhstan is an independent Republic. Kazakhstan is an ancient and hospitable land, which occupies a large part of Central Asia. On the eastern border of Kazakhstan lies China. To the south lies its fraternal Republics – Kyrgyzia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, to the north and to the west lies Russia. Kazakhstan has 14 regions, 84 cities. More than 17 million people of over a hundred nationalities and ethnic groups live in the republic. The head of Kazakhstan is a president, his name is Nursultan Nazarbayev. Almaty is a former capital of Kazakhstan. In 1997, the president of sovereign Kazakhstan made a decision to transfer the capital from Almaty to Akmola. In 1998 the government of the country decided to change the name of the capital into Astana, what means “capital” in Kazakh language. In Kazakhstan people speak Russian or Kazakh languages. Kazakhstan has hundreds of nationalities that’s why all people speak their native language. There are many parties in Kazakhstan, for example: Azat, Otan, Alash, Azamat. The president is elected every seven years. The parliament can be divided into two parts. One of them is deputation of Senate and the other is deputation of Mazhilis. Kazakhstan is rich in mineral resources. Coal, oil, timber and gas are the most important of them. I’m proud of my country.

   TRADITIONAL CLOTHES

The Kazakh traditional costume reached the present days in its most typical form. Like any other folk clothes it perfected under the influence of the surroundings and conditions of nomadic life in steppes with strong winds, summer baking sun and winter frosts. But each period dictates its conditions. And today only during festivals you can see people in traditional dress. Especially beautiful is a wedding attire of a bride with a sharply pointed head wear (saukele). Men and children often wear a special type of head wear - takia. An honored guest - a man - is usually presented with a dressing gown (shapan) and a hat of white felt (kalpak).  

TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS

In traditional Kazakh musical and material culture an important place belongs to folk musical instruments. The most widespread has always been a dombra. The construction of dombra varies depending on regions of Kazakhstan. "Its strings preserve musical wisdom of centuries! A dombra is a specific and sonorous history of nomadic tribes", wrote an academician A.K.Zhubanov. Today no celebration goes without a dombra. The collection of the Ykhlas Republican Museum of Folk Musical Instruments has 50 types of various instruments, among them are: kobyz, sybyzgyz, dauylpaz, syrnai, sherter, dangyra, tuyaktas and many other.  
 

NATURE OF KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakhstan is rightly considered to be a country of natural contrasts.  Striking is also the republic's territory - 2.72 million sq. km, stretching from the south northwards for over 1,600 km, and from the east westwards for 3,000 km. Landscape zones alternate from the south to the north borders: deserts and semi-deserts give way to steppes and wooded steppes. In the south, a great area is occupied with sands of Kyzylkum and Moiynkum, the mountains of Tien Shan and Jungarian Alatau. In the north spread the wooded steppes of West Siberia. The western level part is washed by the Caspian Sea. There, in Mangyshlak peninsula, the lowest point -Karagie Depression - is located at 132 m below sea level. The eastern part of Kazakhstan is predominantly upland. A significant part of the territory is covered with Kazakh hills, the Jungarian Alatau, Tarbagatai and the Altai mountains. A large area of the country is occupied with deserts and semi-deserts. In Kazakhstan, all climatic zones are found except tropical and equatorial. But the main feature of the climate is its extreme continental and arid character. For the greater part of the country, mainly the southern plains, small precipitation is typical.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                          The Ministry of Education

        The Kazakh National University named after al Farabi 
 
 
 

To theme:    Kazakstan my Homeland 
 

                                                                                   Done by: Nasyrova Saniyam

                                                                                    Cheked by: Bekmasheva Botagoz

                                                     Almaty 2011