kazakstan
geographical name(Ka-zakh-stan)
country in northwest central Asia extending from the Caspian Sea to the Altai Mountains and containing Lake Balkhash and parts of the Aral Sea; a constituent republic of the U.S.S.R. 1936—91; capital Nursultan area 1,048,300 square miles (2,715,097 square kilometers), population 16,009,597