General travel information for Kazakhstan
Continent: Asia
Geographical location: Central Asia, exactly in the middle of Eurasia
Highest elevation: Belucha (4,506 m)
Longest river: Irtysh (1700 km)
Form of government: Republic System of
Government: Presidential system
Languages: Kazakh, Russian
Neighboring countries: Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
Capital: Astana
Area: 2,724,900 km²
Residents: 17,753,200 (as of 1.5.2016)
Population density: 7 residents per km²
Religions: Sunni Islam, Russian Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christianity, small Jewish communities
Currency: Tenge (KZT), one euro is approximately 464 KZT.
Climate: continental (cold winters with up to -40 ° C, hot summers with over + 40 ° C)
Time zone: UTC +5 / +6
Area code: + 7
Country code: KZ
Electricity: In Kazakhstan, type C sockets are used. The mains voltage is 220V with a 50Hz change interval.
- Check a2zdirectory for old history of Kazakhstan and agooddir for modern history of Kazakhstan.
Travel climate in Kazakhstan
Due to the great distance from the world’s oceans, the climate in Kazakhstan is distinctly continental; cold, sunny winters with little snow are immediately followed by hot, dry and long summers. Spring and autumn are hardly pronounced. It rains little almost everywhere in Kazakhstan, and deserts and semi-deserts, especially in the west, make up more than half of the country. The humidity is very low. Strong winds are also typical, often in the form of sandstorms in summer. Exceptions to these climates are the mountains in the southeast, where summers are short and mild and winters are less cold.
| Almaty (southeast) | Min Temperature ° C | Max Temperature ° C | Hours of sunshine / day | Rainy days |
| Jan. | -9 | -1 | 4 | 6 |
| Feb | -8 | -0.2 | 4 | 6 |
| March | -2 | 6 | 5 | 10 |
| Apr | 6 | 16 | 6 | 10 |
| May | 11 | 21 | 8 | 10 |
| June | 16 | 26 | 10 | 7 |
| July | 18 | 29 | 10 | 5 |
| Aug | 17 | 28 | 9 | 4 |
| Sept | 12 | 23 | 8 | 4 |
| Oct | 4 | 14 | 6 | 7 |
| Nov | -2 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| Dec | -6 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Aktyubinsk (northwest) | Min Temperature ° C | Min Temperature ° C | Hours of sunshine / day | Rainy days |
| Jan. | -20 | -11 | 3 | 6 |
| Feb | -20 | -10 | 5 | 5 |
| March | -13 | -3 | 6 | 5 |
| Apr | -0.4 | 11 | 8 | 5 |
| May | 7 | 22 | 10 | 5 |
| June | 13 | 27 | 11 | 5 |
| July | 15 | 29 | 11 | 5 |
| Aug | 13 | 28 | 10 | 4 |
| Sept | 7 | 21 | 8 | 5 |
| Oct | 0.6 | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| Nov | -8 | -0.4 | 3 | 5 |
| Dec | -16 | -8 | 2 | 6 |
| Astana (north) | Min Temperature ° C | Max Temperature ° C | Hours of sunshine / day | Rainy days |
| Jan. | -22 | -12 | 3 | 7 |
| Feb | -22 | -11 | 4 | 4 |
| March | -15 | -4 | 5 | 4 |
| Apr | -2 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
| May | 6 | 20 | 9 | 6 |
| June | 11 | 26 | 10 | 8 |
| July | 14 | 27 | 10 | 6 |
| Aug | 11 | 24 | 9 | 7 |
| Sept | 5 | 19 | 7 | 5 |
| Oct | -3 | 8 | 4 | 7 |
| Nov | -12 | -3 | 2.4 | 6 |
| Dec | -18 | -9 | 2 | 6 |
Culture and sights in Kazakhstan
The state cultural enterprise concentrates on conveying traditional, mostly ethnic-Kazakh cultural content. In the music and theater sector, the state encourages the maintenance of both Kazakh and European music and theater traditions. International artists perform regularly in Astana and Almaty. The spectrum of the cultural offer is wide. In addition to Kazakh and Russian cultural content, Western pop music and international cinema productions are also very popular.
Tourist Attractions:
- The capital Astana offers an architectural ensemble that is unique for Central Asia in a largely bombastic architectural style in the city center, which is still under construction. E.g. Nur Mosque, Bayterek Tower, Presidential Palace, City Park, Palace of Peace and Reconciliation,…
- Almaty, metropolis and cultural center of Kazakhstan: First President’s Park, St. Sophia Cathedral (the most important and most beautiful Russian Orthodox church in the country), Kok-Tobe Hill, Big Almaty Lake, Ascension Cathedral, Almaty Central Park, Central State Museum of Kazakhstan
- Khoja Ahmed Yasawi mausoleum and mosque complex in the city of Turkestan
- Tamgaly, a site with petroglyphs (rock carvings), some of which are more than 3,000 years old, ancient graves and places of worship: part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004
- Sary Arka / Kazakh threshold: since 2008, an area of the Kazakh threshold has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- … and of course the endless expanses of the largely untouched landscape in the steppes, the desert and in the mountains
Holidays in Kazakhstan
| holiday | date |
| New Year | Jan. 1 |
| New Year 2nd day | Jan. 2 |
| Christmas Orthodox | Jan. 7 |
| International Women’s Day | Jan. 8 |
| Nouruz, spring festival | March 22 |
| People’s Unity Day | 1st of May |
| Defender of the Fatherland Day | May 7 |
| day of the victory | May 9 |
| Capital Day | July 6 |
| Islamic Festival of Sacrifice | In Aug./Sept. |
| Day of the first President of the Republic | Dec 1 |
| Independence day | 16-17. Dec |
Medical information for Kazakhstan
For legal reasons, we as a tour operator are not allowed to communicate any binding medical information for Kazakhstan and therefore refer to the information provided by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Robert Koch Institute and the German Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health
Travel advice for Kazakhstan
You can obtain current travel and safety advice, information on entering and leaving the country, as well as special criminal information and recommendations for your stay in Kazakhstan from the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
Foreign mission in Kazakhstan
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Nur-Sultan
ul.Kosmonawtow 62, Chubary Microdistrict, 010000 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Telephone: +7 71 72 79 12 00
Fax: +7 71 72 79 12 13
Website: http: //www.nur- sultan.diplo.de
Contact to the Embassy
Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Berlin
Nordendstrasse 14/17, 13156 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 47 007 111
Fax: +49 30 47 00 7 125
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: https: //www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa-berlin? lang = en