Climate

Kazakhstan has an "extreme" continental and cold steppe climate, and sits solidly inside
the Eurasian steppe, featuring the Kazakh steppe. with hot summers and very cold winters.
Indeed, Astana is the second coldest capital city in the world
after Ulaanbaatar. Precipitation varies between arid and semi-arid conditions, the winter
being particularly dry.[71]

Koppen Climate map of Kazakhstan

Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for large cities in
Kazakhstan[72]
Location July (°C) July (°F) January (°C) January (°F)
Almaty 30/18 86/64 0/−8 33/17
Şymkent 32/17 91/66 4/−4 39/23
Qarağandy 27/14 80/57 −8/−17 16/1
Astana 27/15 80/59 −10/−18 14/−1
Pavlodar 28/15 82/59 −11/−20 12/−5
Aqtobe 30/15 86/61 −8/−16 17/2

Wildlife
Main article: Wildlife of Kazakhstan

Corsac fox
There are ten nature reserves and ten national parks in Kazakhstan that provide safe
haven for many rare and endangered plants and animals. Common plants
are Astragalus, Gagea, Allium, Carex and Oxytropis; endangered plant species include
native wild apple (Malus sieversii), wild grape (Vitis vinifera) and several wild tulip species
(e.g., Tulipa greigii) and rare onion species Allium karataviense, also Iris
willmottiana and Tulipa kaufmanniana.[73][74] Kazakhstan had a 2019 Forest Landscape
Integrity Index mean score of 8.23/10, ranking it 26th globally out of 172 countries.[75]
Common mammals include the wolf, red fox, corsac fox, moose, argali (the largest species
of sheep), Eurasian lynx, Pallas's cat, and snow leopards, several of which are protected.
Kazakhstan's Red Book of Protected Species lists 125 vertebrates including many birds
and mammals, and 404 plants including fungi, algae and lichens.[76]

Government and politics

Main articles: Government of Kazakhstan and Politics of Kazakhstan

Political system
Officially, Kazakhstan is a democratic, secular, constitutional unitary republic; Nursultan
Nazarbayev led the country from 1991 to 2019.[77][78] He was succeeded by Kassym-Jomart
Tokayev.[79][80] The president may veto legislation that has been passed by
the parliament and is also the commander in chief of the armed forces. The prime minister
chairs the cabinet of ministers and serves as Kazakhstan's head of government. There are
three deputy prime ministers and sixteen ministers in the cabinet.[81]

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Oljas Bektenov

President Prime Minister of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has a bicameral parliament composed of the Majilis (the lower house)
and senate (the upper house).[82] Single-mandate districts popularly elect 107 seats in
the Majilis; there also are ten members elected by party-list vote. The senate has 48
members. Two senators are selected by each of the elected assemblies (mäslihats) of
Kazakhstan's sixteen principal administrative divisions (fourteen regions plus the cities of
Astana, Almaty, and Şymkent). The president appoints the remaining fifteen
senators. Majilis deputies and the government both have the right of legislative initiative,
though the government proposes most legislation considered by the parliament. In
2020, Freedom House rated Kazakhstan as a "consolidated authoritarian regime", stating
that freedom of speech is not respected and "Kazakhstan's electoral laws do not provide
for free and fair elections."[20]