The Republic of Kazakhstan (hereafter ‘Kazakhstan’) became an independent sovereign state in 1991, following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In the north, the country borders the Russian Federation, in the east, it neighbours China, and in the south, it adjoins the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The west coast of Kazakhstan meets the Caspian Sea. Having the ninth-largest territory globally, it features a range of different landforms, including high mountains, lowlands, plains and steppes, deserts, oases, forests and the large inland Aral Sea. The predominant climate in the country is continental.
