Do you think about this nation? Have you ever or plan on visiting? Do you consider it European?

34 comments

  3. I firmly believe that Kazakhstan is the greatest country in the world and that all other countries are run by little girls.

  4. More central Asian than European. Lots of space program history. Some good opportunities in the oil and gas industry and that’s about it as far as my knowledge goes.

  5. I taught some kids from there last summer. Really nice people and very funny – they didn’t seem too keen on the idea of staying there though and planned to study abroad and live overseas.

    The most popular meat in cooking there is horse meat. Most of them are bilingual with Russian and Kazakh.

    That’s about as much as I know….

  6. It’s a former soviet country in Central Asia.

    I’m afraid the majority of British people will know very little about Kazakhstan other than “Borat lol” as it’s not well known in the UK, and most wouldn’t consider visiting there as a tourist.

  8. Big wild beautiful.

    Tomiris

    Mountains: Tian Shan and Altai

    Not European to me except for football. (I mean, it used to be called Soviet Central ASIA and China is its neighbour).

  9. World’s greatest source of potassium, all other countries potassium is poor by comparison

  10. They grow lots of weed there, in certain areas there are huge tracts of wild cannabis.

    Also Astana, the cycling team, is supported by some state owned industries.

  11. It’s not a European country.

    I would definitely visit and hope to some day, Almaty looks like a beautiful city with mountains overlooking. One of the more developed countries of the former Soviet block I believe but they did have some violent protests about a year ago.

    I wouldn’t expect the average Brit to know much about KZ.

  12. I don’t consider it European , although I do believe there is a tiny bit that is technically in Europe. Other than it’s big and used to be in the USSR I don’t have an opinion. It’s like a nothing country on the global stage.

  16. It’s very big and (sometimes) very cold. Astana and Almaty look like interesting cities. There’s some nice countryside, too.

  17. Definitely not European.

    Massive, flat, very hot in summer, (already 40C+ at 10am some days) bad roads in some areas. People were lovely. Billboards up in rural areas saying “don’t become a religious extremist” which was a bit alarming but never encountered anyone unpleasant. This was in 2015.

    There were the ruins of a fort of the Mongolian white horde at the side of a motorway that were totally unfenced and left for anyone to explore which was cool. Probably don’t drink the hotel water…made that mistake!

  19. Kazakhstan is the greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls. Kazakhstan is number one exporter of potassium. Other central Asian countries have inferior potassium. Kazakhstan is the greatest country in the world, all other countries is home of the gays.

  24. Big country, seemed to be going down a similar dictatorial path as the other ‘stans’ but changing the capital back to Astana from Nur-sultan seems like a positive step.

    I don’t really know very much about it other than it’s mostly part of the steppe. I’d like to visit of course like any country but have no immediate plans to.

    It is an Asian country, not European.

  25. Number one exporter of potassium.

    Definitely not European. I barely ever think about it, and have no real opinion. I’ve never visited and probably won’t, but I wouldn’t say no if the opportunity arose as I am very curious about central Asia.

  28. I honestly believe that my view is the common view of a British person to have. Totally indifferent with at most the knowledge that a google search would show; “A country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe” and “ex soviet country” “lots of UFC talent”

    Yes I would like to visit one day.

    Id say it is not considered European, countries more in Europe are not considered European. Absolutley no malice or national hate that I am aware of as I said mostly indifferent feelings.

    We English are indifferent about most things in general, the other Brits are indifferent about everything bar the English, they hate us….We just don’t like the French that much and even that is more of a running joke than actual hatred.

  29. I’ve visited it. Really interesting place, I hitchhiked from Tashkent to Shymkent, Turkistan, Almaty. Entered via Aktau and Beyneu. Beyneu I found rather more rough-and-ready; Almaty on the other hand is really cosmopolitan. Ask away if you have questions

  30. I like the nomad culture what are trying to bring back certain breeds of horses.. watched a documentary about them, very cool 🙂 sad to see borat being the only comparison

  31. I work in Kazakhstan. It’s a beautiful country some of it breathtaking. You have mountains, lakes, steppe. It’s freezing in winter and very hot in the summer. The people are very friendly, but you do get the odd drunk but you do in any country. Anyway I love the country.

  32. I lived there for 5 years and traveled all around the country and Central Asia. Most people I spoke to back home while I was there were shocked that either it existed or had Wi-Fi. They thought we lived in a yurt on the steppe, not a city with malls and an indoor beach! I loved it, Kazakhs are welcoming warm people, the countryside is incredible. I lived in Astana and it was a culture shock at first but over the years it has become a lot more “western”.

  33. I had a friend from Kazakhstan at university. She said it was a very beautiful country, and that she was afraid the UK was going to be all grey and bleak when she first came here.

  34. Kazakhstan is not European, it is a beautiful country in Central Asia. Really cool landscapes, you’ve got mountains and greenery in the northeast, steppes in the northwest, and the now dry Aral Sea and resulting desertification in the southeast. The mix of environments has led to a concurrent historical mix of pastoral-nomadic peoples and settled agricultural groups often living in fortresses , particularly along the broader Central Asian trade routes that have passed through it. Cool archaeological kurgans (burial mounds made by steppic peoples) all over, some have incredible artefacts inside like the Issyk Kurgan which has the Golden Man. Of all the former USSR Central Asian countries, it’s the one that’s most retained Russian as an “official” language. I haven’t been myself bc of Covid/money but I have colleagues who’ve worked there and I will definitely go at some point!!

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