OFFICIALLY THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN IS A TRANSCONTINENTAL COUNTRY MAINLY LOCATED IN CENTRAL ASIA WITH A SMALLER PORTION WEST OF THE URAL RIVER IN EASTERN EUROPE. KAZAKHSTAN SHARES LAND BORDERS WITH RUSSIA IN THE NORTH, CHINA IN THE EAST, AND KYRGYZSTAN, UZBEKISTAN, AND TURKMENISTAN IN THE SOUTH WHILE ALSO ADJOINING A LARGE PART OF THE CASPIAN SEA IN THE SOUTHWEST. IT IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST LANDLOCKED COUNTRY AND THE NINTH-LARGEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. KAZAKHSTAN IS THE MOST DOMINANT NATION OF CENTRAL ASIA ECONOMICALLY, GENERATING 60% OF THE REGION’S GDP, PRIMARILY THROUGH ITS OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY. IT ALSO HAS  VAST MINERAL RESOURCES AND IS OFFICIALLY A DEMOCRATIC, SECULAR, UNITARY, CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC WITH A DIVERSE CULTURAL HERITAGE.