r/geography • u/redditusertjh • 4d ago
Why is Kazakhstan so much more famous than the other central Asian nations? Discussion
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u/RealisticBarnacle115 4d ago
Because it's the 9th largest country in the world.
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u/yoaverezzz 4d ago
Yeah it’s funny OP is asking this question while also adding a picture that would explain it. Literally bigger than all the other Stans combined
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u/as1992 4d ago
Oh come on, the obvious reason is because of the Borat movie. A country being big or populous doesnt necessarily make it more famous in a global sense.
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u/sjplep 4d ago
I think this was the case even before Borat though. (Yes, I am old).
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u/ilmalnafs 4d ago
I agree, it’s more that Borat picked Kazakhstan precisely because unlike the other Central Asian countries, it was famous enough that people had at least heard of it, while still knowing little enough to have no idea what its culture and people are actually like.
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u/as1992 4d ago
I’m old too and I don’t remember Kazakhstan ever being a common country that everybody knew before the borat movie
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u/teeming-with-life 4d ago
I'm from Kazakhstan, and you are correct. The country did not become popular until after the Borat movie. And even then...
It's a country with significant natural resources, beautiful places, and a tiny population.
It's always been a struggle for the country, even during the Soviet Union.
It's still not out of the woods when it comes to true sovereignty. With "friends" like Russia and China, who needs enemies?
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u/International_Bet_91 4d ago
I grew up in Canada (but I speak Turkish so I know a little bit more about the region than other Canadians). I think Canadians knew about Kazakistan because they have some good hockey players, but then that was overshadowed by Borat.
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u/GermyBones 4d ago
I mean, compared to the other stans it's the only one you'd have expected people to at least have heard of. Hosts all soviet/Russian space launches (first orbital space mission, and satellite) and it's just large and has the largest economy of the group. Granted, I was a geography AND space nerd, and even then when Borat came out I was like "Really? Kazakhstan!?"
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u/NephriteJaded 4d ago
20 million people. Tiny. Just minuscule
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u/Lumpy_Eye_9015 4d ago
According to google:
Kazakhstan’s population density is 8 people per square kilometer
The United States of America is 38 people per square kilometer
Mexico - 67/km2
The whole of China - 151
Great Britain 287
India - 473
Singapore is a whopping 7,800 - 8,300 because there are so many people it’s hard to get a good estimate
Not putting you down, just adding context
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u/sjplep 4d ago edited 4d ago
Not necessarily well known in an absolute sense, but -more- well known compared to the other 4 ex-Soviet Central Asian republics. It is very visible and easy to place on a world map and Nursultan Nazarbayev is a reasonably prominent international statesman of the post-Cold War era.
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u/I_am_Danny_McBride 4d ago
It’s also where the Baikonur Cosmodrome is, which was like the USSR’s Cape Canaveral. A lot of Soviet and Russian space missions launch from and landed there, so it was in the news even pre-internet.
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u/Rand_University81 4d ago
I knew it only because Canada would kill them 15+ - 0 in the WJHC when I was growing up.
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u/sadrice 4d ago
I have never seen the movie. I was well aware of Kazakhstan before the movie. It’s obvious whenever you look at a map, or if you have been to elementary school where they make you do that.
I still know very little of Kazakhstan, other than that it’s the big one in the middle of Asia, but every time I looked at a map I did a double take of “oh what’s that one, oh right, Kazakhstan again”.
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u/teeming-with-life 4d ago edited 3d ago
Oh you'd be surprised, how little people know.
I was in Canada back in 2005, shopping for a camera for a colleague. The guy in the store, we had a small talk and he asked where I was coming from. I said, don't worry you won't know anyway. He said, try me. I said, Kazakhstan. He took a little pause, then said, "It's to the right of Germany, correct?" I said, technically, I guess you're right. He said, "See? I knew!"
That's Canada we're talking, where you'd expect people to be a bit more conversant in geography. You can only imagine what my experience has been in the United States.
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u/UruquianLilac 4d ago
Not if you went to elementary school back when there was a single super country called the USSR and you had so much less countries to count.
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u/Finglebongle 3d ago
I still have the atlas I used to teach Geography from in the early 1980s. It's only value now is as a historical curiosity.
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u/No-Appearance-9113 4d ago
If you are into space you’ll know it since so many spaceflights launch from there.
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u/Fit_Orange_3083 4d ago
Yeah? Then why is Greenland is known everywhere? Because you can’t just ignore it on a map. Same with Kazakhstan.
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u/12thshadow 4d ago
Now I want an Inuit version of Borat from the glorious nation of Greenland.
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u/Fit_Orange_3083 4d ago
Funny of you to say, I think the huge part of the reason why Sacha Baron Cohen chose Kazakhstan is it’s size, it’s an unknown nation in USA, though it’s massive on a map.
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u/chopen 4d ago
Tbf, many nations are unknown to the USA regardless of size
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u/ThirstyWolfSpider 4d ago
According to an old joke pattern, that's good for them.
"How do Americans learn of foreign lands?"
"The Draft."
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u/teeming-with-life 4d ago
The version I had seen was that's the producers actually pointed at the map and then chose a country randomly.
The beginning of the movie actually takes place in a Romanian village. They sued him afterwards.
The entire movie is just an exercise in outrage. Americans are presented as absolutely clueless, uncultured, racist and bigoted. That part, the movie being a satire about the American Life, flew right over the heads of so many.
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u/AlexRauch 4d ago
Greenland is actually pretty small, not that much bigger from Chad or Saudi Arabia and deffinitely smaller that Kazakhstan. For those who dont realize that check "the true size of countries" site. I swear the damn mercator projection google uses alters the perception of country sizes for whole generations..
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u/Farfignugen42 4d ago
Greenland has been getting blown up by mercator projections for far longer than Google gas been around.
But we used to have to find a globe to see the true size of countries.
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u/neuroticnetworks1250 4d ago edited 4d ago
Greenland on Google Maps looks like it’s as big as Africa 😭😭
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u/VT_Squire 4d ago
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u/Live_Angle4621 4d ago
Even if Greenland isn’t gigantic it’s not small. And in proper projections it’s position and color draws your eye
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u/Comprehensive_Soil28 4d ago
I recently checked this related to another question and found to my own surprise that
The Saharan desert, the us, Europe, Brazil and China are all within the 9-10 million sqkm range. The world maps we use distort this so much
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u/awful_at_internet 4d ago
That type of map is called a Mercator Projection. It's one of many ways to project a sphere onto a flat surface. Basically, the further away from the equator, the more inflated things are. It's really good for two things: Navigation and ease-of-use.
But it doesn't provide an accurate sense of how big things are.
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u/pxm7 4d ago
Equal Area Map Projections are very cool and useful for providing a better sense of how big landmasses are.
The Mercator projection that a lot of people are familiar with — it’s useful for navigation, but other than that, it’s pretty misleading.
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u/GeorgeWashingfun 4d ago edited 4d ago
It's definitely easier to ignore Kazakhstan than Greenland because Greenland is a large island(even larger on most maps even if it is inaccurate) which makes it stand out. Kazakhstan blends in with the rest of Eurasia on a map.
Kazakhstan absolutely owes most of its popularity to Borat.
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u/ThePerfectHunter 4d ago
Maybe it's because of both? It's size would make it known among a lot of people and the movie reinforced that.
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u/Visible_Amount5383 4d ago
It’s the biggest richest and most influential.
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u/itsalonghotsummer 4d ago
I hadn't realised until just now that Uzbekistan has nearly double the population of Kazkhstan - 36 million to 20 million.
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u/kolejack2293 4d ago
That is a very recent development though. Before the 1970s, Kazakhstan had more people. Uzbekistan just had a way higher birth rate and life expectancy for a while. Kazakhstan also saw mass emigration in the 1990s whereas most of central asia didn't.
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u/BurdensomeCumbersome 4d ago
It seems that it’s because ethnic Russians made up the biggest share of the population and starting in 1991 left for Mother Russia. Fertility rate for both countries is roughly similar at around 2.7-3.
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u/Draig_werdd 4d ago
Not only Russians. Kazakhstan was the prefer "dumping ground" for deported people (mostly by Stalin). So for example in 1990 there were almost 1 mil Germans in Kazakhstan while there are less then 150k now. Same thing happened with other smaller groups like Poles or Greeks.
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u/VladVV 4d ago
There’s more to it than birth rates. In general Uzbekistan is by far the most fertile and agriculturally productive Central Asian country, and it’s not even close.
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u/ferhanius 4d ago
Yeah, almost as much as all neighbours combined (except Afghanistan).
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u/Mr_WindowSmasher 4d ago
It’s why, at least in NYC, you’re so much more likely to meet uzbeki immigrants instead of Kazakhs. Like 2/3rds of every haircut I’ve ever had in this city was from an Uzbeki.
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u/VladVV 4d ago
I believe the demonym is just “Uzbek”. Same with Kazakh, Tajik, Afghan, etc. The only -stan country that breaks the pattern is Pakistan.
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u/releasethedogs 4d ago
Not surprised. Tashkent was the 4th biggest Soviet city after Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. It had like 2.2 million people. Alma Ata (Almaty) in Kazakhstan had only 900 thousand. Frunze (Bishkek) and Dushanbe had 600 thousand each. Ashgabat had 400 thousand.
Tashkent was the biggest by a lot.
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u/teeming-with-life 4d ago
Yep. The Uzbek SSR had its own airplane plant, a car factory, and a coca cola production (under license). Kazakhstan had neither of those things. In fact, Kazakhstan still has neither of those things, although it's rich in natural resources, especially oil and gas and uranium. It's all down to it having a tiny population.
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u/Visible_Amount5383 4d ago
And yes, all the other countries are run by little girls 🫡😂
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u/Spiritual_Note2859 4d ago
Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium
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u/kvltrve 4d ago
Yakshemash!
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u/jankeyass 4d ago edited 4d ago
I love Borat, the fact they play Serbian brass music during the movie (Bregović) and that they speak Polish just adds to it!
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u/WTTR0311 4d ago
Doesn’t SBC speak Hebrew in the film?
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u/Current_Silver_5416 4d ago
I think so. While Azamat (Ked Davitian) only spoke Armenian throughout the film, adding to the overall joke.
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u/dog_be_praised 4d ago
Seeing his name shortened to initials made me think how funny it would be if he could do a take off on MBS...other than I'm sure Sasha would like to avoid being sliced and diced.
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u/2024-2025 4d ago
Uzbekistan has a lot bigger population, I wouldn’t say Kazakhs are more influential than Uzbeks in the region
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u/Visible_Amount5383 4d ago
Respectfully I would disagree. In terms of Russia and China, probably the west too. Kazakhstan is more famous & more influential.
Source my GF is from Bishkek Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬but works for a Chinese company which has a major office in Kazakh as well as Moscow & Shanghai.
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u/2024-2025 4d ago
It totally depends on how you see it. Kyrgyzstan is very connected to kakzshtan, Bishkek is not far to Almaty and the Kazakh and Kyrgyz languages are similar.
Historically so were the Uzbeks the most dominant power in the region with the Silk Road, but Kazakhstan has become way more richer and influential on the global scene nowadays. But I would still say that Uzbeks are the more influential in the cultural sphere in the region while Kazakhstan is more influential in the economical aspect.
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u/momster777 4d ago
Definitely; Uzbeks also make the best food in the region. Thankfully since Kazakhstan is the richest, all the best Uzbek chefs hangout in Almaty!
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u/Victor_Korchnoi 4d ago
I first heard of Kazakhstan because that’s where the Soviet space program launched from. Baikonor iirc
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u/KevLute 4d ago
Borat
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u/id397550 4d ago
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u/YetAnotherInterneter 4d ago
Borat has been so successful in accidentally promoting Kazakhstan that a few years ago Kazakh tourism adopted the “Very nice!” slogan.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eRGXq4t9wY4
Of course the way Kazakhstan is portrayed in the film is highly inaccurate and borderline insulting. But it put Kazakhstan in the public spotlight. There’s no such thing as bad publicity.
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u/Round_Caregiver2380 4d ago
And believe nobody actually spoke Kazak in the movie. It was mostly a mix of Polish and Yiddish. Happy to be corrected on that if I'm wrong.
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u/Ruokiri 4d ago
You a right, and people who played there are more likely Romanians
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u/I_am_notagoose 4d ago
I don’t know if it was intentional, but I read ‘you a right’ in Borat’s voice…
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u/arathorn3 4d ago edited 4d ago
Hebrew not Yiddish.
Yiddish is a language that mixes Hebrew with German and also has significant influence from various slavic languages but Yiddish has enough German in it that it is classified as a Germanic language In the Western Germanic subfamily(along with English, Dutch, and Frisian) . Spoken Yiddish is was not "alien" enough for the intended audience of Borat(North Americans, Brits and other Europeans who would have a familiarity with how Yiddish sounds ju at from the shed amount of Yiddish words that have been introduced into English in the USA and England and the spread of that via pop culture via Films, )
In the first film Borat speaks Hebrew(even the WaWAweewoo, is Israeli slang for Wow) and his manager speaks Armenian.
In the sequel it's even funnier because Not at is speaking Hebrew and his daughter is speaking Bulgarian.(as the actress is from.Bulgaria.)
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u/Annoying_Rooster 4d ago
I remember seeing a documentary showing the reactions of many Kazakh's when the movie first came out and, understandably, they were all very pissed off at how they were portrayed. Their tune's only softened when as you said tourism had increased and people were pouring money into villages that nobody would've known about it.
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u/TheToiletPhilosopher 4d ago
I always argue it's not insulting at all to Kazakhstan. It's making fun of stupid Americans who are so ignorant about the world they'll believe anything anyone tells them.
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u/RecidPlayer 4d ago
Of course the way Kazakhstan is portrayed in the film is highly inaccurate and borderline insulting
That's why it was funny.
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u/MetalCrow9 4d ago
This is the only answer. How big it is is irrelevant. If Borat was from Tajikistan, that would be the most famous one.
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u/trimtab28 4d ago
Honestly... you're probably not wrong in a lot of regards. If it weren't for Borat, would probably put Azerbaijan equal to or higher in global affairs
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u/melasses 4d ago
Yes, don't underestimate soft power. I am more into geopolitics than most people and I can't tell you much more about Kazakhstan than Borat.
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u/museum_lifestyle 4d ago
They are famous due to their potassium reserves, which are arguably the best in the region, though uzbekistan give them a run for their money when it comes to prostitutes.
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u/2024-2025 4d ago
Nope Kazakhstan prostitutes are the cleanest in the region, except of course Turkmenistan
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u/museum_lifestyle 4d ago
Shit. I should get tested.
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u/GrimValesti 4d ago edited 4d ago
Because it’s….the greatest country in the world. While other countries are run by….something something.
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u/cantrusthestory 4d ago
Number one exporter of potassium
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u/Buildung 4d ago
all other countries have inferior potassium
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u/Putrid_Department_17 4d ago
It’s prostitutes are the best in the region, except for in Turkmenistan
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u/larch_1778 4d ago edited 4d ago
"Famous" seems very arbitrary to me. One could argue that Uzbekistan is more famous thanks to its historical sites and tourist destinations such as Samarkand.
But at any rate, one can just look at a map to understand why Kazakhstan is important, being the largest central Asian country. Also, Kazakhstan is richer than the other countries thanks to its oil reserves.
PS: very weird to see the Aral Sea in its full glory on the map you posted.
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u/water_fountain_ 4d ago
I wouldn’t say full glory. This looks like the late 80s or early 90s.
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u/larch_1778 4d ago
You’re right, I didn’t pay enough attention. The city of Aralsk is already far from the coastline. It has to be the 1990s since those countries are already independent.
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u/water_fountain_ 4d ago edited 4d ago
And I overlooked the collapse of the Soviet Union lol. We’re both silly. Early 1990s, indeed.
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u/Nozinger 4d ago
Baikonur.
That is all kazakhstan needs to be more famous than its neighbours. It just pops up in the news now and then simply because rockets are launched there.For the cold war generation semipalatinsk/the polygon might also ring a bell but it has been a long time since that place was mentioned on the world stage.
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u/teeming-with-life 4d ago
The Aral Sea has been recovering. Now the problem is with the Caspian Sea.
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u/larch_1778 4d ago
I don't think it has been recovering to the levels shown in this map. The situation just got from desperate to really bad, and only in the northern part after they built a dam.
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u/squadracorse15 4d ago
Part of it has, but it's still not in good health. Kazakhstan has made a lot of efforts to save the northern part of it, but the southern piece has effectively been left to its fate. Uzbekistan is more interested in the cotton industry and IIRC, they've even done some surveying to check if there's oil below the dried seabed in the south. In all likelihood, only the North Aral Sea will live on.
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u/harverawr 4d ago
Kazakhstan greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls. Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium. Other countries have inferior potassium.
Kazakhstan home of Tinshein swimming pool. It’s length thirty meter and width six meter. Filtration system a marvel to behold. It remove 80 percent of human solid waste.
Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan you very nice place. From Plains of Tarashek to Norther fence of Jewtown. Kazakhstan friend of all except Uzbekistan. They very nosey people with bone in their brain.
Kazakhstan industry best in the world. We invented toffee and trouser belt. Kazakhstan’s prostitutes cleanest in the region. Except of course Turkmenistan’s
Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan you very nice place. From Plains of Tarashek to Northern fence of Jewtown. Come grasp the might penis of our leader. From junction with the testes to tip of its face!
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u/aaapod 4d ago
#1 exporter of potassium
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u/stateofyou 4d ago
Because it’s the best potassium
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u/Izinjooooka 4d ago
I've seen it. You wouldn't believe it. It's. The best. Best potassium anywhere om the planet. We're gonna make them an offer. The president of Kazakhstan is wonderful. Really terrific guy. We talked for hours
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u/barathrumobama 4d ago
Space relevancy
Aral Sea trivia
most recognizable flag
large area
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u/Fungus-VulgArius 4d ago
UNORIGINAL COMMENT INCOMING
Kazakhstan is best country in the world, all other country are run by little girl.
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u/Upbeat-Excitement-46 4d ago
People might not like it, but in the West it probably is mostly because of Borat
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u/Hexatorium 4d ago
My family hates Borat so much, movie handicapped our countries cultural exports utterly.
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u/Hot-Spray-2774 4d ago
For me it's Baikonur. I would love to visit the cosmodrome. I don't know anything about most of the other Stans.
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u/ferhanius 4d ago
99% of all Central Asian history comes from Uzbekistan. You could read about Samarkand, Bukhara, Khwarezm. Historical figures like Timur (Tamerlane) who conquered half of the world. His great-grandson founded Mughal Empire in India, and his dynasty build Taj Mahal which is Central Asian architecture. You can also read about Al-Khwarezmi who gave the world…Algebra (the word itself comes from his book called “Al-Jabra Wal Muqobala”). You probably have heard of Al-Khwarezmi with his latin name “Algoritmi”. Yeah, the term “algorithm” itself is actually a name! Also, he gave the world decimal system and created the digits we still use worldwide (1,2,3…). There’re tons of other figures from Central Asia who drove Islamic Golden Age.
I just scratched the surface of Uzbekistan’s history.
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u/Healthy_Toe_1183 4d ago
Kazakhstan greatest country in the world, all other countries run by little girls
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u/evil_timmy 4d ago
Why does Kazakhstan, the largest central Asian nation, not simply eat the others?
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u/StevenEveral Political Geography 4d ago
I came right to the comments to look for Borat references.
I was not disappointed.
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u/MouseInTheRatRace 4d ago
Size. It's huge, and a cartographer making a map can use a large font. On your map, the font is the same as Russia's and China's.
Sports. In athlete rosters at the Olympics and other world events, Kazakhstan comes up more often than the other stans.
Natural resources (like oil), a facility for space launches, and Borat also bring it a lot of attention.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bad8535 4d ago
Because it's goddamn humongous and also because of Borat. Anyone trying to come up with additional reasons is needlessly overthinking.
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u/jenil1428569 4d ago
For me, because Baikonur is in there. As an aviation/space lover it's hard to forget about that country.
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u/oceanaut17 4d ago
the big cities from what i know are a bit more developed compared to the other countries
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u/UnamedStreamNumber9 4d ago
Home of the Soviet space launch facility, nuclear development laboratories.
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u/kraina_zapomnenia 4d ago
Kazakhstan, greatest country in the world.
All other countries are run by little girls.
Kazakhstan, number one exporter of potassium.
All other countries have inferior potassium.
That's why
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u/paid_debts 4d ago
All other countries run by little girls, Kazakhstan greatest country in the world.
In all seriousness, I really do think Borat "helped" a lot. That film used to be quoted all the time.
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u/Mcboomsauce 4d ago
all other central asian countries...have inferior potassium
[clears throat]
KAHZAKSTAN IS THE GREATEST
COUNTRY IN THE WORLD 🎶
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u/2hats4bats 4d ago
Because it’s the greatest country in the world and all the other countries are run by little girls
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u/Vexlr1256 3d ago
All of these comments are wrong. It's because Kazakhstan is the easiest to pronounce
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u/RelentlessInquisitor 4d ago edited 4d ago
The only country other than Russia that has the calling code of +7. (At least what I noticed from the map)
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u/kolejack2293 4d ago
Borat
Its the richest country in the region by far
Its the biggest country in the region by far
Lots of people from post-soviet nations lived there during the USSR (and they still form 18% of its population), so there's a much bigger diaspora.
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