Kazakhstan society questions and answers

Jon asks: My wife and I are professors and we are thinking about applying for the Fulbright Scholars International Exchange Program to Kazakhstan. Can you give us more detail about higher education in Kazakhstan and any insights into how to improve our applications?
I have found the following resource with the official documents, reports devoted to Kazakhstan higher education. Most of them are on Russian language but there are also English friendly versions. I hope these documents will be useful for you.

Chiara asks: I'm fond in shamanic traditions around the world and my husband is going to travel to Atyrau for business soon. Where can he find shops or other means to buy traditional shamanic items? (drums etc...) or books (in english) dealing with shamanic traditions?
I could not find any info about Atyrau shamanic items shops but may be you can find something interesting for you in the following shop of Kazakh ethnic style items.

Susan asks: Is there a hospital in Merke, Kazakhstan? If so can you please provide me contact information? If not, where is the closest hospital. Thank you.
Merke settlement is the administrative center of Merke district. So there is district hospital in this small town. The address is Kazakhstan, Dzhambul oblast, Merke town, Sarymoldaeva Str., 148. Contact phones: +7-72632-2-14-51, +7-72632-2-19-41.

Deborah asks: What is considered a good luck charm in Kazakstan?
Kazakh people traditional charms (“tumar”) are becoming more and more popular in modern Kazakhstan. The usual form is triangular and sometimes square. Tumars are made of valuable cloth, leather, silver. There is also shaman invocation or the Koran sura or the pinch of Holy Land soil or salt inside the charm. And here are several photos of the tumars (Tumar #1, Tumar #2, Tumar #3).

person asks: What is the word for "friend" in Kazakhstan?
If you mean Kazakh language it is spelled “dos” and on Russian language (widely spread in Kazakhstan) it is spelled “drug”.

Our visitor half-kazakh answers the question of Mike about Kazakh word "kudakpazz".
Unfortunately, i have to reply to Mike: the word your new kazakh friend was using is translated as "d..khead". I'm not sure in what context he was using. But definitely, very rude..poisoning nice Kazakh language...but bad words exist in all languages.

Mike asks: I met with one kazakh guy in Istanbul, and he was repeating word "kudakpazz", what does it mean?
Unfortunately I don’t know Kazakh language myself and I have found nothing in the dictionaries. If anyone of our visitors knows the meaning of this word/phrase please contact us and we will publish the answer.

Natasha asks: What can we buy with 2000 Kazakhstan tenge?
The amount of 2000 Kazakhstan tenge is about 15 USD. It is enough to have a dinner or rent an apartment for 1-2 days.

Avneesh asks: How much has the internet penetrated Kazakh society? Are there many Kazakh websites, or do most people turn to Russian sites (or any others)?
Kazakhstan is playing the leading role in expanding the Internet access among the countries of Central Asia. At the end of 2008 about 15% of the population (2,3 millions) had Internet access. Kazakhstan has two state languages Kazakh and Russian so the majority of population knows Russian language. That’s why Russian Internet resources are the most popular among Kazakhstan users (e-mail clients, social networks, entertainment sites). As for the largest Kazakhstan made sites they have about 50,000 visits per day and are mainly devoted to entertainment, photo and video hosting, torrents.

abubak asks: What religion do they preach in Kazakhstan and their percentage?
According to the results of recent polls (2008) main religions of Kazakhstan people are Islam (Sunnite Muslims – 47%) and Christianity (Orthodox Christians – 44%), protestants have about 2%, and 7% of people are of other religions and nonbelievers.

Jessica Murphy asks: What language do you speak in Kazakhstan?
The official state language of Kazakhstan is Kazakh language (about 65% native speakers of Kazakhstan population). Also Russian language has the same rights. Russian language is called the language of interethnic communication (about 95% native speakers of Kazakhstan population).

Dr. Valette asks: I am planning a trip to Almaty in June, and would like to volunteer at an orphanage. Can you give me a name and contact information of some orphanages in this area?
There is a page devoted to Kazakhstan orphanages on our site. You will find there several orphanages located in Almaty with contact phones. Good luck!

Asel asks: Where is the Ainalain orphanage located?
The address of Ainalain children’s and youth center is Kazakhstan, Dzhambul oblast, Dzhambul area, Asa village, Tole Bi Str., 106. Contact phone +7-705-257-04-96.

Luz asks: Is it necessary to write an address in Cyrillic alphabet in order for the letter or package to get to its destination?
No, it is not so necessary. If you are not sure in writing address in Cyrillic you need just to write the address as it is spelled in Cyrillic language like "Пушкин" = Pushkin or "Ленин" = Lenin.

Dolla asks: What was the population of Kazakhstan in 1950?
I have found no official info about 1950, but according to USSR national general censuses of the population of 1939 and 1959 Kazakhstan population was 6,081 and 9,294 millions, respectively.

Nathalie asks: i would like to know about the exibitions held concerning food and traditions.
Try this one InterFood Astana 2008

shine, Borat Martin, Rose ask about Kazkahstan national dishes.
We have a special page devoted to Kazakhstan national dishes and soon Kazakhstan traditional and modern cookery page will be available.

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