Country
Kazakhstan Colombia
Leader
Population
17,522,010 45,239,079
Life Expectancy
69.630 years 74.790 years
Capital City
Astana Bogota
Largest city
Almaty (population: 2,000,900) Bogota (population: 7,102,600)
Human Development Index
0.807 0.787 GDP per capita $13,200 US $10,400 US
Literacy Rate
99.5% 92.8%
Corruption Perception Index
2.2 3.8
Percentage of Women in Parliament
12.3% 9.7% Wealthiest Citizens Alijan Ibragimov ($1.2bn US) Julio Mario Santo Domingo ($4.0bn US) Unemployment Rate 5.400% 10.800%
Death Penalty
NA Abolished
Political System
republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch republic; executive branch dominates government structure
Independence date
16 December 1991 (from Soviet Union) 20 July 1810 (from Spain) Religions Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7% Roman Catholic 90%, other 10% Languages Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001 est.) Spanish Exports oil and oil products 59%, ferrous metals 19%, chemicals 5%, machinery 3%, grain, wool, meat, coal (2001) petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emeralds, apparel, bananas, cut flowers External Debt $122,900,000,000 $ $68,760,000,000 US Exchange Rate tenge (KZT) per US dollar - 120.25 (2008 est.), 122.55 (2007), 126.09 (2006), 132.88 (2005), 136.04 (2004) Colombian pesos (COP) per US dollar - 2,302.9 (2008 est.), 2,013.8 (2007), 2,358.6 (2006), 2,320.75 (2005), 2,628.61 (2004) Military Budget as percentage of GDP 1.100% 3.400% Beijing Olympics Medal Count 13 2 Location Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama Area 2,724,900 km sq 1,138,910 km sq Coastline 0 km 3,208 km Climate continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands
