Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia and the economic power house of the region.

Its varied landscape stretches from the Ural Mountains in the west to a 1,533-kilometer long border with China. The vast steppes of the interior, portions of which were once used as a nuclear testing ground, remain largely uninhabited.

Almaty, the most populous city, is located in the far south not far from the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border. The country’s capital, Astana, is located in central Kazakhstan and became the seat of government in 1997. A huge building program, paid for with oil money, has turned the once small and isolated city into a giant architectural experiment.

Kazakhstan’s economy eclipses that of its neighbours. But the country was hit hard by the recent global economic turndown. Gross domestic product shrunk to just 3.1 percent in 2008 compared with 8.5 percent in 2007 and 10.6 percent in 2006. The economy limped through 2009 but is expected to post some growth in 2010.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s $19 billion bail-out program was used to nationalize a number of top-tier banks. The national currency was significantly devalued; the property market imploded and thousands of factories temporarily shut down. However, Kazakhstan is likely to emerge from the turmoil intact and Nazarbayev’s reputation unsullied.

His international standing will be bolstered in 2010 as Kazakhstan takes over the chairmanship of the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Kazakhstan is unique in Central Asia in so far as it positions itself as Eurasian, not Asian.

Critics say Nazarbayev, the former head of the Communist Party, has created a one-party state blighted by corruption and nepotism and that only a small elite has profited from the privatization of once state-owned resources.

However, compared to its neighbours–Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan–Kazakhstan has developed both politically and economically at a much faster pace and residents enjoy a standard of living far beyond the regional norm.

Deirdre Tynan is a reporter specialising in Central Asian affairs. She is based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.