This is one in a series of profiles of the republics of the former Soviet Union that are intended to provide basic reference  material as a backdrop for assessing future developments in these new states. The profile provides a description of the geography, population, and economy of Kazakhstan and compares its level of development, growth, and social welfare with that in Mexico and Turkey.

International comparisons, particularly for aggregate measures such as GNP, are difficult to make because of differences in definitions and methods used by various countries in compiling statistics. International currency exchange rates are deficient for this purpose because they do not reflect the relative purchasing power of different currencies over the whole range of  output of goods and services included in GNP.  Exchange rates may differ greatly from purchasing power parities. Because of the lack of these parities, alternative measures have been selected. These measures set forth in the body of the profile include primarily data for which comparable international statistics were available.

For the most part, official statistics in the public domain were used in compiling the tables and other numerical entries. The annual statistical abstract for Kazakhstan(National  Economy  of  Kazakhstan  SSR) was  the most important source of data.  Extensive use was also made of Trud v SSSR (Labor in the USSR), Sotsial'noye razvitiye v SSSR(Social Development in the USSR), and the Perepis' naseleniya (Population  Census).  Reference country comparisons relied on the information found in their yearbooks and in various UN and OECD publications covering national accounts, food consumption, and the like. More detailed data on the profile state are included in the appendixes.