The Republic of Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country in the world and ninth largest overall. It’s located in central Asia and generates nearly 60% GDP for the entire continent. Almaty was the previous capital city, which moved to  Astana in 1997. This is the largest city in the country.

The country has been predominantly inhabited by Turkic nomads. It wasn’t until the 18th century that the Russians made their way into the region. By the 19th century Kazakhstan was primarily ruled by the Russian Empire. After several civil wars and the  1917 Russian Revolution, Kazakhstan became part of the Soviet Union. It was the last of the Soviet nations to declare independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Today the country is comprised of 131 ethnicities. The country is a member of the WTO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), CSTO, CIS, United Nations, and other foreign relations organizations.

The country is a unitary republic; to date, it has held only one election. The President has legislative powers including the power to veto legislation passed by the Parliament. Kazakhstan has a bicameral Parliament. The Prime Minister is chair of the cabinet.

The judicial system is based on Soviet practices. The police, military, courts, and prisons mimic Soviet-era practices. The civil law system follows Roman-Germanic law in practice, but the Russian Federal system in theory. The country has several general jurisdiction courts which are headed by the Supreme Court. The President appoints Supreme Court and province-level appointments. District-level judges are appointed by the Ministry of Justice. Trial by jury was introduced to the country in 2007, in capital cases only. The Supreme Court has a 44-member system. Below it is the Constitutional Council with 7-members. The courts are broken down into local, provincial, and the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction.

The National Law Review covers the latest topics related to the country of Kazakhstan. International tariffs, imports and trade, and fraud cases are a few topics covered on the site. Human right violations and immigration news is also covered.