King Fahad cultural center will be hosting Kazakhstan culture week. There will be exhibits showing various elements of Kazakhstani culture, as well as booths and activities from the entire family.

Kazakhistan 101:

1. Officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated inEurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world’s largest landlocked country

2. Kazakhstan declared itself an independent country on December 16, 1991, the last Soviet republic to do so.

3. Buoyed by high world crude oil prices, GDP growth figures were in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005: 9.8%, 13.2%, 9.5%, 9.2%, 9.4%, and 9.2%, respectively. Other major exports of Kazakhstan include wheat, textiles, and livestock. Kazakhstan forecasts that it will become the world’s leading exporter of uranium by the year 2010.

4. Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Kazakhstan. Ice hockey, cycling, boxing and Equestrian are also very popular sports.

5. Traditional Kazakh belief held that separate spirits inhabited and animated the earth, sky, water and fire, as well as domestic animals.

6. Refreshments often include black tea and traditional milk-derived drinks such as ayran, shubat and kymyz. A traditional Kazakh dinner involves a multitude of appetisers on the table, followed by a soup and one or two main courses such as pilaf and beshbarmak. They also drink their national beverage, which consists of fermented mare’s milk.

7. Kazakhstan is home to a large number of prominent contributors to literature, science and philosophy: Abay Qunanbayuli, Al-Farabi, Mukhtar Auezov, Gabit Musirepov, Kanysh Satpayev, Mukhtar Shakhanov, Saken Seyfullin, Jambyl Jabayev, among many others.

The event will take place from Oct 25-31, 2009 at King Fahad Culture Center. For directions, click here

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