Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Asia and a former republic of the now extinct USSR. A portion of its territory west of the Ural River is located in eastern-most Europe. It has borders with Russia, the People's Republic of China, and countries of Central Asia, such as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and has a coastline on the Caspian Sea.

Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world by area, but its semi-deserts (steppe) make it only the 57th country in population, with approximately 6 persons per sq km (16 per sq mi). The declining population in 2005 was estimated at 15,100,500

Whilst Kazakhstan may have had a checkered history as Soviet nuclear test site and missile target, the sear expanse and mountainous terrain has produced some top cyclists such as Alexander Vinokourov who raced for T-Mobile and finished 3rd in the 2003 Tour de France.