Kazakhstan, republic in Central Asia, bordered on the north by Russia; on the east by China; on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan; and on the west by the Caspian Sea and Russia. It was formerly the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). With an area of 2,717,300 sq km (1,049,155 sq mi)