s--1 Intelsat and a new digital
satellite earth station established at Almaty; a third satellite
earth station at Atyrau provides teleconnectivity to the AT&T
network via Intelsat; cable connected by the Trans-Asia-Europe
Fiber-Optic Line

Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA

Radios: 4.088 million (with multiple speakers for program
diffusion 6.082 million)

Television broadcast stations: 20 (of which at least eight are
government stations and at least 12 are private stations--seven of
those are satellite TV relay stations) (1997)

Televisions: 4.75 million

Transportation

Railways:
total: 14,400 km in common carrier service; does not include
industrial lines
broad gauge: 14,400 km 1.520-m gauge (3,299 km electrified) (1997)

Highways:
total: 141,000 km
paved: 104,200 km
unpaved: 36,800 km (1997 est.)

Waterways: 3,900 km on the Syrdariya (Syr Darya) and Ertis
(Irtysh)

Pipelines: crude oil 2,850 km; refined products 1,500 km; natural
gas 3,480 km (1992)

Ports and harbors: Aqtau (Shevchenko), Atyrau (Gur'yev), Oskemen
(Ust-Kamenogorsk), Pavlodar, Semey (Semipalatinsk)

Airports: 10 (1997 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (1997 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1997 est.)

Military

Military branches: General Purpose Forces (Army), Air Force,
Border Guards, Navy, Republican Guard

Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 4,450,258 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 3,550,645 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 155,767 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $232.4 million (1998)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 1% (1998)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet
determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and
Turkmenistan; Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory
enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome

Illicit drugs: significant illicit cultivation of cannabis and
limited cultivation of opium poppy and ephedra (for the drug
ephedrone); limited government eradication program; cannabis
consumed largely in the CIS; used as transshipment point for illicit
drugs to Russ