Kazakhstan 哈薩克共和國
Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world and has one of the world's largest reserves of unexplored oil. Poverty is widespread in Kazakhstan, but it has been using its oil wealth to modernize and to exert its international clout.
哈薩克共和國是全世界最大的內陸國家，並蘊藏最豐富的未開發油礦。
PHOTO: AFP
貧窮的問題在當地極為普遍，但該國亦利用石油所得推行現代化，並藉此發揮國際影響力。
A closer look 說古論今
PHOTO: EPA
Spread out over 2.7 million km2, Kazakhstan is an enormous country with a diverse range of landscapes. The Kazakh steppe covers about one third of the country and is the largest dry steppe in the world, and lying on the borders of the country are both the Caspian and the Aral Seas.
The people of Kazakhstan are almost as diverse as the landscape. Kazakhs make up about half the population, Russians make up about a quarter and a variety of smaller ethnic minorities make up the rest.
Kazakhstan is a former autonomous republic of the USSR and declared independence in 1991. From the start of Kazakhstan's independence to the present, the country has been governed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
During his time in office, Nazarbayev has worked hard to consolidate his power. Dissent is suppressed and elections have been run with little regard to fairness. But analysts say that Nazarbayev is generally popular, and Kazakhs are optimistic of a future economic boom.
Kazakhstan has many powerful allies in the West, including the US and the UK, both of whom appreciate Kazakhstan's energy supplies and its support of the Iraq War. Nazarbayev has said he feels Kazakhstan will become one of the world's 50 most developed countries by 2013, which is an attainable goal because of the oil wealth that is being used to drive the country's development.(Michael Kearney, Staff Writer)
哈薩克面積達兩百七十萬平方公里；幅員遼闊，擁有多元地理景觀。哈薩克大草原覆蓋著該國三分之一的面積，是全世界最大的乾草原，邊界則接臨裏海和鹹海。
該國人種幾乎就跟其地理景觀一樣多元。哈薩克人佔了約一半人口，俄羅斯人佔了約四分之一，其它則由各種少數民族組成。
哈薩克曾是前「蘇維埃社會主義共和國聯盟」的自治共和國，它在一九九一年宣佈獨立。從獨立至今，皆由總統努爾蘇丹:納扎爾巴耶夫所統治。
納扎爾巴耶夫任內致力鞏固政權。異議份子被鎮壓，選舉也毫無公平性可言。但分析家說他還蠻受歡迎的，哈薩克人對未來的經濟發展也十分樂觀。
哈薩克還有許多強而有力的西方盟友，包括美國和英國。他們很感激該國的能源供應，和對伊拉克戰爭的支持。納扎爾巴耶夫曾表示，他覺得到了二Ｏ一三年，該國會變成全球發展最快的前五十個國家之一。這個目標很有可能達成，因為石油所得的利潤正促進該國的發展。（翻譯：張愛弟）
WHO KNEW? 你知道嗎?
Kazakhstan was thrust into the headlines by the 2006 film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
In the film, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen plays Borat Sagdiyev, a Kazakh television reporter. The film depicts Borat, and most Kazakhs, as racist anti-Semites who like to drink horse urine.
Based on an interview conducted in Britain, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev seemed to take the film in good humor, stating, "The film was created by a comedian, so let's laugh at it."
But many other Kazakhs were not amused. The foreign ministry even threatened to take legal action.
In response to the controversy, Baron Cohen said, "The joke is not on Kazakhstan. I think the joke is on people who can believe that the Kazakhstan that I describe can exist."
哈薩克因二ＯＯ六年的電影「芭樂特：哈薩克青年必修（理）美國文化」而登上國際頭條。
在該片中，英國喜劇演員沙夏:拜倫柯恩扮演哈薩克電視記者「芭樂特」。該影片將芭樂特和許多哈薩克人描述成種族歧視者，和愛喝馬尿的反猶太主義者。
從一段英國的訪問看來，哈薩克總統納扎爾巴耶夫似乎以幽默的角度來看待它。他還說：「這部片子是由喜劇演員拍的，所以笑一笑就好。」
但許多其他哈薩克人並不覺得好笑，外交部甚至還威脅要採取法律行動。
拜倫柯恩回應此一爭議時說：「玩笑並非針對哈薩克人，而是那些相信我所描述的人事物真實存在的人。」
WHAT TIME IS IT THERE ? 現在那裡幾點？
Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is two hours behind Taipei. When it's 5pm in Taipei, it's 3pm in Astana. Note that Kazakhstan is divided into three different time zones.
哈薩克首都阿斯塔納市，時間比台北晚兩個小時。台北下午五點是阿斯塔納下午三點。注意唷，哈薩克總共橫跨了三個時區！
ABOUT KAZAKHSTAN 國家概況
Size: 2,717,300km2. Kazakhstan is about 76 times the size of Taiwan.
Location: Central Asia
Border countries: China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Capital: Astana
Population: about 15,285,000
Languages: Kazakh and Russian
Government: Authoritarian presidential rule
Currency: NT$1 is about 3.7 Kazkh tenge
面積：兩百七十一萬七千三百平方公里，相當於台灣的七十六倍
位置：中亞地區
鄰國：中國、吉爾吉斯、俄羅斯、土庫曼、烏茲別克
首都：阿斯塔納
人口：約一千五百二十八萬五千人
語言：哈薩克語、俄語
政體：獨裁總統制
貨幣：新台幣一元約等於三點七哈薩克坦吉
FLAG 國旗
The flag of Kazakhstan is blue with a traditional pattern on the left and a sun with a steppe eagle flying underneath it in the center. The pattern represents the traditions of the khanate and the Kazakh people, and the eagle represents freedom and evokes memories of the country's great history.
哈薩克國旗底色為藍色，靠近左側有著傳統式的花紋，中間有一個太陽，底下有一隻「草原鵰」振翅高飛。該花紋代表古代可汗及哈薩克人的傳統，大鵰則代表自由，並藉以喚起對該國偉大歷史的記憶。
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