Posted on August 30, 2019
Parades! Fireworks! Concerts and ceremonies and celebrations!
Many nations celebrate their Independence Day as their most important patriotic holiday...but in Kazakhstan, the biggie is apparently Constitution Day.
My guess is that people enjoy festivities more in the summer than in winter - and Kazakhstan's Independence Day is in December.
It might also be that Independence Day is the anniversary of the nation's break-away from the Soviet Union in 1991, and Constitution Day is more recent, harkening back to 1995. Or it might be that Kazakhstan wasn't all that eager to break from the USSR. It was, after all, the very last of the "republics" to declare independence. And it segued from a highly controlled society to...a highly controlled society. Kazakhstan's first president ruled for almost three decades and was considered an authoritarian. He violated human rights and suppressed free speech and freedom of the press. He finally stepped down in March of this year.
I suppose that we'll soon see if the nation moves toward democracy!
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| Kazakhstan is the ninth largest nation (by area) in the world. Do you know which nations are larger? Maybe the map can help you figure it out... Answers below: (1.Russia - 2.Canada - 3.China - 4.United States - 5.Brazil 6.Australia - 7.India - 8.Argentina) |
Did you know...?
Kazakhstan is the location of the world's first space launch site - and the largest space launch site - and probably the most used space launch site! The Kaikonur Cosmodrome is on lease to the Russian Space Agency until 2050.
I was so used to American-style "splash-downs" after spaceflight, and then Space Shuttles' plane-like landings, that I was pretty shocked to realize that Soviet / Russian Soyuz space capsules landed with a thump on the barren land of Kazakhstan. Fifteen minutes before landing, four parachutes are deployed, and about seven feet above the ground, four rockets at the base fire to soften the landing. Another thing that helps astronauts land safely is the individually molded seats.
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| These photos show cosmonauts shortly after landing on the flat, barren lands of Kazakhstan. |
By the way, it's not just Russian cosmonauts that use the Cosmodrome; American astronauts and astronauts from all over the world use it, too. NASA astronauts commonly join cosmonauts on the Russian Soyuz to go up to the International Space Station and to later return to Earth.
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