Kazakhstan lies in the north of the central Asian republics and is bounded by Russia in the north, China in the east, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the south, and the Caspian Sea and part of Turkmenistan in the west. It’s world’s ninth largest country. Here you will discover the land of ancient warriors of Genghis Khan, hot sands of deserts and alpenglow snow-caped peaks, hospitable shepherds and pristine wilderness, rushing streams and lush meadows.

This typical landlocked country has great diversity of landscapes: different types of steppes and deserts, few types of forests, large lakes, mountains regions raising above 7 000 m (23 000 ft) with magnificent gorges and white-capped peaks. The northern region is represented by the forest-steppe ecosystems of the Western-Siberian Lowland. Further south it changes for the steppe followed by desert (which covers over 44% of the total area of the country). The mountains are covered by different types of forests, alpine meadows, tundra, eternal snows and glaciers. Kazakhstan’s nature is unique for birding, activity of observing wild birds.

Life suddenly gets more interesting when you become aware of the varied bird life all around the world. Especially if you will see such birds as black lark, relict gull, Himalayan rubythroat, Himalayan snow cock, white-winged lark, sociable lapwing, ibis-bill, pale-blacked pigeon, flocks of rosy starlings. Kazakhstan has an immense diversity of habitats ranging from huge canyons to sand deserts and from beautiful Spruce forests to the glaciers in mountains.

Compared with other parts of the world, the nature of Kazakhstan, with its huge distances, endless steppes, and extensive mountain ranges has surprising hotspots.