Rivers Of Kazakhstan

The only authorized means of shipment of an unloaded personal firearm to or from post is in your HHE.  The employee is responsible for obtaining any customs declarations and export forms that may be required by U.S. law.  Personal firearms cannot be sold or traded to host or third-country nationals, including members of other diplomatic missions.  However, such firearms may be sold or presented as gifts to other U.S. citizen members of the Mission with the prior written approval of the Chief of Mission.  For all required forms and details of the procedure, contact the RSO at Embassy Almaty. Currency, Banking, and Weights and MeasuresLast Updated:  3/31/2003 6:00 PM The Kazakhstani unit of currency is the tenge, which is divisible by 100. The rate of exchange is rel ... [Read More]

Transboundary Water Resources Management

The United States Government (USG) is actively participating in a wide range of transboundary related activities targeted at improving water resources management that is consistent with the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management. These activities include regional frameworks for cooperation in selected river basins, increased stakeholder awareness of river basin management issues, and strengthening the capacity of relevant regional river basin institutions. The USG is advancing the adoption of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) practices in a number of transboundary rivers, including major activities in Central Asia and Southern Africa. These efforts emphasize the application of sound science and the active participation of stakeholders, and include the: ... [Read More]

Uzbekistan (07/05)

With the closure or downsizing of many foreign firms, it is relatively easy to find qualified, well-trained employees, and salaries are very low by Western standards. The government has implemented salary caps in an attempt to prevent firms from circumventing restrictions on the withdrawal of cash from banks. Some firms had tried in the past to evade these limits on withdrawals by inflating salaries of employees, allowing firms to withdraw more money. These salary caps prevent many foreign firms from paying their workers as much as they would like. Labor market regulations in Uzbekistan are similar to those of the Soviet Union, with all rights guaranteed but some rights unobserved. Unemployment is a growing problem and the number of people looking for jobs in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Southeast Asia is increasing each year. According to official Ministry of Labor estimates, around 100,000 citizens of Uzbekistan work abroad. However, business analysts estimate that the number of Uzbek cit ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Fact Sheet: U.S. Supports Transboundary Water Management

The USG is advancing the adoption of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) practices in a number of transboundary rivers, including major activities in Central Asia and Southern Africa. These efforts emphasize the application of sound science and the active participation of stakeholders, and include the: ...

The United States Government (USG) is actively participating in a wide range of transboundary related activities targeted at improving water resources management that is consistent with the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management. These activities include regional frameworks for cooperation in selected river basins, increased stakeholder awareness of river basin management issues, and strengthening the capacity of relevant regional river basin institutions. ... [Read More]

Tajikistan (10/04)

Branches: Executive--chief of state: President Emomali RAHMONOV since November 6, 1994; head of state and Supreme Assembly chairman since November 19, 1992; head of government: Prime Minister Oqil OQILOV since January 20, 1999. Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the Supreme Assembly. Elections: president elected by popular vote for a 7-year term; election last held November 6, 1999 (next to be held in 2006); prime minister appointed by the president. Election results: Emomali RAHMONOV elected president; percent of vote: Emomali RAHMONOV 96%, Davlat USMONOV 4%. Legislative--bicameral Supreme Assembly or Majlisi Oli consists of the Assembly of Representatives or Majlisi Namoyanandagon (lower chamber; 63 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms) and the National Assembly or Majlisi Milliy (upper chamber; 33 seats; members are indirectly elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms, 25 selected by local dep ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

The Kyrgyz Republic is positioned near the middle of the Eurasian landmass, and there is no body of water large enough to influence weather patterns.  Those factors create a distinctly continental climate that has significant local variations.  Although the mountains tend to collect clouds and block sunlight (reducing some narrow valleys at certain times of year to no more than three or four hours of sunlight per day), the country is generally sunny, receiving as much as 2,900 hours of sunlight per year in some areas.  The same conditions also affect temperatures, which can vary significantly from place to place.  In January the warmest average temperature (24.8°F, -4 [Read More]

State Department Terrorism Report: Europe, Eurasia Overview - US Department of State

Spain has arrested and indicted scores of individuals with possible links to al-Qa’ida since September 11. In November, Spanish police arrested more than 30 suspected members of a radical Islamic organization, disrupting apparent plans to bomb Spain’s High Court, Madrid’s largest soccer stadium, the headquarters of the opposition Popular Party, an office building, and other public landmarks. Spain requested the extradition from Switzerland of Mohamed Achraf, the alleged leader of this terrorist conspiracy, also known as “Mikael Etienne Christian Lefevre.” Extradition was authorized in January 2005 by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, and in April 2005, Achraf’s appeal against extradition was denied. In May, a Spanish judge ordered the detention of three Algerian nationals and one Spanish national for their ties to an al-Qa’ida cell in Hamburg, Germany. Police in Barcelona arrested ten Pakistani nationals suspected of providing logistical and financial support to Islami ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

Aral Sea Crisis. The Aral Sea lies between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in a vast geological depression, fed by the Amu Darya and Syr‑Darya Rivers, with no outlet. Before its drastic decline, the Aral Sea was the fourth largest inland water lake in the world. In the past 40 years, the Aral Sea has lost 73% of its volume and 50% of its previous surface area; its level has dropped nearly 50 feet, splitting it in two. Its salinity has increased threefold. What little water is left of the two rivers after massive irrigation of the desert, is poisoned by the excessive use of chemicals, much of which enters the rivers upstream, a by‑product of growing cotton and rice. The desiccation of the Aral Sea has wiped out its fishing industry and destroyed nearby ecosystems. Respiratory diseases and mortality rates are steadily increasing in the surrounding areas because toxic herbicides and pesticides used by Soviet agricultural programs lie exposed on the seabed by droppin ... [Read More]

USIS - Global Issues - Fuller on environmentaleducation

The era of modern environmental policy may have begun withthe first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 -- a year that also markedthe founding of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At that time the nation became alarmed when thousands of leakingbarrels of toxic chemicals were discovered at Love Canal, NewYork; when the water in the city of New Orleans became socontaminated that people could not drink it; and when theCuyahoga River in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire as aresult of pollution. ... [Read More]