Kazakhstan is an area.
Kazakhstan . Respublika Kazakhstan ) , is a transcontinental country in northern Central Asia and Eastern Europe . Kazakhstan is the world 's largest landlocked country , and the ninth largest in the world , with an area of 2,724,900 km ² . Kazakhstan is officially a democratic , secular , unitary , constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage . Kazakhstan has an estimated 18 million people , Given its large land area , its population density is among the lowest , at less than 6 people per square kilometre ( 15 people per sq. mi . ) Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 .