Independence Day of Kazakhstan (, , ), is the main national holiday of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, celebrated annually on 16 December.

Significance

In an attempt to keep unity within the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the country held a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on 16 March 1991; Kazakhstan voted 95% in favor of a new Union of Sovereign States. After the aborted coup d'état in August, the Supreme Soviet (Kazakhstan) passed the ''Constitutional Independence Law of Republic of Kazakhstan'' on 16 December 1991. Despite the swift

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, Kazakhstan was the last to declare its independence. The declaration was followed up by the Alma-Ata Protocol which would give birth to the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

. Independence ushered in the era under President

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhstani politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. He also held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council of ...

, during which a new bicameral Parliament and a new capital was established. Notable events that followed as an indirect result of independence include: * Kazakhstan became a member of the United Nations in March 1992 * Kazakhstan became a member of the International Monetary Fund in July 1992 *1993

Constitution of Kazakhstan The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the highest law of Kazakhstan, as stated in Article 4. The Constitution was approved by a constitutional referendum on 30 August 1995.Kazakhstan became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency in February 1994 * Project Sapphire operation which reduced the amount of nuclear material from Kazakhstan *1995 Constitution of Kazakhstan * 2007 amendment to the Constitution of Kazakhstan * Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy is introduced in 2012

General celebrations

The holiday is celebrated for 1 day on 16 December. If the 16 December falls on a weekend, the following Monday will be a holiday. Yurts (traditional tents) are set up in many villages where local delicacies will be served. It tends to be commemorated indoors due to the coinciding

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

season. The Astana Opera organizes concerts involving national orchestras that will perform traditional music. Many

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

politicians and activists use the holiday as an occasion to accuse to the

Russian government The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

of attempted genocide of the ethnic population during periods such as the Kazakh famine of 1932–33 and the population transfer of Kazakhs in the Soviet Union.

Jeltoqsan commemorations

Independence Day is also used as a day of remembrance of the 1986 Jeltoqsan protests, which was the starting point of discontent against Soviet rule, on Brezhnev Square (present-day Republic Square) against the government of Gennady Kolbin, which began on the same day as Independence Day. By the 1980s, democratization in the

began to rise with the 1986 protests, which followed a major unrest in Central and Eastern Europe that began in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

that spilled over into the individual republics.

Aqorda ceremony

A ceremony hosted by the President of Kazakhstan is held at the Aqorda Presidential Palace, in which the president presents orders, decorations, and medals of Kazakhstan to distinguished citizens. Many Kazakhs will dress up in traditional clothes at the formal ceremony in the

presidential palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...

Historical events

1996

The first independence day

military parade A military parade is a formation of military personnels whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as Drill team, drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the ...

of Kazakhstan was held on

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

's Republic Square in 1996 timed to the occasion of the 5th anniversary of independence. Minister of Defense Mukhtar Altynbayev opened the parade, which also saw a cavalry squadron from the

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

makes its debut appearance.

2001

To coincide with the 10th anniversary of Independence Day in 2001, commemorative medals and coins were issued as well as festive train tour named ''Менің Қазақстаным'' ("My Kazakhstan") was launched from May of that year and travelled around the country until December, stopping in places to hold events and concerts with local residents including in remote villages. The passengers on the train included famous artists, filmmakers, writers and journalists, doctors and officials, lawyers and librarians as well. In late August, Kazakh border guards held a relay race along the nation's boundaries from outpost to outpost where a miniature copy of the Golden Warrior Monument was passed. At a solemn meeting held on 16 December 2001 in

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

, President

presented a speech titled "Ten years equal to a century", where he emphasised the positive results that Kazakhstan has made for the decade since its independence.

2011

On 27 January 2011, President

signed a decree, declaring the year as the 20th anniversary of Independence Day that would be held under the motto of "20 years of peace and creation" as well as the formation of a state commission that would carry out the celebration. On 16 December, a constitutional act "On State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan" was adopted, which declared that the 20th anniversary celebrations took place amidst as a successful state with "a democratic, political and legal system, a stable economy and a high level of wellbeing of the population" as a "century-old dream" by ancestors that was fulfilled by Nazarbayev. That same day as various celebrations were held across the country, unrest broke out in town of Zhanaozen where striking oil workers disrupted a concert event held at the main square, resulting in clashes between the workers and police that led to several deaths as the unarmed protestors were gunned down, becoming one of Kazakhstan's most bloodiest event since its independence.

2016

Israeli prime minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

visited in 2016 to attend the 25th anniversary celebrations.

2021

For the 30th anniversary in 2021, a commission under the Ministry of Information and Social Development to prepare for the anniversary was established in October 2019. President

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev (born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakhstani politician and diplomat who has served as the second president of Kazakhstan since 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 ...

announced that an amnesty will be held for those brought to criminal responsibility. In January 2021, Tokayev proposed that during the celebrations, a short history of Kazakhstan should be written for a foreign audience (translated in to the languages of the world) as means of "not succumbing to the influence of alien ideology".

Foreign celebrations

On the first anniversary in 1992, an orchestra of folk instruments from Semipalatinsk took part in a ceremony hosted by the Kazakh embassy in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Many celebrations in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

are held by the diaspora in the state of New York as well as the Kazakh embassy in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

References

External links

Independence Day
{{Use dmy dates, date=February 2025

Society of Kazakhstan Public holidays in Kazakhstan