Kazakhstan observes this day as a national holiday every year on December 16. This celebration lasts for two days, and December 17th is a holiday. Depending on what day of the week December 16 falls on, the holiday season may occasionally be prolonged by the third day. The occasion commemorates Kazakhstan’s declaration of independence on December 16, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The nomadic tribes had historically inhabited the Kazak region. The Russian Empire expanded into the area in the 18th century, and by the middle of the 19th century, it was in complete control of Kazakhstan. Civil conflict broke out in the region following the 1917 Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union, despite numerous attempts to bring the locals together. The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was formally established in 1936. On October 25, 1990, the Kazakh SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic) ratified the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of the country, marking the first step toward achieving independence. The proclamation served as the foundation for the 1991 development and adoption of Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Law on Independence.
Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence, four days after Russia. For a short period of time, Kazakhstan was the entire Soviet Union. On December 16th 1991 Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected the First President of Kazakhstan. The Supreme Council adopted the constitutional law “On State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.
