The Cleveland Kazakh community demonstrated their heritage at One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. One World Day has been the official event of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation since 1946. The Kazakh community participated in the Parade of Flags which had 1500 people from over 53 countries.
Kazakh Community in the Parade of Flags on One World Day 2024
On March 30, the Nauryz holiday took place. The organizer of the event is Aigerim Alibek, an ambassador of the Kazakh community and a teacher of the Cleveland Ballet Theater.
Representatives of the Kazakh, Uzbek, and Kyrgyz communities attended the festival. Dances of different nationalities and traditional cuisine were presented on the event.
Thnaks to Ambassador Alibek for these photos.
Welcome Kazakh Ambassador Aigerim Alibek
Welcome to Aigerim Alibek who is a leader of the Kazakh ethnic community living in Cleveland, Ohio. She is our new Ambassador to the Kazakh community.
Aigerim Alibek
Aigerim was born and raised in Almaty, Kazakhstan and now she and her husband and children live here in Cleveland. She is a Laureate of International dance competitions as a choreographer. (Kazakhstan, Georgia, Spain, Russia) and is a member of the International Organization CID (International Dance Council). In November 2023, she took part in the International Congress of Dance Research in Hallandale Beach, Florida where she presented Kazakh folk dances and conducted master classes for dancers and choreographers from different countries: USA, China, India, Honduras, Argentina, Spain, Ukraine, and Croatia.
Aigerim is a choreographer of folk dances and flamenco, as well as the head of the dance studio "All in dance" in Kazakhstan, Almaty city. She regularly teaches Flamenco, Spanish dance, Flamenco fusion, Middle East dances, Folk Dance (Kazakh, Indian, Uzbek, Spanish, Greek, Caucasian, Gypsy) and so on and caters to specific custom tailored events.
She has been teaching children and adults of different ages for 18 years and is currently a dance teacher on the faculty of Cleveland Ballet Theatre. She teaches students dances of different nationalities, and also introduces them to the culture, music and traditions of a particular people. She received her training in the field of choreography in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Spain.
Aigerim speaks fluent Kazakh, English, Russian and Turkish and has a Master's degree in International Relations. In 2023 she organized the first procession of Kazakhs in the Parade of Flags on One World Day.
As Ambassador, Aigerim will keep us posted on events, news and people of the local Kazakh community such as these photos of a Kazakh picnic and delicious food.
Welcome Aigerim!
2023
Kazakhstan Community at One World Day
One World Day has been the official event of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation since 1946. Over 50,000 people visited the gardens on One World Day 2023.
The Kazakhstan Community participated in the Parade of Flags which had 1500 people from over 53 countries.
Watch the video of the Parade of Flags.
Cleveland Kazakhstan Community in Parade of Flags on One World Day
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Fun with Maps - Kazakhstan and other "-Stan" Countries
We have always planned on doing a Fun with Maps episode on one or more of the "Stan" countries. Just not yet. Unfortunately, the news has made me change the schedule and focus on the map of a very troubled place - Afghanistan.
This episode looks at the group of seven countries known as the "Stan" countries in the heart of Central and South Asia. Then we drill down more into the map of Afghanistan, its capital Kabul and more.
Ethnic Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes with additional Persian cultural influences, migrated to the region in the 15th century. The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Kazakhstan
became a Soviet Republic in 1925. The country gained independence in 1991.
Ethnic Kazakhs derive from a mix of Turkic nomadic tribes that migrated to the region in the 15th century. The Kazakh steppe was conquered by the Russian Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1925. Repression and starvation caused by forced agricultural collectivization led to more than a million deaths in the early 1930s. During the 1950s and 1960s, the agricultural "Virgin Lands" program led to an influx of settlers (mostly ethnic Russians, but also other nationalities) and at the time of Kazakhstan’s independence in 1991, ethnic Kazakhs were a minority. Non-Muslim ethnic minorities departed Kazakhstan in large numbers from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s and a national program has repatriated about a million ethnic Kazakhs (from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, and the Xinjiang region of China) back to Kazakhstan. As a result of this shift, the ethnic Kazakh share of the population now exceeds two-thirds.
Kazakhstan's economy is the largest in the Central Asian states, mainly due to the country's vast natural resources. Current issues include: diversifying the economy, obtaining membership in global and regional international economic institutions, enhancing Kazakhstan's economic competitiveness, and strengthening relations with neighboring states and foreign powers.
>Measured by surface area, the Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland water body. It covers roughly 371,000 sq km (143,200 sq mi) and borders five countries. To the ancient Greeks and Persians, the lake's immense size suggested it was an ocean, hence its name. A large expanse of clear sky permitted this natural-color satellite image of the entire water body. The color of the Caspian Sea darkens from north to south, thanks to changes in depth and perhaps sediment and other runoff.
The northern part of the lake is just 5 to 6 m (16 to 20 ft) deep. The southern end, however, plunges more than 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Just as the lake reaches a greater depth in the south, the nearby land reaches a greater height. The mountains of northern Iran line the southern end of the giant lake, and emerald green vegetation clings to those mountain slopes. In marked contrast to the mountains, sand seas line the southeastern and northern perimeters of the lake, and marshes occur along the lake shores in Azerbaijan to the west. Multiple rivers empty into the Caspian Sea, the Volga being the largest. Lacking an outlet, the Caspian Sea loses water only by evaporation, leading to the accumulation of salt. Although a lake, the Caspian is not a freshwater lake; the water delivered by the Volga River minimizes the lake's salt content at the northern end, but the Caspian grows more saline to the south. Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a saline inlet along the lake's eastern perimeter. Image courtesy of NASA.
The Hazrat Sultan (Holy Sultan) Mosque in Nur-Sultan is the largest mosque in Central Asia. Built on the bank of the Esil River, the building was constructed between 2009 and 2012 in the classic Islamic style using traditional Kazakh ornaments. At 110, 000 sq m (11 hectares; 27 acres), the mosque can accommodate up to ten thousand worshipers.
