August 30 – Constitution Day in Kazakhstan

nPosted on August 30, 2019

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nParades! Fireworks! Concerts and ceremonies and celebrations!

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nMany nations celebrate their Independence Day as their most important patriotic holiday…but in Kazakhstan, the biggie is apparently Constitution Day. 

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nMy guess is that people enjoy festivities more in the summer than in winter – and Kazakhstan’s Independence Day is in December. 

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nIt might also be that Independence Day is the anniversary of the nation’s break-away from the Soviet Union in 1991, and Constitution Day is more recent, harkening back to 1995. Or it might be that Kazakhstan wasn’t all that eager to break from the USSR. It was, after all, the very last of the “republics” to declare independence. And it segued from a highly controlled society to…a highly controlled society. Kazakhstan’s first president ruled for almost three decades and was considered an authoritarian. He violated human rights and suppressed free speech and freedom of the press. He finally stepped down in March of this year.

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nI suppose that we’ll soon see if the nation moves toward democracy!

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nDid you know…?

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nKazakhstan is the location of the world’s first space launch site – and the largest space launch site – and probably the most used space launch site! The Kaikonur Cosmodrome is on lease to the Russian Space Agency until 2050.

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nI was so used to American-style “splash-downs” after spaceflight, and then Space Shuttles’ plane-like landings, that I was pretty shocked to realize that Soviet / Russian Soyuz space capsules landed with a thump on the barren land of Kazakhstan. Fifteen minutes before landing, four parachutes are deployed, and about seven feet above the ground, four rockets at the base fire to soften the landing. Another thing that helps astronauts land safely is the individually molded seats.

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nBy the way, it’s not just Russian cosmonauts that use the Cosmodrome; American astronauts and astronauts from all over the world use it, too. NASA astronauts commonly join cosmonauts on the Russian Soyuz to go up to the International Space Station and to later return to Earth.

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nAlso on this date:

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nOceanographer Sylvia Earle’s birthday
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• nAugust holidays

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• nAugust birthdays

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• nHistorical anniversaries in August

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• nSeptember holidays

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• nSeptember birthdays

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• nHistorical anniversaries in September

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