Eastern Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan

[4] As in the rest of Central Asia, in ancient times there were communities of the Church of the East in what today is Kazakhstan.

[5] These communities were long extinct by the time the modern history of Orthodoxy started in Kazakhstan with the expansion of the Russian Empire into the region.

Following the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan was reorganized into three eparchies - of Almaty and Semey, Shymkent and Akmola, and Oral and Guryevskiy.

Although not autonomous or self-governing, the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan has its own statute approved by the Russian Orthodox Holy Synod and is responsible for coordinating the educational programs, publishing work, social outreach, and missionary efforts of Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan.

The Eparchy of Astana and Almaty, however, covers two separate areas centered on the former and current capital cities of Kazakhstan.

Map showing share of Russians by districts and cities in Kazakhstan, 2021
The share of Russians by districts and cities in Kazakhstan, 2021
Eparchies of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan: Astana and Almaty (bright green); Karaganda and Shakhtinsk (yellow); Kokshetau and Akmola (bright purple); Kostanay and Rudny (orange); Oral and Aktobe (red); Pavlodar and Ekibastuz (blue); Petropavlovsk and Bulaevo (green); Shymkent and Taraz (purple); Oskemen and Semey (brown)