- Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country mostly in Central Asia, with a part in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, with a coastline along the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Astana, while the largest city and leading cultural and commercial hub is Almaty. Kazakhstan is the world’s ninth-largest country by land area and the largest landlocked country. It has a population of 20 million and one of the lowest population densities in the world, at fewer than 6 people per square kilometre (16 people/sq mi). Ethnic Kazakhs constitute a majority, while ethnic Russians form a significant minority. Officially secular, Kazakhstan is a Muslim-majority country, although ethnic Russians in the country form a sizeable Christian community.
- Carnation (Tolt) — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
Carnation (previously Tolt), a rural community along the Snoqualmie River in eastern King County, was founded early in the settlement of the county. The town was named after the world-famous Carnation Dairy, a dairy operation that located in Tolt in 1910. The confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie rivers has been the main village site for the Snoqualmie tribe for thousands of years. When non-Native settlers arrived in the 1850s, the tribe greeted them in a friendly manner, so much so that in 1855, Chief Patkanim ceded the valley and tribal sites to the United States, opening the way for many homesteaders. The city of Carnation has seen many changes over the years, not the least of which is its own name.
