Most of this area lies within the Kazakh Upland(4) and the Balkash(5) Basin. The exceptions are the mountains partly defining the basin, and a bit of the Turanian Lowland(6) in the far west, specifically the northeast end of the Pre-Aral Kara Kum Desert(7).
The Kazakh Upland varies in height from about 200 meters to nearly 1,600. Part of southwest Qaragandi Province is drained by the Sarysu River, whose feeds are intermittent and whose lower course--exiting the province southward--becomes intermittent. Much of northern Qaragandi is drained by two rivers that flow into Lake Tengiz(8), which lies on the Astana Province border.
It is probable that native Russian speakers are a majority in both provinces, though perhaps only in the cities and towns. Some of these are ethnically Russian, some Kazakh. The Russian-speaking ethnic Kazakhs are under coercive pressure to learn Kazakh and abandon Russian.
Almati is the only metropolitan area with a million residents.
north of Qaragandi Province
northeast and east of Qarangandi Province, and north of Almati Province
east of Almati Province
southeast
south of Almati Province
west of Almati Province, and south of Qarangandi Province
northwest of Qarangandi Province
(1) Also transliterated as Kazachstan or Kazakstan.
(2) Formerly Karaganda. Also transliterated as Karagandi.
(3) Formerly Almaty or Alma-Alta or Vernyi.
(4) Transliterates from Russian as Kazachskij (or Kazachskiy) Melkosopochnik.
(5) Or Balchas, with a diacritical on the s.
(6) Also called the Turkestan Lowland. Transliterates from Russian as Turanskaja (or Turanskaya) Nizmennost'.
(7) Transliterates from Russian as Peski Priaral'skije (or Priaral'skiye) Karakumy.
(8) One river flows along the province's northern border, the other exits into Astana province.