The number of centenarians in Kazakhstan has reached 487, QazMonitor reports with reference to the Central Communications Service.
Among the country’s now 17 regions, Turkistan has the highest number of centenarians at 75 residents, followed by the city of Almaty at 62 and the Almaty region at 55.
Kazakhstan’s oldest resident lives in the Turkistan region and has already celebrated his 121st birthday. The second oldest is a 120-year-old resident from Shymkent and the third oldest is 119 and from the Zhambyl region.
The data was collected by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection for International Day of Older Persons observed annually around the world on October 1. The holiday was proclaimed during the 45th session of the UN General Assembly on December 14, 1990.
According to the United Nations, the theme of this year’s celebration will be “Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World”, which raises awareness of the impact of socioeconomic, environmental, health, and climate changes on the lives of older persons, especially older women who constitute the majority of the older population.