Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (Kazakh: Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, romanized: Nūrsūltan Äbışūly Nazarbaev, pronounced [nʊrsʊɫˈtɑn æbɪ̞ɕʊˈlʊ nɑzɑɾˈbɑjɪf]; born 6 July 1940) is a Soviet and Kazakh politician who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in office from country’s independence in 1991 until his formal resignation in 2019, and as the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2022. He held the special title as Elbasy (meaning "Leader of the Nation", Kazakh pronunciation: [jelˈbasɯ]) from 2010 to 2022. Nazarbayev was one of the longest-ruling non-royal leaders in the world, having led Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, excluding chairmanship in the Security Council after the end of his presidency. He was named First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR in 1989 and was elected as the nation's first president shortly before its independence from the Soviet Union.
