Gratitude Day in Kazakhstan Date in the current year: March 1, 2024

The Republic of Kazakhstan is a multiethnic state. The current ethnic composition of Kazakhstan was influenced by several factors. During the Second World War, the Soviet Government deported many ethnic groups (Poles, Koreans, Germans, Greeks, Crimean Tatars, etc.) to Kazakhstan because it feared they would collaborate with the Nazis. In the 1950s, about a million Russians, Belorussians and Ukrainians arrived in Kazakhstan during the Virgin Lands Campaign.

The Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (until 2007 known as the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan) was established on March 1, 1995 to protect the rights and freedoms of all citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan regardless of their ethnicity and religious beliefs as well as to promote the development of traditions, languages and national cultures of the peoples of Kazakhstan.

Gratitude Day was established by the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in January 2016 during the anniversary session of the Assembly. According to the President, the new holiday is a day of gratitude of all ethnic groups to one another and to the Kazakhs who welcomed them with open arms. It is the day of patriotism, cultural diversity and friendship between all the citizens of Kazakhstan regardless of their ethnicity.