Kazakhstani tenge : Ask Biography

Currency

Local name

Қазақ теңгесі
Казахский тенге

ISO 4217 Code

KZT

Official user

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan

Inflation

0.2% (December 2008)

Subunit

1/100

tïın (тиын)

Symbol

, ₸

Coins and Banknotes

Freq. used coins

1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 tenge

Central bank

National Bank of Kazakhstan

Home | Currency | Kazakhstani tenge

The tenge ( ) is the currency of Kazakhstan. It is divided into 100 tïın (тиын, also transliterated as tiyin or tijn). It was introduced on 15th of November 1993 to replace the Soviet ruble at a rate of 1 tenge=500 rubles. The ISO-4217 code is KZT.

The word tenge in the Kazakh and most other Turkic languages means a set of scales (cf the old Uzbek tenga or the Tajik borrowed term tanga). The origin of the word is the Turkic teğ- which means being equal, balance. The name of this currency is thus similar to the lira, pound and peso. The name of the currency is related to the Russian word for money , which was borrowed from Turkic.