Back in 2006, the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was angry at Borat. The movie, starring Sacha Baron Cohen and shot in neighboring Romania, made fun of the country (as the movie's theme song proclaimed, it's the number one exporter of potassium, has the cleanest prostitutes in the region, and is overall a very nice place).
Now, Kazakhstan has changed its tune: it is now thankful for the movie, which brought in a lot of tourists!
The government of Kazakhstan has thanked Sacha Baron Cohen's creation Borat for boosting tourism in the country.
The authorities banned the film and threatened to sue the comedian after its release in 2006.
But now Kazakhstan's foreign minister has said he is "grateful" to Borat for "helping attract tourists" to the country.
He said 10 times more people were applying for visas to go there.
Previously on Neatorama: Borat National Anthem Played at Medal Ceremony
google "kuwait plays borat anthem"
It also has pretty much the largest most developed space port in the world. The ISS couldn't exist without Baikonur Cosmodrome.
During the Soviet years it was like the USSR's Texas. Those oil fields fueled the Soviet military complex.
I guess, like Texas they are open to parody due to their perceived backwards agrarian culture.