Abstract
The article examines the main stages of formation and the current state of the supporting framework of settlement in Kazakhstan, which has developed as a result of two conjugate trends — centripetal expressed in the development of large cities and urban agglomerations and linear-directional manifested through the development of highways and polyhighways. The main milestones of the development of the railway network of Kazakhstan as the main mode of transport and which became the basis of the supporting framework of settlement are considered. The authors have identified linear and nodal elements and components of the polyhighways of the settlement support frame and note that the most generalized nodal image of the region is represented in the form of a rhombus, the vertices of which are urban agglomerations. The formation of the basic framework of settlement in Kazakhstan and its development is currently a reflection of the spatial organization of the population and economy.