Country Information
Make your reservation nowOfficial name:
Republic of Kazakhstan
Location:Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe.
Territory: 2,717,300 sq km
Population: 15,14 million people.
Capital: Astana; note - the government moved from Almaty to Astana in December 1998
Airport:
Almaty Int´l Airport (ALA/UAAA)
Astana Int'l Airport (TSE)
Atyrau Airport (GUW/UAGZ)
Karaganda - Sary Arka Airport (KGF/UAKK)
Major cities: Almaty Qalasy, Astana Qalasy, Bayqongyr Qalasy.
Main languages: Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001 est.)
Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%
Climate: continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid.
Average temperatures: Average winter temperatures are -3°C in the north and 18°C in the south; summer temperatures average 19°C in the north and 28°-30°C in the south. Within locations differences are extreme, and temperature can change very suddenly. The winter air temperature can fall to -50°C, and in summer the ground temperature can reach as high as 70°C.
Monetary unit: Tenge (KZT)
Local time: Standard time zone: UTC/GMT +6 hours. Daylight saving time: +1 hour
National holidays: Republic Day, 25 October (1990)
Major tourist sights:
Astana:
Kazakstan's capital (known as Aqmola until May 1998) was a tiny mining town until the 1950s, when Krushchev announced his Virgin Lands scheme to turn 250,000 sq km (155,000 sq mi) of Kazakstan steppe into wheat and cotton fields. Astana became the project's capital, was renamed Tselinograd (Virgin Lands City), and became the centre of an important grain-growing region. The capital was shifted from Almaty to Astana in December 1997 amid almost universal reluctance. President Nazarbaev cited Astana's more central and less earthquake-prone location and better rail links with Russia among its advantages. Politicians grumbled about its freezing winters and extremely sticky summers.
It's a friendly and fairly low-rise town, with some attractive tree-lined streets, but it's prone to strong steppe winds. The population is around 70% Russian, Ukrainian and German, and 30% Kazakh. There are no plans to move embassies and consulates from Almaty, so the only reason you're likely to end up in Astana is if your train passes through. If you're deadset on getting there, daily flights go to/from Almaty. Buses run to/from Qaraghandy and other regional centres.
Almaty:
This booming city was founded in 1854 as a Russian frontier fort when the Kazaks were still nomads and was capital of Kazakhstan until late 1997. Almaty has become a honeypot to Kazakhstanis and a mixed bunch of foreign traders, diplomats and financiers jockeying for position in the race to carve up Kazakhstan's mineral resources. Sudden exposure to the outside world turned this provincial outpost into Central Asia's most cosmopolitan city with shops, restaurants, hotels and casinos that would make the place unrecognisable to anyone who had been away since 1990. But now that the government has moved the capital to the northern city of Astana, Almaty's future is uncertain. Almaty is closer to the heart of the Russian railway network and farther from national borders and conflicts in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzsta
