Tourist Guide Astana
Astana, capital of Kazakhstan and Aqmola province, is located in the north-central
part of the country on the Ishim River in a very flat, semi-desert steppe region.
Astana is a very young capital of a very recent nation. Kazakhstan achieved
its independence from Russia only in 1991 and in December 1997, the President
of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev, established that the capital of the Republic
should be moved from Almaty to Aqmola (Astana precedent name meaning "White
Tombstone").
Aqmola was then renamed Astana, which simply means "Capital city".
From 1997 the population of Astana has rapidly increased from just under 300,000
to more than 500,000 (as of late 2004).
Astana was originally founded in 1824 as a Russian fortress and it grew into
a mining town of little importance called Akmolinsk. Things definitely changed
in 1961 when the city became the capital of the Soviet Virgin Lands Territory
and renamed Tselinograd.
Present day Astana boasts new modern government and business offices, a discrete
number of good quality hotels to accommodate visitors, apartment blocks matching
the European standards, lovely squares and boulevards, modern roads as well
as charming river promenade on both banks of the River Ishim.
The capitals population is around 70% Russian, Ukrainian and German, and 30%
Kazakh.
