Astana - City of Kazakhstan

Astana, is the capital and second largest city of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 600,200.It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, though politically separate from the rest of the province.

The current mayor of Astana is Imangali Tasmagambetov, the former mayor of Almaty. He was appointed on April 4, 2008.

A unit of Siberian cossacks from Omsk founded a huge fortress on the upper Ishim in 1824, which later became the town of "Akmolinsk". During the early 20th Century, the town became a major railway junction, causing a major economic boom that lasted until the Russian Civil War.

After Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991, the city and the region were renamed "Aqmola". The name was often translated as "White Tombstone", but actually means "Holy Place" or "Holy Shrine". The "White Tombstone" literal translation was too appropriate for many visitors to escape notice in almost all guide books and travel accounts.

In 1994, the city was designated as the future capital of the newly-independent country, and again renamed to the present "Astana" after the capital was officially moved from Almaty in 1997. Government officials cited several problems with keeping the capital in Almaty, such as the city's risk of seismic activity, insufficient room for expansion, and proximity to international borders.Additionally, parts of northern Kazakhstan are populated primarily by ethnic Russians, which raised fears of possible irredentist activity. Moving the capital to this area may have been an attempt to anchor it more closely with the rest of the country.

To some Kazakhs, the move remains controversial. Critics site the city's isolated location in the center of the Kazakh steppe and the forbidding climate in winter. Financially, some resent the massive expenditure of public funds to build the new government complexes, as well as the continuing cost of airfare and hotel expenses for the many government workers who still live in Almaty.

Climatically Astana is the second coldest capital in the world (behind Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), with temperatures of -35 to -40 °C common in the early winter. The new city is also known to regularly freeze for around six months every year. Overall however, Astana has a continental climate, with exceptionally cold winters and moderately hot summers, arid and semiarid.

Museums
Presidential center of culture
Kabanbay Batyr mausoleum
Ethic memorial complex “Map of Kazakhstan “Atameken””
The S.Seifullin Museum
Museum of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Theatres
The Gorky Russian Drama Theatre
The K.Kuanyshbaev Kazakh Theatre
The K.Bajseitova National Opera and Ballet Theatre

Monuments
Monument Otan Korgaushylar
Memorial to the victims of political repressions
Memorial to Kazakhstan People Perished in Afghan War
Central Square with fountain and sculpture composition
Monument to Kenesary Khan