June 10, 1998, Astana became the new capital of Kazakhstan. Today, it is the third largest city of the country with a population of about 900 thousand people.

Over the past years a lot of interesting modern architectural and urban development projects were implemented in Astana. Let’s take a look at the city at night from a height. Photos by: Evgeny Tkachenko.

Astana is beautiful at night

Tags: Astana city

A morning spring fog in Astana looks impressive, especially when it is possible to see it from above.

The fog usually envelops parts of the city. Through it, you can see the buildings under construction in Abu Dhabi Plaza and a silver peak of Khan Shatyr.

Tags: Astana city

Taldykorgan is a city located in the Almaty region having the status of the regional center. It is the center of Semirechye (“seven rivers”) area. The distance from Taldykorgan to Almaty is 271 km.

The city stands on the Karatal River, at the foothills of the Jungar Alatau, at an altitude of 602 meters above sea level. “Taldykorgan” means “a hill surrounded by willows.” The city’s population is about 138,000 people. Photos by: Rinna Lee for voxpopuli.kz

explore Taldykorgan

Tags: Taldykorgan city

This fall, Ust-Kamenogorsk (Oskemen), a city with a population over 300 thousand people and the capital of East Kazakhstan region, celebrated its 295th anniversary.

In honor of this event, the following video about the beauty of the city was made.

Tags: time-lapse · Ust-Kamenogorsk city

December 10, 1997, Astana received the status of the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. After this, the city experienced an unprecedented in the countries of the former USSR rapid growth. A lot of modern architectural and urban planning projects came to life here.

The population increased from 270 thousand people in 1996 to 853 thousand in 2015. The territory of the city greatly expanded to an area of ​​over 700 square km because of the construction of a new administrative and business center and other neighborhoods nearby. Photos by: Ilia Afanasieff.

summer in Astana

Tags: Astana city

The TV Tower “Koktobe”, located to the southeast of Almaty city center, was built in 1975-1983. It is the second highest free-standing building in Kazakhstan (371.5 meters), the 12th highest TV tower in the world.

Unfortunately, the air in Almaty is rarely clear. In winter, the smog is often accompanied by haze and fog. These photos were taken by Vyacheslav Firsov from the top of the TV tower when the smog slightly lifted. Let’s take a view of the southern capital of Kazakhstan from its highest point!

unique views of Almaty

Tags: Almaty city

Let’s feel the atmosphere of the New Year holidays reigning on the streets of the two largest cities of Kazakhstan – Astana and Almaty. Photos from voxpopuli.kz.

Astana – the capital city of Kazakhstan

New Year in Kazakhstan

Tags: Almaty city · Astana city

The park named after the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan is an arboretum located in Almaty at the intersection of Navoi Street and Al-Farabi Avenue in Bostandyk district. The park was opened in July 2010.

The total area of the park is 73 hectares. There is an observation deck built, which is located on the hill of about 12 meters height. Photos by Andrey Pereverzev

a picturesque park

Tags: Almaty city

Subway in Almaty is the first subway in Kazakhstan, the second in Central Asia (after Tashkent subway) and sixteenth in the former Soviet Union countries. Subway has modern trains; interiors of the stations are made in national style.

July 9, 2013 (after 1 year and 8 months after opening), Almaty subway met the 10-millionth passenger. It is open daily, from 06:30 to 23:30. Currently, there is one line with seven stations. Photos by Dmitry Chistoprudov

Let’s go down in Almaty subway

Tags: Almaty city

In 1997, the capital of Kazakhstan was moved to Astana from Almaty to take advantage of Astana more favorable location as it is closer to Russia and the risk of earthquake is much less.

Nowadays, the city is becoming a new cosmopolitan western-style city with skyscrapers and offices of intercontinental oil corporations.

Famous Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa worked on the master plan of the city. Many of the buildings were designed by famous architect Norman Foster. Photos by Petr Ushanov

enjoy the modern architecture of Astana

Tags: Astana city