Beautiful views of Almaty, the mountains located nearby and Balkhash Lake.

Tags: Southern Kazakhstan · time-lapse

Several landscape zones (forest-steppe, steppe, semi-desert, and desert) can be found on the territory of over 1,800 kilometers separating the southern and the northern borders of Kazakhstan.

In the west, the territory of Kazakhstan is bordered by the Caspian Sea, in the east – by the taiga of Altai, in the south – by the highest peaks of Tien Shan Mountains. The western part of Kazakhstan is almost entirely flat, and the eastern – mostly mountainous.

More than six thousand species of plants grow on the territory of Kazakhstan. About 500 species of birds, 178 species of mammals, 49 species of reptiles, 12 species of amphibians, 107 species of fish are living on the vast territory of the country.

Tags: landscapes

The total area of Almaty Zoo is about 21 hectares. Abundant and varied wildlife of Kazakhstan is presented by a lot of species, in particular, such as Siberian stag, argali, wolf, golden eagle and others.

Animals from almost all continents of the Earth found their home in Almaty Zoo. White and Himalayan bears, tigers, jaguars, Persian and Far East leopards; elephants, zebras, yaks, deer; American condors, vultures; snakes and crocodiles – 509 species in total – are living there. The zoo is especially proud of a pair of white lions.

Address: Almaty, Esenberlina Str., 166. Opening hours: Daily, 10:00-17:00 in winter, 9:00-19:00 in summer.

Tags: Almaty city · Zoo

Not so long ago Kazakhstan commemorated the 20th anniversary of closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. It is located on the border of East Kazakhstan, Pavlodar and Karaganda oblasts, about 130 km northwest of Semey city.

The main attraction of the area is “atomic” lake, which is located at the test site “Balapan”. It was formed in the explosion of a thermonuclear warhead of 140 kilotons of power in 1965.

The diameter of the lake is 500 meters; depth from the surface to the bottom is about 80 meters. In a similar way the Soviet strategists planned to build water reservoirs in arid regions of the Soviet Union. Photos by Grigory Bedenko for voxpopuli.kz

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Tags: East Kazakhstan oblast · Karaganda oblast · Pavlodar oblast · Semipalatinsk nuclear test site

Dzungarian Alatau is a mountain range located in the eastern part of the country on Kazakhstan-China border between Ili River and Alakol Lake.

The mountain range was named after the nearby desert. The total length of Dzungarian Alatau is about 450 km., width from 50 to 90 km, maximum altitude 4464 m on Mount Besbaskan. Photos by Grigoriy Bedenko.

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Tags: Dzungarian Alatau · Eastern Kazakhstan · mountains

Almaty oblast is one of the most beautiful and fascinating regions of Kazakhstan. Nature here is so amazing and full of contrasts that there are almost no repeating landscapes.

During one day trip you can visit the snow-capped mountains, wander through the pine forests and after a couple of hours journey walk among the dunes and sands of the endless steppes, feel the power and strength of ancient canyons and get lost in a maze of limestone mountains. Photos by Constantin Kikvidze from voxpopuli.kz.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · horses · landscapes · mountains · steppes

Mountains occupy less than 10% of Kazakhstan territory located mainly in the east and south-east of the country. There are, however, the mountain elevations in the central regions, in the far west and even in the northern regions, but all of them are low mountains, not even reaching 1000 meters above the sea level.

The really high mountains are Tian Shan mountains located in the south and south-east and Altai mountains located in the east of Kazakhstan. Tian Shan mountains are known for the variety of landscapes and their ecosystems contain more than half of the biological diversity of Kazakhstan.

Tags: Tian Shan mountains · time-lapse

Zailiyskiy Alatau is a mountain range in north-western Tian Shan extending for 360 km (on the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan). The prevailing heights are 4000-4600 meters; the highest point is the peak Talgar (4973-5017 m).

Kazakhstan’s southern capital Almaty is located in the northern foothills of the mountains. Also the mountains are known for famous sports complex Medeo and high-altitude ski resort Chimbulak. Photos by prostoi_pacan.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · mountains · Zailiyskiy Alatau

Fascinating video in addition to our previous post about Kazakhs being the first horsemen in the world. Almost the same could be seen hundreds and thousands years before on the vast steppes of Kazakhstan.

Tags: horses

Kazakhstan is known for the variety of landscapes, natural monuments, flora and fauna. The following beautiful photos were taken all over Kazakhstan showing its real beauty. Photos by Voxpopuli.kz

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Tags: landscapes