The tram was opened in Almaty on November 7, 1937. At best times, the number of routes reached ten, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union trams as public transport became unprofitable and the number of routes was rapidly reduced.

Since 1999, there are only two routes that are served by one depot, which is the oldest one, located at the intersection of Ahmed Baitursynov Street (former Cosmonauts Street) and Gogol Street.

Tags: Almaty city · trams

The construction of subway (metro) in Almaty began back in 1988 and was conducted irregularly because of the finance problems. Finally, December 1, 2011 the first line of the subway was opened.

This is the first subway in Kazakhstan, the second in Central Asia (after Tashkent subway) and sixteenth in the former Soviet Union. Hours: daily from 06:30 to 23:30. The total length of the two lines will be about 45 km.

Tags: Almaty city

Three days ago, on July 1, landing vehicle of “Soyuz TMA-03M” spacecraft successfully landed in the steppes in Karaganda region of Kazakhstan.

The capsule was carrying three people: Russian Oleg Kononenko, Dutchman Andre Kuipers, and American Don Pettit. The crew spent over 6 months on orbit.

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The 151 General Assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) was held on June 12. This offered Kazakhstan an opportunity to present its bid to host EXPO 2017 – the next scheduled International Exposition after Expo 2015.

The winning candidate will be decided by the BIE in December 2012 in Paris. Here is the presentation video of Astana at the assembly.

Tags: Astana city

NASA Flight Engineer Joseph Acaba, Russian Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin lifted off for the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft will dock the space station today, May 17. They will join Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Flight Engineers Don Pettit of NASA, and Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency. The six astronauts and cosmonauts will work together for about two months.

Tags: Baikonur city · cosmodrome · launch · space rocket

Almaty (also known as Alma-Ata), the ex-capital of Kazakhstan, is located in the southeastern part of Kazakhstan at the foot of Zailiski Ala-Tau mountain system at an elevation of 2,300-3,000 feet (700-900 meters).

Today the city extends about 12.5 miles (20 km) in all directions from its center and is considered one of the most beautiful cities of Kazakhstan, with regular planning, wide, tree-lined streets, numerous parks and orchards, and a backdrop of mountains.

Tags: Almaty city · time-lapse

Semey (former Semipalatinsk, renamed in 2007) is a city of East Kazakhstan oblast standing on Irtysh river banks. It is one the most ancient cities of Kazakhstan.

There are a lot of objects in the city which refer to architectural and historical monuments as well as a lot of statues to outstanding personalities linked with the city. But the following video is not about the monuments but about spring weather coming to the city.

Tags: East Kazakhstan oblast · Semey city · spring

March 25, 2012 the Proton Breeze M rocket successfully launched the Intelsat 22 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome located in Kazakhstan. The satellite, weighing 6199 kg, was released into supersynchronous transfer orbit at 65,000 km apogee.

The Proton Breeze M vehicle is built by Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center of Moscow. Proton has a heritage of 374 missions since its maiden flight in 1965.

Tags: Baikonur city · cosmodrome · launch · space rocket

Atyrau oblast is situated in southwestern Kazakhstan. The region is generally flat with Ural as main river. The mainly sandy terrain is interspersed with salt marshes.

The oblast is located in Pricaspian lowland, to the north and east of the Caspian Sea. The sea close to Atyrau oblast is less than 50 m deep.

Tags: Atyrau oblast

Tamgaly Tas in Kazakh language means “stones with the signs”. Here on the rocks a large number of petroglyphs are preserved, among which the most famous image is the picture of the three Buddhist deities. Under the figures the sacred text is carved in Sanskrit, dating from the 12th century.

The rocks are located near the Ili River, 120 km north of Almaty. Today this place is popular with tourists, including rock-climbers, who gather here in spring and fall. Arid and semiarid landscape of the valley is one of the most picturesque places in Almaty region.

Tags: Almaty oblast · drawings · rocks · Tamgaly Tas