The new railway station will be built in south-eastern part of Astana, on the continuation of one of the main streets of the city – G.Mustafin Street. This street leads to the most significant buildings of the new Kazakhstan capital.

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Tags: Astana city · railway station

In May 2011, the Kazakhstan Network Information Centre notified Google of an order issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information in Kazakhstan that requires all .kz domain names, such as google.kz, to operate on physical servers within the borders of that country.

Creating borders on the web raises important questions for Google not only about network efficiency but also about user privacy and free expression. So they have decided to redirect users that visit google.kz to google.com in Kazakh. This means that Kazakhstan users will experience a reduction in search quality as results will no longer be customised for Kazakhstan (source).

The authoritarian regime of Nazarbayev is making its best to control the information and people but the more effort is made the more dangerous the situation will be when the people of Kazakhstan will try to get rid of it. It’s amazing how the history of all mankind teaches nothing such leaders.

Tags: censorship

Singing Dunes is a mountain of sand of light colors, has a length of 3 km and a height of 150 m. The dune is located in the National Park Altyn-Emel in Almaty oblast of Kazakhstan, 182 km north-east of Almaty.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · Singing Dunes

Astana has the status of the capital city of Kazakhstan from December 10, 1997. The population of Astana is about 700,000, it is the second largest city in the country after former capital Almaty.

The main reason for moving the capital was the geographical location of the city – it is much more accessible to Russia and the chance of earthquake is much smaller. The following beautiful photos of Astana were taken by Stepanov Slava.

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Tags: Astana city

The Council of Heads of CIS governments proposed the chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Grigory Marchenko to the position of Director of International Monetary Fund. It was announced by Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Masimov. “We consider him as a single candidate from all CIS countries and will submit an application to the IMF” – he said.

Tags: No tags

Islam is the most common religion among the believers in the Republic of Kazakhstan. A lot of cities in the country have picturesque mosques like the following ones.

Mosque “Nur-Astana”, Astana

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Tags: Islam · mosques

The nature of Karaganda oblast is beautiful but this land also preserves the historical memory of the tragic events happened in its past. The following memorials are dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s repressions. The photos were captured by mishgun.

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Tags: Karaganda oblast · landscapes · memorials

Khodzha Akhmed Yasavi Mausoleum was built in Turkestan in 1396-1399 on the orders of emir Timur by Persian masters. The mausoleum is a masterpiece of Central Asian architecture representing the architectural heritage of past centuries. In June 2003, the Mausoleum received the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site. The photos were captured by Semyonova.

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Tags: Khodzha Akhmed Yasavi Mausoleum · Turkestan city

Karkaralinsk town is located about 220 kilometers to the east of Karaganda at an altitude of 815 meters above sea level. Pristine beauty of Karkaraly mountains and forests, lush vegetation of the valleys, clear lakes – all this is remembered for a long time by everyone who has visited this region at least once. Unique museum of nature is open near Karkaralinsk having thousands of exhibits that reveal the richness of flora and fauna of this mountain-forest area. The photos were captured by Kochmaryov.

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Tags: Karaganda oblast · Karkaraly

West Kazakhstan region is suffering from flooding now. More than a dozen of villages are flooded already affecting several thousand people, more than three thousand have already been evacuated. The water level in the Ural River in West Kazakhstan to the evening of April 13 was 647 centimeters. The water level in the night from 12 to 13 April rose by 48 centimeters. The water level in flooded areas continues to rise. According to weather forecasts the situation will soon get worse – heavy rains are expected in the region.

Tags: flooding · Uralsk city · West Kazakhstan oblast