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

The following nice photos were taken in Mangystau oblast near the cities of Aktau and Beyneu. Unfortunately the author of the photos is unknown.

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Tags: Mangystau oblast

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

A mine of such a capacity was constructed for the first time in the world in Ekibastuz coal field (Ekibastuz city). Due to this fact “Bogatyr” was included into the Guinness Book of Records in 1980 (over 1 billion tons of coal was mined within the whole period of exploitation). 50 million tons is mined a year. The pictures were captured by Stepanov Slava (all the photos are clickable).

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Tags: coal mine · Ekibastuz city

Picturesque sceneries of Akmola oblast captured from the helicopter by jolybolgish.

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Tags: aerial view · Akmola oblast

Nice photos captured on the way from Almaty to Shymkent by Armen Atanes.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · landscapes · railway · South Kazakhstan oblast

Charyn canyon is unique natural monument of Kazakhstan formed about 30 million years ago located about 200 km from Almaty city. The photos by tengry.net (all pictures are clickable).

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Tags: Almaty oblast · Charyn canyon

Altyn Yemel is the largest national park of Kazakhstan located in Almaty oblast, about 150 km from Almaty city. There is a unique object of history and archaeology on its territory – Besshatyr burial mounds.

The necropolis has the tombs of Eastern Scythians or Saky-Tigrakhauda people lived on that territory in 7th-6th centuries BC. There are 30 mounds located in the area. The largest one is the King’s mound with the height of 17 meters and a diameter of 104 meters. And here is the video of the area.

Tags: Almaty oblast · Altyn Yemel · Besshatyr · burial mounds · national park

Borovoye (also spelled Borovoe) is a famous Kazakhstan health resort located in Akmola oblast. Here is a nice video of the resort nature views at summer time.

Tags: Akmola oblast · Borovoye · health resort