Fountains and extensive network of channels play an important role in Almaty. Together they create a single set of ponds and streams in the city. The main task is watering green spaces and creating a favorable climate, especially in the hot and dry season.

The first fountain appeared in Almaty in 1948. Currently, the city has more than 125 fountains. Since 2005, May 25 is celebrated as the Day of the Fountains – this day at 9 pm all the fountains of Almaty start working. Fountains work from May 25 to October 25, from 10 am to 2 am on a single schedule.

Tags: Almaty city · fountains · time-lapse

Nice video about the main reasons to invest in Kazakhstan.

According to the officials they are: ample natural resources, favorable location, political stability, favorable business climate, investor protection, availability of transnational corporations, foreign direct investments, economic growth, customs union markets, industrial and innovative development.

I am not sure, if watching the video is enough to make the decision, but at least it gives some info to think about.

Tags: investment

Shymkent, the third largest city in the country, is the capital of South Kazakhstan region. Shymkent has been attracting travelers and scientists for a long time.

It is a good place to stop to explore ancient cities of Otyrar, Turkestan, and Sayram. There are such types of tours as historical places, exotic places, hunting and fishing, mountain tourism. In South Kazakhstan there are also saint places and architectural constructions which are visited by pilgrims.

Tags: Shymkent city · time-lapse

Kazakhstan has an extensive railway network with a total length of about 15,000 kilometers. Due to geographical features, trains play a crucial role in the life of the country.

More than 68% of the total turnover and over 57% of the country’s passenger traffic is made by railways. More than 125,000 people, accounting for nearly 1% of the population of Kazakhstan, are employed in the railway industry.

Railway transport is the main way to travel in Kazakhstan. Thanks to the following video you can see how traveling by train across Kazakhstan from south to north (from Almaty to Petropavl) looks like.

Tags: railway

One hundred fifteen athletes from Kazakhstan took part in twenty sports at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In total, the national team won 13 medals (7 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze).

Gold medals were won in the following disciplines: cycling (Alexander Vinokourov), weightlifting (Zulfiya Chinshanlo, Maya Maneza, Svetlana Podobedova, Ilya Ilyin), athletics (Olga Rypakova), boxing (Serik Sapiyev).

Thanks to all the athletes for their efforts!

Tags: athletes · Olympic games

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.

Tags: No tags

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