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

A couple of nice time-lapse videos of Kazakhstan new capital city Astana located in the steppe region of the country and former capital, largest city of Kazakhstan Almaty surrounded by the mountains.

Tags: Almaty city · Astana city · time-lapse

The Kazakhs are ethnicity and nation, indigenous and general population of Kazakhstan. Kazakhs are also living in nearby regions of China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.

At present Kazakhstan is experiencing a period of national revival and the revival of national statehood. During the Soviet period Kazakhs’ traditions were proclaimed the relics of the past and were methodically eradicated. The following set of videos introduces you to the traditional games of Kazakhs.

Kazakh people national games – Intro

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Tags: Kazakhs · national games

Interesting video about several traditions of native people of Kazakhstan.

Tags: Kazakh traditions

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

Almaty, former capital city of Kazakhstan, is one of the most beautiful cities in Central Asia. With its European style architecture, modern buildings and glorious breathtaking mountains just minutes away from the city center it is a great option for business and leisure travellers alike.

Tags: Almaty city

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

People on the steppes of what is now Kazakhstan were the first to achieve both riding and milking horses – new evidence suggests. This culture had domesticated horses at least 5,500 years ago.

Tags: horses