Let’s feel the atmosphere of the New Year holidays reigning on the streets of the two largest cities of Kazakhstan – Astana and Almaty. Photos from voxpopuli.kz.

Astana – the capital city of Kazakhstan

New Year in Kazakhstan

Tags: Almaty city · Astana city

Lake Kaindy is a popular tourist destination located in one of the gorges of Kungei Alatau in Almaty region, at an altitude of 2000 meters. Despite the low temperature of the water, the lake is popular among divers.

The maximum depth of the lake was 21 meters in 2014. In Kazakh “Kaindy” means “a lot of birches.” There is a large birch grove located nearby. The lake was formed by an earthquake in 1910. Photo by Sergey Terekhov

Tags: Almaty oblast · landscapes

November 28, 2014, Almaty hosted the beauty contest “Miss Kazakhstan 2014”. Thirty-three beauties from all over the country took part in the final stage of the competition.

Unlike many other countries around the world, participation in the contest was free. Due to it, a lot of contenders had a real opportunity to win the title of the most beautiful girl of Kazakhstan. Photos from voxpopuli.kz

Kazakhstan beauties

Tags: Almaty city

Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan relatively recently (December 10, 1997). After that, the city experienced unprecedented in the former Soviet Union countries growth. It became the second largest city in Kazakhstan.

A lot of interesting and unusual architectural objects were erected in Astana in recent years. The population increased from 270 thousand in 1996 to 829 thousand in 2014. The following beautiful photos were taken in Astana by Thierry Andreoli.

Astana Opera

walk around Astana

Tags: Astana city

Despite the existing stereotype of Kazakhstan as a country of steppes, this land is rich in a variety of landscapes.

Beautiful nature of Kazakhstan looks especially picturesquely in autumn, when you can see a real riot of colors. Photos by Gregory Bedenko

stunning scenery

Tags: landscapes

The Assy observatory is an astronomical observatory standing on a mountain plateau Assy-Turgen located at an altitude of 2750 meters above sea level, 75 km east of Almaty.

This is the only observatory in Kazakhstan with the ideal astro-climate. Main area of research: observation of details of the apparent surface of the giant planets of the solar system. The observatory on Google Maps. Photo by Eduard Kim

Tags: Almaty oblast · landscapes

The park named after the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan is an arboretum located in Almaty at the intersection of Navoi Street and Al-Farabi Avenue in Bostandyk district. The park was opened in July 2010.

The total area of the park is 73 hectares. There is an observation deck built, which is located on the hill of about 12 meters height. Photos by Andrey Pereverzev

a picturesque park

Tags: Almaty city

What a beautiful view! It is Tuzkol Lake, located in the east of Almaty region (1950 meters above sea level), the saltiest mountain lake in Kazakhstan.

The salinity of the lake varies by season. It can reach almost the same salinity as in the Dead Sea in Israel or the Great Salt Lake in the United States. Tuzkol Lake on Google Maps. Photo by Sergey Terekhov

Tags: Almaty oblast

A well-known Kazakhstan photographer and an aviation lover Gregory Bedenko continues to delight us with beautiful pictures of the mountains, Balkhash Lake area and the Ili River delta (Almaty region) taken from unusual angles. Photos from voxpopuli.kz

magnificent nature

Tags: Almaty oblast

The Ustyurt Plateau is a desert and a plateau located in the west of Central Asia on the territory of Kazakhstan (Mangystau region), Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, between Mangyshlak and the Gulf of Kara-Bogaz-Gol in the west, the Aral Sea and the Amu Darya River delta in the east.

What a stunningly beautiful place! Photo by Ne Horoshiy

Tags: landscapes · Mangystau oblast