Southern Kazakhstan is the most densely populated part of the country. Here the largest cities of Kazakhstan, Almaty and Shymkent, are located.

The landscapes of Southern Kazakhstan are surprisingly diverse and represent a combination of arid, rather cold (in winter) and hot (in summer) sparsely populated steppes and deserts, snow-capped mountains, and densely populated foothills. Photos by: Dmitry Balakirev.

Famous boundless steppes of Kazakhstan – one of the symbols of the country.

fly over Southern Kazakhstan

Tags: Almaty oblast · South Kazakhstan oblast

In this short movie you can see some fragments of the Kazakh national game “Kokpar”. It was the training of mounted warriors that helped to improve fighting skills in a real fight.

The shooting took place in southern Kazakhstan, near the cities of Turkestan and Sauran. The latter was destroyed in the 14th century by the armies of Genghis Khan and Kokands. Sauran was the largest center of its time, with the water supply system, paved streets, architecture.

Tags: South Kazakhstan oblast · Turkestan city

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

(more…)

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