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Astana Астана
Flag Seal
Astana Location in Kazakhstan
Coordinates: 51°10′0″N 71°26′0″E / 51.16667, 71.43333
Country	‎  Kazakhstan
Province	Akmola Province
Founded	1830
Government
- Akim (mayor)	Imangali Tasmagambetov
Area
- Total	710.2 km2 (274.2 sq mi)
Elevation	347 m (1,138 ft)
Population (1 Dec 2007)
- Total	600,200
- Density	841/km2 (2,178.2/sq mi)
Time zone	BTT (UTC+6)
Postal code	010000 - 010015
Area code(s)	+7 71721
ISO 3166-2	AST
License plate	Z
Website: http://www.astana.kz

Astana (Kazakh and Russian: Астана; former names include Akmola, Akmolinsk, Tselinograd and Aqmola), is the capital and second largest city (after Almaty) of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 600,200. ² It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, though politically separate from the rest of the province.

The current mayor of Astana is Imangali Tasmagambetov, the former mayor of Almaty. He was appointed on April 4, 2008.

Etymology

The word Astana in Kazakh literally means Capital.³ In Kazakh and Russian, it is pronounced "As-ta-na", while in English and many other languages, the common pronunciation is "As-ta-na".⁴

In June 2008, a parliamentary proposal was put forward to change the city's name to "Nursultan", in honor of the current president. The idea was rejected by the president himself, who said the decision of renaming the city will be for future generations.⁵ Instead the birthday of president Nazarbayev, July 6, became the official holiday of the capital Astana.⁶

History

Russian era

A unit of Siberian cossacks from Omsk founded a huge fortress on the upper Ishim in 1824, which later became the town of "Akmolinsk". During the early 20th Century, the town became a major railway junction, causing a major economic boom that lasted until the Russian Civil War.

The Gulag once spread over the Kazakhstan steppe like a thick wreath. Eleven camps housed hundreds of thousands of prisoners and their families. Outside Astana, there once stood the ALZHIR camp, a Russian acronym for the Akmolinskii Camp for Wives of Traitors of the Motherland, one of the most notorious in the Gulag archipelago, which was reserved for the wives of men considered "enemies of the people" by Joseph Stalin.⁷

In 1961, it was renamed "Tselinograd" and made capital of the Soviet Virgin Lands Territory (Tselinny Krai). The city was at the centre of the Virgin Lands Campaign led by Nikita Khrushchev in the 1950s, in order to turn the state into a second grain producer for the Soviet Union. The high portion of Russian immigrants in this area, which later led to ethnic tension, can be traced to the influx of agricultural workers at this time. Additionally, many Russian-Germans were resettled here after being deported under Joseph Stalin at the beginning of World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Independent Kazakhstan

Bayterek, a symbol of the new Astana.

After Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991, the city and the region were renamed "Aqmola". The name was often translated as "White Tombstone", but actually means "Holy Place" or "Holy Shrine". The "White Tombstone" literal translation was too appropriate for many visitors to escape notice in almost all guide books and travel accounts.

In 1994, the city was designated as the future capital of the newly-independent country, and again renamed to the present "Astana" after the capital was officially moved from Almaty in 1997. Government officials cited several problems with keeping the capital in Almaty, such as the city's risk of seismic activity, insufficient room for expansion, and proximity to international borders.⁸ Additionally, parts of northern Kazakhstan are populated primarily by ethnic Russians, which raised fears of possible irredentist activity. Moving the capital to this area may have been an attempt to anchor it more closely with the rest of the country.⁹

To some Kazakhs, the move remains controversial. Critics site the city's isolated location in the center of the Kazakh steppe and the forbidding climate in winter.¹⁰ Financially, some resent the massive expenditure of public funds to build the new government complexes, as well as the continuing cost of airfare and hotel expenses for the many government workers who still live in Almaty.¹¹

Population/Demographics

By 2007, Astana's population has more than doubled since the move, to over 600,000, and it is estimated to top 1 million by 2030. Migrant workers – legal and illegal – have been attracted from across Kazakhstan and neighboring states such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and Astana is a magnet for young professionals seeking to build a career. This has changed the city's demographics, bringing more ethnic Kazakhs to a city that formerly had a Slav majority. Astana's ethnic Kazakh population has risen to some 60%, up from 17% in 1989. ¹²

In 1999, Astana had a population of 281,000. The ethnic mix was about 60% Kazakh and 30% Russian, Ukrainian and German.¹³

Many argue that a drive to attract ethnic Kazakhs northward was the key factor in shifting the capital, which was officially put down to lack of space for expansion in the former capital, Almaty, and its location in an earthquake zone. ¹²

As of city population count (carried out 5 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2007) preliminary results Astana has 700,000 inhabitants¹⁴.

According to the 1999 Census, 40.5% of the population is Russian, 5.7% Ukranian, 3.0% German, 2.6% Tatar, 1.8% Byelorussian and 0.8% Pole. But at 41.8%, Kazakhs outnumbered Russians and were forming the largest ethnic group, while Ingush and Korean each accounted for 0.6%. Others, mostly Uzbeks, accounted for 3.8%. [1]

Geography

Astana from space

The city is located in central Kazakhstan on the Ishim River in a very flat, semi-desert steppe region which covers most of the country's territory. The elevation of Astana is at 347 meters above sea level. Astana is in a spacious steppe landscape, in the transient area between the north of Kazakhstan and the extremely thinly settled national center, because of the river Ishim. The older boroughs lie north of the river, whilst the new boroughs are located south of the Ishim.

Climate

Climatically Astana is the second coldest capital in the world (behind Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), with temperatures of -35 to -40 °C common in the late autumn. The new city is also known to regularly freeze for around six months every year. Overall however, Astana has a continental climate, with exceptionally cold winters and moderately hot summers, arid and semiarid.

The average annual temperature in Astana is 1 degree Celsius. January is the coldest month with an average temperature of -16 °C. July is the hottest month with an average temperature of 20 °C.

Economy

Politics and government are the main economic activity in the capital, which also forms a Special Economic Zone. Since the move, Astana has seen one of the world's greatest building projects, as oil money has been spent on government buildings, a massive home for the president, a mosque, and numerous parks and monuments. The project is designed to not just make the town the centre of Kazakhstan, but of all Central Asia.

Cityscape

Town planning

Astana can be divided largely into a few different areas. North of the railway line, which crosses Astana in an east-west direction, are industrial and poorer residential areas. Between the railway line and the river Ishim is the city center, where at present intense building activity is occurring. To the west and east are more elevated residential areas with parks and the new area of government administration to the south of the Ishim. Here many large building projects are underway; for example, the construction of a diplomat quarter, and a variety of different government buildings. By 2030, these quarters are to be completed. The original plans for the new Astana were drawn up by the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. Astana's current chief planner, Vladimir Laptev, wants to build a Berlin in a Eurasian style. He has stated that a purely administrative capital such as Canberra is not one of his goals.

Architecture

Ministry of Transport and Communication in Astana

The architectural quality of the new buildings is, by the standards of almost all critics, quite high.

In December 2006, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev unveiled plans to build Khan Shatyry, a "giant, transparent tent", over an area of the city. The tent will be 150 metres high, and was designed by British architect Norman Foster.¹⁵ It is expected to take around a year to build.¹⁶ Foster has also designed two other buildings in the city.

Sightseeing

Today there are many construction works under way, such as embassy buildings, representative riversides along the Ishim River, and some infrastructure for transportation and communication. In the centre of town, the Avenue of the Republic acts as the main hub of activity. It is bordered by many stores, coffee houses, restaurants, discotheques and even some casinos. Worth a visit are the:

• Modern governmental quarter
• Ishim banks
• "Oceanarium"
• Astana Central National Mosque
• Islamic Center
• Roman Catholic Cathedral
• Market hall
• Bayterek Tower

Museums

• Presidential center of culture
• Kabanbay Batyr mausoleum
• Ethic memorial complex “Map of Kazakhstan “Atameken””
• The S.Seifullin Museum
• Museum of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Theatres

• The Gorky Russian Drama Theatre
• The K.Kuanyshbaev Kazakh Theatre
• The K.Bajseitova National Opera and Ballet Theatre

Monuments

• Monument Otan Korgaushylar
• Memorial to the victims of political repressions
• Memorial to Kazakhstan People Perished in Afghan War
• Central Square with fountain and sculpture composition
• Monument to Kenesary Khan

Architectural monuments

• Buzok town
• Church of Constantine and Yelena
• XIX c. buildings
• Green Mosque Fence

Sport

Astana is home to FC Astana, a football (soccer) team in the Kazakhstan Premier League, which won the national championship in 2000, 2001 and 2006. The city is also home to the Astana Tigers basketball team who successfully took the 2004/2005 season title, as well as Barys Astana of the Kazakh Ice Hockey League. In addition, Team Astana is a professional cycling team that competes on the UCI ProTour. They participated in the 2007 Tour de France wearing blue national uniforms, but were excluded during the race after the conviction of Alexander Vinokourov for illegal doping practises, and have since been banned from the 2008 race.¹⁷

Transport

Astana train station, the hub of north-central Kazakhstan's rail network

Astana International Airport was, like the plan for the whole new city, designed by the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. The Astana Metro is a planned underground construction in Astana.

Astana Train Station is an important hub for northern Kazakhstan, served by trains to most major cities in Kazakhstan, including Talgo expresses to Almaty. International trains leave for Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, most of them with a once a week frequency. Since the summer of 2008, the schedule systems show also a direct weekly train to Urumqi (in China's Xinjiang).¹⁸

Sister Cities

• Moscow, Russia
• Izmir, Turkey
• Amman, Jordan
• Riga, Latvia
• Gdańsk, Poland
• Warsaw, Poland
• Tbilisi, Georgia
• Seoul, South Korea
• Sharon, United States

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Astana

• List of renamed cities in Kazakhstan

References

Bibliography

• Schatz, Edward. Modern Clan Politics: The Power of "Blood" in Kazakhstan and Beyond. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 2004.

External links

• City of Astana Official website
• Astana International Airport (official site)
• Astana - New City
• Astana Research Project (German)
• Travel to Astana
• City map for GPS

Coordinates: 51°10′51″N 71°27′40″E / 51.1807, 71.461

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