Astana
Astana Downtown at night
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan. Astana is the third largest city in terms of total population in Kazakhstan after Almaty and Shymkent. The population of Astana today is approximately 870,000 people. Astana's Esil district - a district at the left embankment of Esil river is one of the newest districts in the world. The buildings started to construct there only in early-2000s. Astana is also the 2nd coldest capital in the world after Ulaanbaatar, in Astana at winter it can get even below -30, but at summer up to +35. Astana is actually located in the middle of the Kazakh steppes, so during all the year seasons there are heavy winds occuring, especially at winter. Astana is located about 1250km (775 miles) from the former capital city Almaty by road. Astana is an interesting and a very new (if you are to come to a small financial Esil district) place to visit, especially when you are coming from a certain European city, you are arriving at the morning in modern Astana!
Astana's population has plenty of different nationalities, including Kazakhs - 72%, Russians - 18%, Ukrainians - 1.9%, and others such as Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Tatars, Germans, Koreans, and others nationalities. Astana is connected by roads to a lot of other cities. The highway A1 connects Astana to Schuchinsk, and it's the best and smoothest highway in the whole Kazakhstan. It is so smooth that it allows a car to confidently speed up to even 180 km/h (110 miles/hour).
Astana is not just a Esil district and the soviet part of a city, or a couple of skyscrapers and that's it. It's a whole quick-growing city. It has a lot of Kazakh monuments and points of interests such as Baiterek, National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Khan-Shatyr, and a lot of others. A warm welcome to the heart of Kazakhstan!
Astana International Airport
Points of interest/sights in Astana
About Kazakhstan
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