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Almaty

Almaty

Former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city

The modern city was founded in 1854 when the Russians established the military fortification of Zailiyskoye (renamed Verny in 1855) on the site of the ancient settlement of Almaty, which had been destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century. Cossacks, peasant settlers from European Russia, and Tatar merchants soon established themselves in the vicinity, and in 1867 the fortification became the town of Verny and the administrative centre of newly created Semirechye province of the governorate-general of Turkistan. By 1906 the population had grown to 27,000, two-thirds of whom were Russians and Ukrainians. Soviet rule was established in 1918.

In 1921 the city was renamed Alma-Ata, for its Kazakh name, Almaty (literally “Father of Apples”), alluding to the many apple trees in the locality. The transfer of the Kazakh capital from Kzyl-Orda (Kazakh: Qyzylorda) to Alma-Ata in 1927. From 1927 to 1936 Alma-Ata was the capital of the Kazakh ASSR; from 1936 to 1991 - the capital of the Kazakh SSR; from 1991 to 1997 - the first capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 1997, the capital was moved to Akmola (from May 6, 1998 - Astana, from March 23, 2019 - Nur-Sultan), and a new status was assigned to Alma-Ata - the "Southern Capital of Kazakhstan".

Despite the loss of political and administrative functions, Alma-Ata continues to be the cultural, financial and economic center of the country. In addition, until 2017 it was the only millionaire city in Kazakhstan; Astana became the second such city.

Alma-Ata is located in the extreme south-east of Kazakhstan, at the foot of the Zailiysky Alatau mountains and has a peculiar, rather mild climate regime with a difficult environmental situation.

Timeline

January 31, 2022
Almaty embraces new mayor - Kursiv Media Kazakhstan
January 5, 1921
It was decided to rename Verny to Alma-Ata.

Further Resources

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News

Title
Author
Date
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Telegraph Reporters
December 27, 2019
The Telegraph
A plane with 95 passengers and five crew members on board has crashed near the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan, killing at least nine people, aviation authorities in the Central Asian nation said.
EAMF
April 30, 2019
www.prnewswire.com:443
ALMATY, Kazakhstan, April 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kazakhstan's annual Eurasian Media Forum (EAMF) will be held this year over May 22-24 in Almaty, the...
February 25, 2019
WebWire
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Mayor's Office of the City of Almaty signed an agreement by which IFC will be supporting the municipality to access long-term capital and ramp up its investments in critical infrastructure. Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan with a fast-growing population of 1.8 million. IFC will help identify long-term private finance solutions to support the city's ambitious infrastructure program. This includes expanding basic services available to t...

References

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