Name of Kazakhstan Capital has been changed to NUR-SULTAN from Astana on 20-03-2019. Kazakh Majlis (Parliament) has passed this resolution.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev has announced his retirement after 30 years in power but he retains key posts of Head of military and his political party. The Speaker of Parliament Kassym Tokayev has taken oath as President till election (2020). This serious decision surprised many world leaders including President Putin.

Kazakhstan is a Central Asian country, rich in oil & gas and Uranium. It got independence in 1991 after 150 years of rule of Russian Empire and USSR. Its population is 18.3 million and population density to land ratio is less than 6 people/ square kilometre. Islam is the predominant religion (80%) of the population.

Kazakhstan has the largest and strongest performing economy in Central Asia. Its capital Astana is a beautiful world’s futuristic smart city built from scratch in 1997, designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. The city has an artificial beach with sand specially imported from Maldives. Astana is becoming a central city not only for trade between Central Asia and Europe but for diplomacy in the world (Syrian & Shanghai summit).

Almaty is a cultural & commercial city of Kazakhstan. The city is becoming a financial hub for Central Asia due to Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. China is among the biggest investors in Kazakhstan worth $28 billon in different projects.

‘Apple’ originated from Kazakhstan and its ancestors are from Almaty. Almaty, whose old name ‘Alma-Ata’ means ‘father of apples’ in Kazakh.

Kazakhstan is a leading Uranium producer in the world after Mali in Africa and biggest supplier of Uranium to India besides Canada and Australia. It has a largest solar power plant in Central Asia, recently opened in the country’s south funded by European Development Bank.

The world’s first and largest space launch facility was built in Kazakhstan’s desert city Baikonur by USSR (1954). SPUTNIK, first artificial satellite and VOSTOK, first human spacecraft were launched from Baikonur. This spaceport is leased to Russia until 2050.

20 March 2019 on FB