Astana, Kazakhstan

Astana, Kazakhstan

Akmola literally means ‘white grave’ or ‘holy city’ in Kazakh. The settlement was founded in 1830 as Akmoly or Akmolinsky prikaz. On 10 December 1997, Akmola replaced Almaty as the capital of Kazakhstan. On 6 May 1998, the capital was renamed Astana, which means ‘capital city’  in Kazakh. On 23 March 2019, following a unanimous vote in Kazakhstan’s parliament, the city was renamed Nur-Sultan, after former Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

About Astana, Kazakhstan in brief

Summary Astana, KazakhstanAkmola literally means ‘white grave’ or ‘holy city’ in Kazakh. The settlement was founded in 1830 as Akmoly or Akmolinsky prikaz. In 1832, it was granted town status and renamed Akmolinsk. On 10 December 1997, Akmola replaced Almaty as the capital of Kazakhstan. On 6 May 1998, the capital was renamed Astana, which means ‘capital city’  in Kazakh. On 23 March 2019, following a unanimous vote in Kazakhstan’s parliament, the city was renamed Nur-Sultan, after former Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev. A 2020 official estimate reported a population of 1,136,008 within the city limits, making it the second-largest city in the country. The city’s master-plan was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. It is the site of the Parliament House, the Supreme Court, the Ak Orda Presidential Palace and numerous government departments and agencies. In the course of the first 30 years of its existence, the population of the city’s population increased by three times according to volumetrics. During World War II, the first 3,428 churches and colleges were built in the city. In 1893, the town was an uyezd with a 6,428 strong population, with 3 churches and 5 schools and 3 colleges. During the Soviet era on 20 March 1961 it was renamed Tselinograd to mark its evolution as a cultural and administrative center of the Virgin Lands campaign.

In 1992, after Kazakh independence, it adopted the presumed original nameAkmola. On 20 March 2019 it was. renamed from Astana to its current name Nur-sultan in honor of the long-ruling Kazakh President Nurs Sultan Nazrbayev, shortly after his resignation. The name was possibly given after a local landmark, although this theory is not universally accepted. The town was established on the Ishim River in 1830 by a unit of the Siberian Cossacks headed by Fyodor Shubin. On 16 July 1863, Ak Molinsk was officially declared an u Yezd town. On 21 October 1868, Tsar Alexander II signed a draft Regulation on governing Turgay, Ural, and Semipalatinsk Oblasts. The Russian Empire formed Steppe Commission in 1865. On 1869, In 1879, Major General General Dubelt proposed to build a railway between Tyumen and Akmolinski, and Ak Molinski became the external district of Tyumen Oblast. The railway was built between 1879 and 1879. It became the center of Akmolinksi Oblast, and in 1869 it became the seat of the Ak Molinksi district of the Kazakhstani SSR. In 1895, the district became the Akmolinsi Oblast, and the town became the centre of Ak Molinsi District. In 1897, the Russian Empire established the Akolinsi Autonomous Soviet Republic, which later became part of the Russian Federation.