Almaty
Status

From 1929 to 1936, the city, then known as Alma-Ata, was the capital of the Kazakh ASSR. From 1936 to 1991, Alma-Ata was the capital of the Kazakh SSR. After Kazakhstan became independent in 1991, the city was renamed Almaty in 1993 and continued as the capital until 1997, when the capital was moved to Akmola (renamed Astana in 1998, Nur-Sultan in 2019, and again Astana in 2022). Since then Almaty has been referred to as the 'southern capital' of Kazakhstan.

Almaty remains the largest, most developed, and most ethnically and culturally diverse city in Kazakhstan. Due to development by the Soviet Union and relocation of workers and industries from European areas of the Soviet Union during World War II, the city has a high proportion of ethnic Russians and Uyghurs. The city lies in the foothills of Trans-Ili Alatau (or Zailiysky Alatau) in the extreme south-east.

It has a relatively mild climate with warm and dry summers and quite cold winters. Since the city is in a tectonically active area, it has an endemic risk of earthquakes. Although most tremors do not cause any significant damage, Almaty has suffered some large destructive earthquakes.
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