Astana (former names include Akmola, Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, and Aqmola), is the capital and second largest city (behind Almaty) of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population (1 Dec. 2007) of 600,200. It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, although it is politically separate from the rest of the province, which has its own capital.
The word Astana in Kazakh language literally means Capital city. By 2007, Astana’s population has more than doubled since the move, to over 600,000, and it is estimated to top 1 million by 2030. Migrant workers have been attracted from across Kazakhstan and neighboring states such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and Astana is a magnet for young professionals seeking to build a career. This has changed the city’s demographics, bringing more ethnic Kazakhs to a city that formerly had a Slav majority.
Climatically Astana is the second coldest capital in the world (behind Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), with temperatures of -35 to -40 °C common in the late autumn. The new city is also known to regularly freeze for around six months every year. Overall however, Astana has a continental climate, with exceptionally cold winters and moderately hot summers, arid and semiarid.
