Astana

Founded in 1830 as Akmoly on the banks of the Ishim River, the city that is today’s Astana began as a modest outpost on the Kazakh steppe. Within two years it attained town status under the Russian name Akmolinsk, reflecting its strategic position during the expansion of Imperial Russia. In the 1960s, the title shifted to Tselinograd, marking its role at the heart of the Soviet Virgin Lands Campaign, which aimed to convert uncultivated prairie into grain fields. After Kazakhstan’s independence, the city returned to Akmola in 1992, before assuming the name Astana—literally “capital city” in Kazakh—when the seat of government moved from Almaty at the end of 1997. A brief rechristening to Nur-Sultan in 2019 honored the nation’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev; in 2022 the city’s original capital-city name was restored.

Astana sits at 51°10′ N, 71°26′ E, at an elevation of 347 m above sea level, within a flat, semi-arid expanse that typifies central Kazakhstan’s steppe. The Ishim River bisects the city, its north bank containing older boroughs and its south bank hosting recent developments. The continental climate brings sharp contrasts: summer highs can reach 35 °C, while winter lows regularly fall between –30 °C and –35 °C, with a recorded minimum of –51.6 °C in January 1893. Snow and ice often persist from mid-November until April, while persistent winds shape the open Left Bank districts and underscore the city’s reputation for breezy winter days.

A design competition in April 1998 attracted submissions from leading architects and planners. Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa won the commission to frame the city’s expansion, proposing a dialogue between the existing town north of the river and a new administrative and residential zone to the south. The resultant plan unfolds like an immense oval track: the old industrial quarters lie beyond a railway line that crosses east–west; between rail and river sits the central business district; and south of the Ishim, a series of government buildings, diplomatic enclaves and cultural venues rise along a broad boulevard. Chief planner Vladimir Laptev envisages a “Berlin in a Eurasian style,” rejecting a purely administrative capital in favor of a balanced urban environment.

Astana’s skyline features a sequence of distinctive forms. Bayterek Tower, a 97 m structure surmounted by a spherical viewing deck, embodies the nation’s independence narrative; visitors may place their hands alongside a golden palm print cast by the head of state. Norman Foster’s Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, a 62 m glass pyramid atop a grass-covered block, hosts interfaith and cultural summits every few years. The Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center, a translucent tent-like spire, encloses retail and leisure facilities beneath a climate-controlled canopy.

Religious architecture contributes further variety. The Hazrat Sultan Mosque, completed in 2012, accommodates 10,000 worshippers under soaring domes and is among the largest in Central Asia. Nearby, the Grand Mosque of Astana, opened in 2022, claims the title of the region’s largest mosque. Two earlier domed mosques—the Nur-Astana (2008) and the Khazret Sultan—display ornament drawn from global traditions, from symbols of the Parthenon to motifs of the Great Wall of China. The Russian Orthodox Assumption Cathedral adds to the religious mosaic.

Cultural venues line the riverbanks and avenues. The Astana Opera, with acoustically refined halls and a rotating repertoire, attracts visitors across Kazakhstan. The National Museum, opened in 2014, presents interactive displays in three languages, tracing the country’s history from ancient Scythian gold to contemporary sketch plans for Bayterek and the presidential palace. The Military Historical Museum, housed in a yurt-inspired dome, emphasizes Kazakhstan’s role in the Great Patriotic War.

Outdoors, the Presidential Park features a pond shaped like a phoenix in flight, visible only from above, and Central Park offers shaded promenades along the Ishim. Monuments—such as the marble-and-bronze Kazakh Eli stele capped by a mythical Samryk bird—stand near the pyramid, while smaller installations (giant lizard sculptures, circus-themed fountains) enliven public spaces.

Hosting the 2011 Asian Winter Games tested Astana’s capacity for sporting events and spurred facility upgrades. Expo 2017, under the theme “Future Energy,” converted former exposition halls into a museum dedicated to renewable technologies when the fair concluded. Since 2003 the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions convenes at the Palace of Peace, drawing faith representatives in pursuit of dialogue. Each event affirms Astana’s ambition to function not only as a national capital but as a regional crossroads of culture, faith and policy.

Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, 17 km southeast of the centre, served 7.5 million passengers in 2023 and functions as Air Astana’s secondary hub. Two principal rail stations—Astana-1 and the post-Expo 2017 Nurly Zhol terminal—link the city to Almaty via the Tulpar Talgo express and to Russia and Central Asia, supporting daily ridership of up to 12,000 at the newer station.

Within the city, over 60 bus lines carry 720,000 passengers per day. Ride-sharing minibuses follow fixed routes, complementing taxi services. Plans for an Astana Light Metro date back to 2011; after delays and a 2019 corruption inquiry, construction resumed in 2023, with an opening anticipated in 2025. Implemented in 2014, the AstanaBike bicycle-share network offers 40 stations and 1,000 bicycles; membership costs 5,000 tenge per season, with a deposit for an RFID card and graduated hourly rates.

From fewer than 500,000 residents in 2002, Astana’s population surpassed one million in 2017 and reached 1,528,703 by January 2025. Migration from other Kazakh regions and neighbouring states has fueled this growth. In 1989 ethnic Kazakhs accounted for 17.7 percent of the city; by 2025 they represent 82.3 percent. Russians comprise 8.6 percent, Ukrainians 1.4 percent, Tatars 1 percent, Uzbeks 0.6 percent and others 6 percent. The demographic shift reflects national trends and the city’s draw for young professionals.

Astana’s economy rests on trade, manufacturing of building materials and foodstuffs, transport and communications. State-owned enterprises headquartered here include Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (rail), KazMunayGas (oil and gas), Samruk-Kazyna (sovereign fund), Kazatomprom (uranium) and Kazakhtelecom. The Astana International Financial Center launched in July 2018 under a special legal regime to foster banking, legal and fintech services; in 2022 it ranked highest among CIS cities on the Global Financial Centres Index. The city serves as a logistical node for China’s Belt and Road Initiative, connecting rail and road corridors through Central Asia.

Since 1998 the gross regional product nearly doubled relative to national output, industrial production rose elevenfold and investment volume multiplied thirty times. A special economic zone established in 2001 accommodates projects—from engine manufacturing to furniture plants—with incentives. Support programmes promoted small and medium enterprises via credit lines, increasing their numbers by 13.7 percent and employment by 17.8 percent in 2015. In 2016 the Intelligent Community Forum listed Astana among the world’s top 21 digitally enabled regions. In 2018 the city attracted a record US $7.9 billion in foreign direct investment, largely tied to construction.

Astana divides into four districts. Almaty District (21,054 ha; 375,938 residents) and Saryarka District (19,202 ha; 339,286 residents) emerged in May 1998. Yesil District, or Left Bank (31,179 ha; 119,929 residents), formed in August 2008. Baykonyr District (18,129 ha; 233,351 residents) began in March 2018, encompassing newer residential areas. Each district integrates villages and urban quarters, blending green spaces, apartment blocks and commercial zones.

By 2030 planners aim to complete a diplomatic quarter, government precincts and residential expansions south of the Ishim. The city envisions balancing administrative functions with cultural, educational and recreational amenities, guided by the principle that history and modernity should coexist in symbiosis.

Astana illustrates how strategic relocation of a capital can reshape urban form, demographic makeup and economic trajectory. From its beginnings as a frontier settlement to its current role as Kazakhstan’s political, cultural and commercial nucleus, the city has absorbed layers of history within a framework of deliberate design. Its skyline of towers and domes articulates civic identity, while extensive transport networks and institutions of learning support ongoing growth. In its open plazas and tree-lined avenues, residents and visitors encounter both the vast horizon of the steppe and the contours of a metropolis still in formation.