Astana

The capital of Kazakhstan was officially shifted from Almaty to Astana on December 10, 1997. This was a historical decision prompted by economic, ecological and geographic expediency.

The overriding qualities of Astana, its central geographic position at the heart of Kazakhstan, its proximity to major economic regions at the crossroads of important trade routes, and its well-developed transport infrastructure were among the factors behind this decision.

Astana was founded in 1824 as a Russian military outpost and became an administrative centre in 1868. The Akmola steppes have always been a territory of inter-ethnic communication between various nations and cultures. In the middle of the first millennium BC, the celebrated Great Silk Road ran through these steppes. Numerous caravan routes gave birth to cities founded on prosperous trade and handicrafts.

The city's importance was greatly enhanced during the Soviet period by the government's Virgin and Idle Lands Campaign of the mid-1950s, which aimed to turn vast Kazakh steppes into wheat fields. The city was known as Tselinograd at that time. It became the centre of an important grain-growing region.

At the present time the city of Astana is growing, changing, gaining power and enhancing its international prestige and reputation, becoming the symbol of Kazakhstan's fast development. It is symbolic that Astana has been granted the status of "The City of Peace" by decision of UNESCO. The capital is growing very rapidly as the administrative and business centre of Kazakhstan, in accordance with the concept of the social and economic development of the city.

The Government has outlined a series of measures designed to assist the harmonious development of the capital city as an administrative and business centre, and to strengthen its consolidating role in the country's social, economic and cultural life. Astana has been given the status of Special Economic Zone, which creates very favorable business conditions for foreign investors and local enterprises operating in Astana.