Topical vocabulary

8.Astana is a Symbol of Hope

The ancient name of the place where Astana is situated today is known as Karaotkel, and it is originated from the name of a Kazakh settlement at the northern branch of the Great Silk Road that connected Ural and Siberia to Central and Middle Asia. The caravan ford across Ishim river to Karaotkel was convenient and in accordance with the advice of the representatives of the Kazakh auls (nomad's settlements) there was founded military fortification called Akmola in 1830. Akmolinsk of those times was famous for its fairs where one could meet merchants from all over Kazakhstan, Russia, and the countries of Central Asia. The wide assortment of national milk products - koumiss, airan, kurt, shubat, kaimak - produced by local craftsmen with much skill defined the name of that place as "AkMol" which stands for "White Plenty" in Kazakh.

In 1991 the Republic of Kazakhstan became independent. The young state turned to the history and the lost original roots. And to contribute to the memory of the ancestors the city received back its original name - Akmola. According to other sources Akmola steppes have always been a territory of inter-ethnic communication of various nations and cultures. In the middle of the first millenium B.C. it is through these steppes that the so-called route through the Great Steppe ran the very one mentioned by the great ancient Greek Historian Herodotus. Subsequently it turned into the well known Grand Silk Road. Numerous caravan routs gave birth to cities with prosperous trade and handicrafts while the population, -a part from traditional cattle breeding - was engaged in farming.

Akmola was announced the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan on December 10, 1997 by the decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan of October 20, 1997 on approval by the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The first ever capital of Kazakhstan since 1920 had been the city of Orenburg (now included in the Russian Federation).

In 1925 the capital of Kazakhstan was transferred to Kzyl-Orda. Construction of the Turksib railway served the basic reason for transferring the capital to Alma-Ata. Legally the event occurred on April 3, 1927. In 1997 Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of sovereign Kazakhstan, made decision to move the capital from Almaty to Akmola. That decision was caused by the important geopolitical location of the city in the centre of Kazakhstan and Eurasian continent, by the availability of necessary transport and telecommunication infrastructure. As to the transfer of the capital from Almaty to Akmola it is prompted by economic, ecological and geopolitical expediency. The availability of land for the further expansion of the city played a special role in the choice for the new capital.

In 1998, after long discussions and many analytical studies the government of the country made decision to change the name of the new capital to Astana, which stands for "capital" in Kazakh. The city grows and changes, becoming attractive for people in Kazakhstan and guests from abroad.

Astana - capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The International presentation of Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan was held on June 10, 1998.

Overall condition of the city, its territory, its virtually the geographic center of Kazakhstan, its proximity to major economic regions on the crossroads of important arterial lines, an opportunity of bringing the number of population up to 400.000 people, pretty stable heat-, water- and power supplies, well-developed transport infrastructure, balanced natural environment- all these factors came to be decisive in making the choice.

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