* December 10 – The capital of Kazakhstan is moved from Almaty to Astana.

Currently ( 2008 ), the line is used by direct passenger service from Urumqi in China's Xinjiang to Almaty and Astana in Kazakhstan ..

Astana ( Russian /, formerly known as Akmola ( Kazakh: Ақмола / Aqmola, until 1998 ), Целиноград / Tselinograd until 1992 ) and Akmolinsk ( Russian: Акмолинск, until 1961 ), has been the capital of Kazakhstan since 1997, and is the country's second largest city ( after Almaty, the former capital ) with an officially estimated population of 708, 794 as of 1 August 2010.

The current mayor of Astana is Imangali Tasmagambetov.

The word Astana in Kazakh literally means Capital but the word itself originates from Persian Astane ( means " sublime threshold ," " royal porte " implying a royal capital city or a holy shrine town, ( from the Persian verb Istadan ( آستان ) ' to stand ' ( in respect )), and literally means " threshold " ( royal or sacred, where people stand in respect or awe ), implying where the court is seated ( the capital city ) or the body of a sacred person is interred ( a shrine town ).

The elevation of Astana is at above sea level.

Astana is in a spacious steppe landscape, in the transitional area between the north of Kazakhstan and the extremely thinly settled national center, because of the river Ishim.

Climatically, Astana is the second coldest capital in the world after Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, a position formerly held by Canada's capital, Ottawa, until Astana became the capital.

Astana is also the coldest place ever recorded in the country of Kazakhstan.

The average annual temperature in Astana is.

The Astana Metro is a planned underground construction in Astana.

Astana Train Station is an important hub for northern Kazakhstan, served by Qazaqstan Temir Zholy trains to most major cities in Kazakhstan, including Talgo expresses to Almaty.

Astana is twinned with:

* Aqmola Province, the Province of Kazakhstan where Astana is located.

It is dammed downstream of central Astana, keeping its level higher than it otherwise would be most of the time, while the river bottom has been made deeper, in order to let flood waters through faster.

In central Astana, near the city park, there is now a public beach and pedalo boat rental ; meanwhile, if the river had not been dammed, " citizens would have been able to walk across it ".

Air Astana is headquartered in the Air Astana Centre 1 in Almaty.

Khan Shatyry Entertainment Center | Khan Shatryry (" Royal Marquee ") in Astana, Kazakhstan is the highest tensile structure in the World

The enterprise's head office is in Tokyo with branch offices in Osaka, Nagoya, Astana, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Los Angeles.

Astana () is a professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the Astana group, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan and named after its capital city Astana.

It is located 350 km northeast of the national capital Astana, and 400 km southeast of the Russian city of Omsk along the Irtysh River.

As an indication of his popularity, the Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered the L. N. Gumilev Eurasian University ( Евразийский Национальный университет имени Л. Н. Гумилёва ) to be erected just opposite his own palace on the central square of the new Kazakh capital, Astana.

* 2006, Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, Astana, Kazakhstan

* Khan Shatyry in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Palace of Peace and Reconciliation in Astana, Kazakhstan

* Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

* The 51st IMO was held in Astana, Kazakhstan, July 2 – 15, 2010.

On 4 July 2011, Sting cancelled a concert appearance scheduled for the Astana Day Festival in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The upper course of the Ishim passes through Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

According to the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Astana was chosen as the capital in part due to the presence of the river.

Despite losing its status as the capital to Astana in 1997, Almaty remains the major commercial and cultural centre of Kazakhstan.

In 1997 the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev approved the Decree to transfer the capital from Almaty to Astana.

Several of the world's capital cities are planned cities, including Washington, D. C., in the United States, Canberra in Australia, Brasília in Brazil, Belmopan in Belize, New Delhi in India, Abuja in Nigeria, Astana in Kazakhstan, Naypyidaw in Burma, and Islamabad in Pakistan.

Streets in Yerevan, Moscow (: ru: Улица Хачатуряна ( Москва ) ), Simferopol, Ukraine and Astana, Kazakhstan are named after Khachaturian.

Following the successful foundation of Haileybury Almaty, a similar school under the auspices of Haileybury was planned to be built in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan.

The Nur-Astana Mosque in Astana, Kazakhstan.

A joint statement of the member countries of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation issued in early July, 2005 on a conference in Astana ( Kazakstan ) called for a withdrawal of US troops from military bases in Central Asia.

Overall, Astana has a humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfb ), bordering on a semi-arid climate ( Köppen climate classification BSk ), with exceptionally cold winters and warm summers.

An Air Astana Boeing 757-200 on short final to the airport in 2008.

Haileybury Astana opened on 31 August 2011, providing education for boys and girls from the two to eleven years of age under the leadership of Andrew Auster, Headmaster.

Akhmetov met with South Korean Prime Minister Han Myeong Sook on 23 September 2006 in Astana and signed several bilateral agreements enhancing economic ties.

Akhmetov met with Rustam Minnikhanov, the Prime Minister of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, in Astana, Kazakhstan on 13 October 2006.

Wu Zhen, who worked on the Astana site asserted that, despite the fact that individual slaves were common among silk route houses, from early Niya documents an increase in the selling of slaves was recorded in Turpan documents.

Although Astana under Bruyneel was very successful, with a lineup including Grand Tour winners Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, as well as runners-up Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Klöden, the team was on the verge of financial collapse in May 2009.

The 11th Meeting of the SC of ICAPP was held in Astana during September 24 – 26, 2009 on the sidelines of the 5th GA.

It operates scheduled domestic and international services on 56 routes from its main hub, Almaty International Airport, and from its 2 secondary hubs, Astana International Airport and Atyrau Airport.

The first ten of these were built in GE's Erie, Pennsylvania, plant while the remaining 300 will be assembled at a new plant in Astana, Kazakhstan which was opened by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on 3 July 2009 Delivery is expected between 2009 and 2012.

Tour de France rider Alexander Vinokourov, of the Astana Team, tested positive for two different blood cell populations and thus for homologous transfusion, according to various news reports on July 24, 2007.

In June 2007, Yates was manager of Team Discovery a USA team, and in 2008 went on to manage riders on the Astana cycling team.

Years after the Turksib was completed it was joined at Shu by Kazakhstan's main north-south line, which serves Karaganda, Astana and Petropavlovsk, on one of the main Transsib routes.