Nur-Sultan

Astana,[a] previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan,[15] is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, though administered as a city with special status separately from the rest of the region. A 2022 official estimate reported a population of 1,350,228 within the city limits, making it the second-largest city in the country, after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997.[4] The city became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997; since then it has grown and developed economically into one of the most modern cities in Central Asia.[16][17] In 2021, the government selected Astana as one of the 10 priority destinations for tourist development.[18]