Astana ,is the capital and second largest city (behind Almaty) of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population (1 Dec. 2007) of 600,200 . It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, although it is politically separate from the rest of the province, which has its own capital.
The current mayor of Astana is Askar Mamin, formerly Minister for Transportation. He was appointed mayor on 25 September 2006.
The city is located in central Kazakhstan on the Ishim River in a very flat, semi-desert steppe region which covers most of the country's territory. The elevation of Astana is at 347 meters above sea level. Astana is in a spacious steppe landscape, in the transient area between the north of Kazakhstan and the extremely thinly settled national center, because of the river Ishim. The older boroughs lie north of the river, whilst the new boroughs were located south of the Ishim. |
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