Astana, capital of Kazakhstan in the heart of the Kazakh steppe. Founded in 1830 under the name of Akmola, shortly afterwards russified to Akmolinsk in 1832, then Tselinograd (city of virgin lands in Russian) in 1961 and again Akmola in 1992. In 1997, the government decided to move the capital from Almaty to Akmola. On 6 May 1998, a presidential decree renamed the capital Astana. On 20 March 2019, Astana was renamed Astana in honour of Prime President Nursultan NAZARBAYEV, who had been in power for more than 28 years and had retired in disguise. This was the first decision of his successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
In the panoramic room installed at the top of the Baïterek tower, children place their hand in the palm print of the First President Nursultan NAZARBAYEV, engraved in a 2 kg solid gold plate. Emblem of the city imagined by Nursultan NAZARBAYEV and realized by the English architect Norman Foster, Baïterek (poplar in Kazakh) is a 97 meters high structure (year of transfer of the capital) surmounted by a golden ball of 22 meters in diameter. The ensemble represents the myth of Samruk, the magic bird that, each year, comes to lay a golden egg at the top of a tree of life.
Before leaving for their summer holidays, schoolchildren gather under the statue of a war heroine on World War II Remembrance Day in Astana.
In the steppe near the capital Astana, kokparshy, or Kokpar players, compete in an indescribable melee to grab a headless goat body. The communal version of this game sees up to 200 or 300 players competing, each playing for himself. The tribes that descended from Genghis Khan spread their culture throughout Mongolia and Central Asia, but nowhere in this region is the contrast between the contemporary and the ancient higher than in Kazakhstan. And nowhere is the interaction between the two more clearly embodied than in the kokpar.
Arcelor Mittal steel plant in Termitau, formerly Karmet. In January 2018, several sources reported the phenomenon of "black snow" falling on Temirtau. Residents of the town and Karaganda region collected signatures to ask Aliya Nazarbayeva, the youngest daughter of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev and head of the Association of Ecological Organisations of Kazakhstan to investigate and fine ArcelorMittal Temirtau. In December 2017, ArcelorMittal Termitau acknowledged the possible relationship between pollution from the plant and the black snow, stating that "emissions do not dissipate and this most likely caused the change in snow colour".
An elderly woman, daughter of a senior Karlag administrative official, arranges plastic flowers and toys left by unknown hands in the Karlag Mothers' Cemetery, short for KARaganda gouLAG or KARaganda LAGer, in the village of Dolinka in the Kazakh steppe in central Kazakhstan. It was mainly used for babies born in Karlag and their mothers. No interaction was allowed between male and female prisoners, except in supervised situations. It was almost impossible for a child to be procreated. This situation did occur, however, as some prisoners arrived at the camp pregnant or "got pregnant" because of guards.
Dolinka was the headquarters of the Karlag Directorate, run by the NKVD, the forerunner of the KGB. Built under Stalin during the time of mass political repression in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, it covered 60,000 square kilometres and was divided into several camps. The Karlag camps operated from 1931 to 1959 with a peak of about 65,000 prisoners in 1949.
Tourists in the seaside town of Balkach on the lake of the same name.
"Proletarians of all countries, unite! In Mirny, in the south of the country, this Soviet mural has recently been renovated.
The Eucharist during Sunday service in the Russian Orthodox Ascension Cathedral, also named Zenkov after its architect, located in Panfilov Park in Almaty. The Orthodox make up 21.4% of the country's population. Built between 1904 and 1907, it has the particularity of having been constructed entirely of wood and without any nails. Confiscated by the state and transformed into a museum during the Soviet period, it became a place of Orthodox worship again in May 1995, a few years after independence.
Q-Pop group Ninety one in concert in Almaty.
Fans of the band Ninety One during a concert in Almaty
Near the town of Ungurtas, in the Almaty region, Saltana, a disciple of an elderly shaman, rings the bell on the Mount of Love to warn the spirits of her presence. This hill, which she says is known for its strong magnetic radiation, faces the Zahilisk assembly line between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakshtan.
Accompanied by mistresses of ceremony in aparat costumes and dancers, a group of brides and grooms enter the reception hall rented for the occasion in the suburbs of Chymkent. Despite Kazakhstan's years of economic stagnation, the fashion for grandiose and expensive parties has not waned, to the point of worrying former president Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2019, who called on his fellow citizens to spend less on parties and invest more in housing.
In the school gymnasium of the village of Beinetkech, a meal brings the whole population together for Naouriz, the festival celebrating the advent of spring. According to tradition, the host offers a cooked ram's head, a choice piece, to the guest of honour, the village elder. The latter cuts off pieces of it and passes it around.
A Kazakh couple on their way to Kyzylorda from Almaty (a 23-hour journey) sat in their compartment. The train remains the mode of transport for the classes less favoured by the economic boom in Kazakhstan. The distances between cities are very long and it takes hours to get from one to the other.
Dans le hall d’attente de la gare une grande mosaïque murale commémore un épisode glorieux des pêcheurs de la Mer d’Aral : la contribution de la ville, qui fournit 14 wagons de poisson lorsque la famine frappa la Russie durant les premiers temps tumultueux de l’URSS.
During a photo shoot for a Kazakh artist's project, actress Almira Tursyn holds a baby saigua, a specimen of a rare species of Eurasian antelope that lives mainly on the steppes of Kazakhstan. A trained psychologist, she was chosen from 15,000 applicants to play Tomyris, the legendary queen of the steppe.
Aktau is located on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Its name means "white mountain" in Kazakh, which is due to the cliffs overlooking the Caspian. From 1964 to 1991, the city was named Shevchenko. Its former name was given because of the period of exile of the Ukrainian poet of the same name in the region.
Aktau is known for its unique block address system. Almost no streets in Aktau have names; instead, addresses usually consist of three digits: the district number, the building number and the flat number. This is because Aktau was originally planned as a camp for oil industry workers.
On Sunday 13 February 2022, despite the official ban on commemoration, people gather in Republic Square in Almaty, in memory of the victims of the January violence, 40 days after death struck, as is tradition. About 350 people are present, while the police keep their distance.
In a late summer park in the city of Shymkent, pedal boats shaped like swans are waiting for customers.