Almaty ( or ; Kazakh: Алматы / Almaty, IPA: [ɑlmɑˈtə] ; Russian: Алматы, IPA: [ɐlmɐˈtɨ]), formerly known as Alma-Ata (Russian: Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of over two million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936, while the country was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union, then from 1936 to 1991, a union republic and finally from 1991, an independent state. In 1997, the government relocated the capital to Akmola (now called Astana).
Almaty is still the major commercial, financial, and cultural centre of Kazakhstan, as well as its most populous and most cosmopolitan city. The city is located in the mountainous area of southern Kazakhstan near the border with Kyrgyzstan in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau at an elevation of 700–900 m (2,300–3,000 feet), where the Large and Small Almatinka rivers run into the plain. The city, just like Astana and Shymkent, does not belong to any region and is officially a "city of republican significance".
The city has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the area of music since November 2017.
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There is a great range of different spas and steam rooms, Morrocoan, Finnish, Russian (including Venik (leaves to beat youself with)), Sufa at three temperatures. All for the very cheap price of just over 1000 tenge each.
Cheap Kazakh restaurants are all over the place, selling shashlik, soup, salad and others. Fast food places are also everywhere; the local favourite is hamburgers, with sliced kebab meat on a hamburger bun with pickles and garlic sauce.
Good buys:
See Kazakhstan for entry requirements— most westerners don't need a visa for visits up to 30 days.
The city is laid out on a modern grid-pattern, and "up" usually means south, towards the mountains. However it's a gentle gradient, and in places the gradient east is similar. By day you can reality-check against the position of the sun, but at night or on dull days you could do with a compass to avoid tramping the wrong way. The other difficulty for visitors is the changed street names. Ask a local, who'll remember the old name that's in your guidebook.
Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan until the city of Astana was declared to be the new capital of Kazakhstan.
Under Soviet rule, it was known as Alma-Ata. Following the independence of Kazakhstan, the city was re-named to its current name, Almaty, in 1993.
The city is relatively modern, laid out on a grid pattern, so if you're going uphill, you're probably going south. It is relatively inexpensive by international standards. The people are friendly and hospitable; there's also a significant expat community.
Pogulay is a helpful guidebook to the city, printed in English and Russian and sold at newsstands. It's priced at US$3 and covers all the attractions, including photos and descriptions. .
