Nur-Sultan

• As­ta­na Ka­zakh­stan po­pula­ti­on — 700,000 (2007 est.);
• As­ta­na Ka­zakh­stan pho­ne co­de — +7–7172;
• As­ta­na Ka­zakh­stan pos­tal co­de — 010000.

As­ta­na is the ca­pital and bu­siness cen­ter of Ka­zakh­stan.

As­ta­na li­es along the Is­him Ri­ver at the junc­ti­on of the Trans-Ka­zakh­stan and So­uth Si­beri­an ra­il­wa­ys. Known as Ak­mo­linsk (Ka­zakh ak­mo­la, «whi­te tomb») un­til 1961, Tse­linog­rad (Ce­linog­rad) un­til 1997 As­ta­na ci­ty was fo­un­ded in 1824 as a Rus­si­an mi­lita­ry out­post and be­came an ad­mi­nist­ra­tive cent­re in 1868. In 1997 Ka­zakh­stan’s ca­pital was mo­ved to As­ta­na from Al­ma­ty It be­comes a new cos­mo­poli­tan wes­tern-sty­le ci­ty with skysc­ra­pers and of­fi­ces of in­tercon­ti­nen­tal oil cor­po­rati­ons.