Almaty (; formerly known as Alma-Ata (Алма-Ата), also Verniy, (Верный)) is the largest city in Kazakhstan. It has a population of over 1,700,000 people (as of 2015). Eight percent of the population of the country live in Almaty. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1927 to 1998. Almaty is the major commercial center of Kazakhstan.
The city is close to China, and was once on the northern silk route between China and the Middle East. Its name derives from the Turkic languages.
The city is in an earthquake zone. There have been three quite serious earthquakes in the last 150 years.
History
On 4 February 1854 the Russian Empire decided to build a fort Verniy on the west bank of the Malaya Almatinka river. Later Russian settlers arrived. In 1922 the Soviet Union renamed the city to Alma-Ata. In 1927 Alma-Ata became the capital of the Kazakh SSR.
Climate
Almaty has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa in the Koeppen climate classification).
Architecture
TV tower
Almaty TV tower is the highest TV tower above sea level (1130 m.). The tower is the highest building in the city (372 m.). This building able to withstand 10.0 magnitude.
Name
The name "Almaty" comes from the Kazakh word for "apple" (алма). The name is often translated as a city "rich with apples". The older Soviet-era Russian name for the city, Alma-Ata, comes from a mistake (the name literally means "Grandfather of apples"). In the area around Almaty, there are many different species of the wild apples. The region is thought to be the ancestral home of the apple. A local species of apple, the wild Malus sieversii, may be the ancestor of the modern domestic apple.
Notable people
Zhansaya Abdumalik (born 2000), chess Grandmaster and prodigy
Altynai Asylmuratova (born 1961), prima ballerina with the Mariinsky Ballet
Eugen Bauder (born 1986), model in Germany
Anatoly Bose (born 1988), Australian basketball player
Alexander Brener (born 1957), movie star in Russia
Sergei Chekmezov (born 1964), professional football coach and former player
Zarina Diyas (born 1993), tennis player
Alexandra Elbakyan (born 1988), intellectual property activist, maker of Sci-Hub
Nagima Eskalieva (born 1954), singer and entertainer
Dmitri Fofonov (born 1976), racing cyclist
Alexey Korolev (born 1987), ski jumper
Nikolay Karpenko (born 1981), ski jumper
Ruslana Korshunova (1987–2008), model in Russia
Olessya Kulakova (born 1977), volleyball player for Germany
Regina Kulikova (born 1989), tennis player
Dinmukhamed Konayev (1912–1993), politician
Fuat Mansurov (1928–2008), Soviet and Russian conductor
Dmitriy Ogai (born 1960), football trainer and Soviet football player
Sergei Ostapenko (born 1986), football player
Alexander Parygin (born 1973), Olympic athlete
Alexander Petrenko (1976–2006), basketball player for Russia
Boris Polak (born 1954), Israeli world champion and Olympic sport shooter
Vadim Sayutin (born 1970), ice skater in Russia
Thomas Schertwitis (born 1972), water polo
Zhanar Sekerbayeva (born 1983), LGBT activist
Olga Shishigina (born 1968), Olympic Champion in hurdling
Konstantin Sokolenko (born 1987), Nordic combined skier/ski jumper
Igor Sysoev (born 1970) open-source software engineer, founder of nginx, Inc. Elena Likhovtseva (born 1975), tennis player Denis Ten (1993-2018), figure skater Yernar Yerimbetov (1980), gymnast Anatoly Vaisser (born 1949), French chess grandmaster Radik Zhaparov (born 1984), ski jumper Vladimir Zhirinovsky (1946–2022), politician Elena Zoubareva (born 1972), opera singer Kinbōzan Haruki (born 1997), sumo wrestler and first Kazakhstani to reach the makuuchi division