Astana

Country: Kazakhstan
City: Astana
Population: 1,423,726
Area: 810 km²

Mayor: Zhenis Makhmuduly Kassymbek

Zhenis Makhmuduly Kassymbek is a Kazakh politician who is currently serving as the Äkım of Astana since December 2022. The son of Mahmud Kassymbek, Zhenis Kassymbek was born to a Muslim family in the village of Shu. In 1997 he graduated from the Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering as an architectural designer.

Astana previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently NurSultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan.

The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, although administered as a city with special status separately from the rest of the region. A 2022 official estimate reported a population of 1,350,228 within the city limits, making it the second-largest city in the country, after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997; since then it has grown and developed economically into one of the most modern cities in Central Asia. In 2021, the government selected Astana as one of the 10 priority destinations for tourist development.