Almaty, Kazakhstan

De skyline van Almaty kan men zich niet voorstellen zonder de bergen die stad omringen.

Almaty is de grootste stad van Kazakhstan. In 1990 werd het inwoneraantal geschat op 1,147,000.

Almaty is bekend als een van de mooiste steden van de voormalige Sovietunie. De stad beschikt over opera en ballet gebouwen, een symfonisch orchest, een universiteit en een academie van wetenschappen.

As few as 50 kilometers away from the city lie the shifting sandhills of the Balkhash desert. In summer, the soil here is scorched by the sun and in winter fierce winds sweep over the area and the temperature drops below minus 30 degrees Centigrade.

The weather conditions in the city of Almaty are much milder: the average temperatures are +8°C in winter and +22°C in summer. The coldest month is January when it can be extremely cold, while in July and August the thermometer may read well above +30°C. On the whole, the mountains give the local climate a milder note, which has historically made it possible for apple orchards to grow along the banks of the Bolshaya (Greater) Almaatinka and Malaya (Lesser) Almaatinka rivers. That was how the city received its name: Almaty means literally "apple place."

The city is the processing center of a fertile fruit-producing region. Besides processed food, manufactures include mining machinery, electrical equipment, textiles, motion pictures, and tobacco products.

In the 1920s Almaty developed into a major economic center when it became a terminus on the newly built Turkistan-Siberian Railroad. 43° 15' 0" N - 76° 55' 0" E

Belangrijke steden in de omgeving van Almaty :