Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Almaty - Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is another new country in my collection. This card from Almaty, sent by Emerich, was my 1st from this country, but a few days ago i've received a 2nd card from there.

Kazakhstan is a country in Central Asia, with its smaller part west of the Ural River in Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country by land area and the ninth largest country in the world. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and also borders on a large part of the Caspian Sea.

Almaty is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city.
Almaty was the capital of the Kazakh SSR from 1929 to 1991 and of independent Kazakhstan from 1991 to 1997. Despite losing its status as the capital to Astana in 1997, Almaty remains the major commercial and cultural centre of Kazakhstan. - in: wikipedia
 The former Parliament Building stands at the Old Square, Almaty's second largest square. 
Until the capital was moved to Astana, it was here where fateful decisions were made; the first Parliment in Kazakhstan's history adopted the first Constitution as a sovereign state here.
The building now houses the Kazakh-British Technical University.
The former parliament is surrounded on all sides by pretty public gardens with flower beds and fountains.

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