Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan with a population of 1,421,868, it is certainly a hustling and bustling place to be. It also used to be the former capital of the country, until 1997 when it moved to Astana.
Almaty is still the centre of commerce for Kazakhstan, with the stock exchange and largest banks located there including Kazkommertsbank, which is the largest bank in Kazakhstan, and one of the largest players in Central Asia. The Stock exchange is the largest in Central Asia and is responsible for a large proportion of the Countries economy. Plans are being developed to increase substantially the financial facilities, and currently under construction is ‘Almaty Financial District and Esentai Park.
Almaty literally means ‘city of apple trees’, and, because of its relatively mild climate, it has a wide range of apple trees. The Almaty area is said to be the genetic home for many varieties of apples and the area is often visited by researchers and scientists from around the world, in order to learn more about the complex systems of genetics, and also to discover the true beginnings of the Continue reading →