In 1997, the third transfer of the capital took place in the history of Kazakhstan. From Alma-Ata, she moved to Akmola. A year later, this city received a new name - Astana. The population of the capital of Kazakhstan in 2016 reached one million. Who lives in the city today? And how did the population of Astana change over the years?
The city of Astana and its features
The capital of the largest Central Asian state is located on the banks of the Ishim River, in the middle of the classical Kazakh steppe and surrounded by numerous s alt lakes. The Kazakhs founded this city in 1830 in order to protect themselves from the encroachments of the aggressive Kokand Khanate. An important date in the history of the future capital of Kazakhstan was 1961, when Nikita Khrushchev declared the city "the main center for the development of virgin lands."
Modern Astana is a rather interesting and well-groomed city, with an abundance of museums, monuments and unusual buildings. By the way, the capital of Kazakhstan is the only one in the post-Soviet space, the transport system of which is represented only by buses. trolleybuses,There are no trams or subway here. And Astana city buses often cannot cope with the capital's passenger traffic.
The population of Astana is about 1 million people. The capital is divided by the Ishim River into two parts. Moreover, the right and left banks of the city are radically different from each other. The left bank is dominated by various state institutions, shopping and office centers. Buildings here are quite sparse. The right bank of the capital, on the contrary, is represented by dense residential development. An interesting fact: in winter, the air temperature on the right bank is a couple of degrees higher.
Population of Astana and its dynamics. Paradox of 2016
In the history of the city there were at least two significant events that led to the rapid growth of the population. The first is a set of state measures for the development of virgin lands, which were carried out in the 60s of the twentieth century. The second event was the transfer of the capital here in the late 1990s. Thus, over a ten-year period (from 1998 to 2008), the population of Astana more than doubled!
As of the beginning of 2016, 875 thousand people lived in the capital of Kazakhstan. However, on July 4 of the same year, local authorities announced the birth of the millionth resident of Astana. How can such an unexpected demographic jump be explained? How did it happen that the population of Astana increased by 125 thousand people in just six months?
The reason for this is the active state policy on the legalization of property and the state economy. As a result, in 2016 about 60thousands of previously "unrecorded" workers. In addition, parliamentary elections were held in the country in March, which were preceded by door-to-door visits of all residents of the city.
According to experts' forecasts, by 2020 the population of Astana may increase to 1.2 million inhabitants. But President Nursultan Nazarbayev optimistically stated that in 2050, 3 million people will live in the capital of the state.
Other facts about the population of Astana
The last census, conducted in 2009, showed that 64% of Astana residents are not its natives. These are mainly migrants from other regions of Kazakhstan (mainly from Akmola, South Kazakhstan and Karaganda regions).
The average age of marriage for residents of Astana is 25.3 years for women and 27.5 years for men. At the same time, three out of ten married couples, according to statistics, file for divorce in the future.
The ethnic composition of the population of Astana is quite motley. The dominant ethnic group in the city are Kazakhs (about 69%). They are followed by Russians, of whom there are about 21%. Nationalities, whose number in Astana exceeds one percent, are Ukrainians, Tatars, Germans and Uzbeks. There is also a fairly significant community of Koreans in the city, who ended up here in the middle of the last century during the period of mass Stalinist deportations.
