Almaty

Almaty Алматы
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Almaty Location in Kazakhstan
Coordinates: 43°16′39″N 76°53′45″E / 43.27750°N 76.89583°E / 43.27750; 76.89583
Country	Kazakhstan
Province	Almaty Province
First settled	10th-9th century BC
Founded	1854
Incorporated (city)	1867
Government
• Akim (mayor)	Erbolat Dosaev
Area
• Total	324.8 km2 (125.4 sq mi)
Elevation	500 - 1,700 m (1,640 - 5,577 ft)
Population  (2005)
• Total	1,226,300
• Density	3,776/km2 (9,780/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+6 (BTT)
Postal code	050000 - 050063
Area code	+7 727[1]
Website	http://www.almaty.kz

Almaty (Kazakh: Алматы; formerly known as Alma-Ata (Алма-Ата), also Verniy, (Верный)) is the largest city in Kazakhstan. It has a population of over 1,700,000 people (as of 2015).^[2] Eight percent of the population of the country live in Almaty. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1927 to 1998. Almaty is the major commercial center of Kazakhstan.

The city is close to China, and was once on the northern silk route between China and the Middle East. Its name derives from the Turkic languages.

The city is in an earthquake zone. There have been three quite serious earthquakes in the last 150 years.

1. ↑ "CODE OF ACCESS". Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
2. ↑ "С начала года население Алматы увеличилось на 1,4%" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2007.