Almaty, founded in the mid-19th century by Russians as a frontier post, is no longer the nation’s capital but remains Kazakhstan’s cultural epicentre. The name Almaty means ‘grandfather of apples’. Alma means apples.

In 1921 the city was renamed Alma-Ata but was changed back to the original name Almaty in 1993.

During the 1930's Almaty grew as the city was connected to Siberia by the Turkistan-Siberia railway. The railway opened opportunities for growth and with the onset of WWII factories that were under threat from the Nazis in western USSR were re-located here. At the same time large numbers of ethnic Koreans forcibly resettled from the Russian Far East arrived in Almaty.

In 1986 Almaty saw mass protests when thousands took to the streets to remonstrate against the newly replaced head of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. However a counterdemo turned the protests into riots when police opened fire and as many as 250 protesters were killed.

Despite losing its capital status in 1998, the city continues to grow as business centres and hotels sprout up along the landscape in its bid to emerge as the main financial, business and cultural centre of Central Asia. This is in marked contrast to the shabby settlements of rural migrants on the city's outskirts. 

Kazakhs are warm, friendly people and are looking forward to welcoming visiting fans to the game.

They are extremely patriotic and therefore they will take offence at anything related to 'Borat' and the ridicule of their country and residents - that includes dressing in mankinis.

If you take nothing else from these pages, we really hope you will heed this information.