2020-07-06 Mon

Capital City Day, also known as Day of Nur-Sultan (Astana) is celebrated on July 6th. Capital City Day commemorates the switch of the capital of Kazakhstan from Almaty to Astana.

When Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union, the capital of the country was Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the intention was stated to move the capital back to the historical capital of Kazakhstan, Akmola. Thus on July 6th, 1994, the capital of Kazakhstan was moved from Almaty to Akmola.

On 6 May 1998 Akmola was renamed Astana, which means "the capital city" in Kazakh. Akmola means "white grave" in Kazakh. On Astana’s 10th anniversary in 2008, July 6th was made a national holiday. July 6th is also the birthday of the former President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. This holiday has been celebrated officially since 2009.

In the year 2016, the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan released a KZT 10?000 banknote devoted to the 25 anniversary of the independence of Kazakhstan. The front side of the new 10,000 tenge banknote depicts the pillar of the monument ‘Kazakh people’ in Astana. The back depicts the portrait of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and images of skyscrapers in the capital Astana and Baiterek.

Image Courtesy: s4.reutersmedia.net