Almaty
Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with about 1,500,000 inhabitants. It is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Central Asia. In recent years, foreign investment has brought about many fine shops, restaurants, hotels, and casinos. It is a green and pleasant city with many large trees along the streets, set against the spectacular backdrop of the Tien Shan Mountains.During the Bronze Age, around 1,000 to 900 B.C., farmers and cattle breeders of the Saka and Uisun tribes settled in the area that would one day become Almaty. From the tenth to fourteenth centuries, the region of "Big Almaty" was a trading center on the famous Silk Route. However, from the Bronze Age through the mid-1800s, there was not what could be called a town or settlement in the area.The history of modern Almaty began in 1854 when the Russians established a military outpost called Fort Verniy ("Faithful") at a...
