Astana, the city formerly known as Nur-Sultan

Ben Crowley

Sept. 14, 2022

Out with the new, in with the old.

The modern futuristic capital of the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan has once again gone through an all too familiar event, it’s changing its name! The capital of Kazakhstan which until now was known as Nur-Sultan will once again be known as Astana.

The capital of Kazakhstan was previously known as Astana from 1998 until 2019. In 2019 the name was controversially changed to Nur-Sultan after the first President of the country Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev, who was President from the country’s independence in 1991 until 2019. Before that he was the Chairman of the Kazakhstan Communist Party during the Soviet Union from 1989.

The city has gone through no less than six name changes in its lifetime. Firstly it was known as Akmola, then the more Russian sounding Akmolinsk. In 1961 the city was renamed Tselinograd in honour of the Soviet Virgin Lands campaign in which they attempted to turn huge swaths of arid land productive through mass irrigation projects.

Three years after Kazakhstan’s independence in 1991, the city once again became Akmola in 1994. The city was then announced the country’s new capital in 1997, replacing Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty, upon which it was renamed Astana, which translates to ‘capital’ in the Kazakh language.

In 2019, after more than three decades in power, Kazakhstan’s only ever President Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev stood down and was replaced by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Tokayev promptly renamed the capital Nur-Sultan in his predecessor’s honour.

In January 2022, Kazakhstan was rocked by violent protests, something extremely unusual for this usually very stable country, which led to a large bout of destruction, and also the loss of at least 230 lives. Much of the anger was directed at the former President (Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev) and the perceived corruption surrounding him and his cohorts. With Nazarbayev and his supporters since being side-lined, much of his cult of personality is now being removed and with it, it seems fitting that the name of the capital city goes too.

Most people in Kazakhstan never got used to calling the city Nur-Sultan and most still referred to it as Astana anyway, especially those who live in the city itself. Partly due to familiarity but also in part due to the embarrassment of a city being called after their President’s first name.

In the meantime, many street, place and institution names across the country will continue to honour the first President of Kazakhstan, with Nazarbayev Avenues, Nazarbayev University, Nazarbayev Airport, Nazarbayev parks and the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools all keeping their names.

Astana, as it is once again named, was the pet project of Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev, who turned a small sleepy backwater into the country’s capital. Spending hundreds of billions of dollars and giving some of the world’s brightest architects carte-blanche to create their wildest imaginations, the city is a sight to beholden, comparable to a cross between Dubai, Las Vegas and Ashgabat. Having the name changed back to Astana after having the grand honour of it being named after him will no doubt be a big blow.

We can only imagine what names they might turn to in the future.