Rendering Produced by MTH
Seventeen years ago, when Kazakhstan moved its capital here, the city of Astana didn’t even exist. Back then, it was a small town in the middle of the vast steppe called Akmola, which consisted mostly of Soviet-style block buildings, grim remnants of the country’s past. But after years of rapid economic growth fueled by Kazakhstan’s oil and gas riches, the skyline of Astana — which means capital in Kazakh — is now punctuated by gleaming skyscrapers and Western-style shopping malls.