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Capitals of the world
Astana, capital of Kazakhstan: facts and figures
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan. It has about 1,200,000 residents, which makes it the 103rd most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 357 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Bishkek, 953 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Kazakhstan |
| Continent | Asia |
| City population | 1,200,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 103rd of 172 |
| Elevation | 357 m |
| Founded | 1830 |
| Time zone | Asia/Almaty |
| Coordinates | 51.17° N, 71.43° E |
| Country population | 20,843,754 residents |
| Country GDP | 306.2 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $14,692 |
| Life expectancy | 74.5 years |
| Internet users | 93.4 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Astana averages -11.8 °C in winter and 19.9 °C in summer. January is the coldest month of the year and July the warmest, and the city receives 406 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | -13.5 °C |
| February | -11.1 °C |
| March | -4.9 °C |
| April | 6.4 °C |
| May | 14.4 °C |
| June | 19.3 °C |
| July | 21.2 °C |
| August | 19.2 °C |
| September | 12.3 °C |
| October | 4.4 °C |
| November | -5.7 °C |
| December | -10.8 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Winter: 2nd coldest capital in the world (-11.8 °C).
- Latitude: northernmost capital in Asia (51.17°).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Bishkek is the closest capital to Astana.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 953 km |
| Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 1,110 km |
| Dushanbe | Tajikistan | 1,417 km |
| Ashgabat | Turkmenistan | 1,793 km |
| Kabul | Afghanistan | 1,859 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Astana to a place and a number you already know: it is 953 km from Bishkek, and it is the 103rd largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Kazakhstan compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan, in Asia, with about 1,200,000 residents, averaging -11.8 °C in winter and 19.9 °C in summer.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Kazakhstan?
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan. It has about 1,200,000 residents and lies in Asia.
How many people live in Astana?
About 1,200,000, which ranks Astana 103rd of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Astana?
Astana averages -11.8 °C in winter and 19.9 °C in summer, with 406 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Astana?
GDP per capita in the country is $14,692, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan: facts and figures
Bishkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan: 1,050,000 residents, 764 m above sea level, -1.1 °C in winter and 23.7 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan: facts and figures
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan: 2,600,000 residents, 448 m above sea level, 2.2 °C in winter and 28.4 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan: facts and figures
Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan: 900,000 residents, 816 m above sea level, 3.4 °C in winter and 27.1 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.